The answer is large amounts of outbound traffic to a single destination during non-business hours. This pattern is a strong indicator of data exfiltration because attackers often compress and transfer stolen data in bulk to an external server after hours, when normal user activity is low and monitoring may be reduced. On the Cisco CyberOps Associate 200-201 exam, this concept tests your ability to distinguish between benign traffic spikes and malicious exfiltration attempts, with common traps including confusing high inbound traffic (often a DDoS) with outbound anomalies. A key memory tip is to think of the "midnight upload"—if the office is empty but a workstation is pushing gigabytes to one IP, it’s likely a data leak.
200-201 Network Intrusion Analysis Practice Question
This 200-201 practice question tests your understanding of network intrusion analysis. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Which THREE types of network traffic anomalies are strong indicators of a data exfiltration attempt?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
TCP connections with unusual port numbers (e.g., using SSH on port 80)
Option A is correct because data exfiltration often involves tunneling covert traffic over non-standard ports to bypass firewall rules. For example, using SSH on TCP port 80 (HTTP) allows an attacker to hide command-and-control or file transfer traffic within allowed web traffic, making it difficult for basic port-based ACLs to detect.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
TCP connections with unusual port numbers (e.g., using SSH on port 80)
Why this is correct
Unusual port usage can indicate covert channels.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Frequent ARP requests from a single host
Why it's wrong here
ARP requests are for local discovery, not exfiltration.
✗
High number of SYN packets without corresponding ACKs
Why it's wrong here
That indicates a SYN flood or scanning, not exfiltration.
✓
Large amounts of outbound traffic to a single destination during non-business hours
Why this is correct
Timing and volume suggest exfiltration.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Cisco often tests the distinction between network anomalies that indicate data exfiltration versus those that indicate denial-of-service or reconnaissance; the trap here is confusing a SYN flood (Option D) with a covert channel, when exfiltration requires established, often stealthy, outbound connections.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Data exfiltration via DNS tunneling exploits the fact that DNS queries are often allowed through firewalls. An attacker encodes stolen data into the subdomain labels of DNS queries (e.g., base64-encoded chunks as 'c29tZXRoaW5nLmV4YW1wbGUuY29t'), which are then resolved by a malicious authoritative DNS server that decodes and reassembles the data. Similarly, outbound traffic spikes to a single IP during off-hours bypasses normal monitoring thresholds, as security teams may not review logs outside business hours.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Network Intrusion Analysis — This question tests Network Intrusion Analysis — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: TCP connections with unusual port numbers (e.g., using SSH on port 80) — Option A is correct because data exfiltration often involves tunneling covert traffic over non-standard ports to bypass firewall rules. For example, using SSH on TCP port 80 (HTTP) allows an attacker to hide command-and-control or file transfer traffic within allowed web traffic, making it difficult for basic port-based ACLs to detect.
What should I do if I get this 200-201 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. Which TWO types of network traffic should be analyzed to detect a data exfiltration attempt via HTTP? (Choose two.)
easy
A.ICMP echo requests
✓ B.HTTP request headers
✓ C.HTTP request body
D.DNS query responses
E.TCP three-way handshake
Why B: HTTP request headers contain metadata such as User-Agent, Content-Type, and custom headers that can be manipulated to encode and exfiltrate data. The HTTP request body carries the payload, such as POST data, where stolen information can be embedded in form fields, JSON, or XML. Analyzing both allows detection of anomalous patterns indicative of data exfiltration.
Last reviewed: Jun 25, 2026
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.