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200-201 Practice Question: Which TWO of the following are best practices…
Which TWO of the following are best practices when configuring a SIEM correlation rule to detect lateral movement?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that any successful logon (Event ID 4624) is suspicious, when in fact only specific logon types and patterns (e.g., multiple logons from the same user across different systems in a short time) indicate lateral movement.
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
✓
Include a time window to limit the correlation to a few minutes between events.
Including a time window (e.g., 5 minutes) in a SIEM correlation rule ensures that only events occurring within a short, defined interval are correlated. This is critical for detecting lateral movement, where an attacker must quickly pivot from one host to another; without a time window, the rule would match events that are too far apart in time, generating excessive false positives. The time window aligns with the typical speed of automated tools like PsExec or RDP brute-force scripts, which execute logons in rapid succession.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Include a time window to limit the correlation to a few minutes between events.
Why this is correct
Reduces false positives from normal activity.
- ✗
Exclude the source IP address from the correlation to focus on user identity.
Why it's wrong here
IP helps identify source of movement.
- ✗
Use only a single log source, such as domain controller logs, to simplify the rule.
Why it's wrong here
Single source may not capture lateral movement.
- ✗
Set the rule to trigger on any Event ID 4624 (successful logon) regardless of type.
Why it's wrong here
May cause false positives; need to filter by logon type.
- ✓
Correlate successful logons across different systems from the same user within a short time window.
Why this is correct
Detects credential reuse across systems.
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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.