200-201 Network Intrusion Analysis Practice Question
During a network intrusion investigation, an analyst notices repeated SMB authentication attempts from a single host to multiple other hosts using different usernames. Which type of activity does this pattern suggest?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Lateral movement
Lateral movement via SMB involves authenticating to multiple hosts, often with different credentials, to move across the network.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Pass-the-hash attack
Why it's wrong here
Pass-the-hash uses a hash, not necessarily multiple usernames.
- ✓
Lateral movement
Why this is correct
Correct. Attempting to authenticate to multiple hosts indicates lateral movement.
- ✗
SMB relay attack
Why it's wrong here
SMB relay intercepts and relays authentication, not multiple attempts.
- ✗
Brute-force attack on SMB
Why it's wrong here
Brute-force targets a single host with many passwords, not multiple hosts.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every 200-201 question from scratch — 979 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 200-201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 200-201 exam.