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200-201 Practice Question: Which THREE types of network traffic anomalies…
Which THREE types of network traffic anomalies are strong indicators of a data exfiltration attempt?
⚠ Common exam trap
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.
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
✓
TCP connections with unusual port numbers (e.g., using SSH on port 80)
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.
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.
- ✓
DNS queries with long subdomains encoding data
Why this is correct
DNS tunneling is a common exfiltration method.
- ✗
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.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on 200-201
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.
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.