200-901 Application Deployment and Security Practice Question
This 200-901 practice question tests your understanding of application deployment and security. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
A company uses Cisco Meraki APs and an internal web application hosted on AWS. The application store customer payment data. The security team discovers that sensitive application logs are being transmitted in plaintext over the network to the SIEM. The DevOps team wants to improve security without changing the application code because it is proprietary and cannot be modified. Which solution should be recommended?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Set up a site-to-site VPN between the Meraki network and AWS to encrypt all traffic, including logs
Option D is correct because a site-to-site VPN between the Meraki network and AWS encrypts all traffic traversing the link, including the sensitive application logs sent to the SIEM, without requiring any changes to the proprietary application code. This solution operates at the network layer, ensuring that even if the application transmits logs in plaintext, the entire payload is encrypted by the VPN tunnel. Meraki Auto VPN and AWS VPN Gateway can establish an IPsec tunnel, providing confidentiality for all data in transit between the on-premises network and the AWS VPC.
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.
✗
Modify the application to send logs via syslog over TLS
Why it's wrong here
The application code cannot be changed.
✗
Enable HTTPS on the SIEM receiver to ensure logs are encrypted during transmission
Why it's wrong here
HTTPS only ensures encryption if the sender supports it; the application sends plaintext logs.
✗
Enable TLS on the web application to encrypt data in transit
Why it's wrong here
TLS only protects web traffic, not log export to SIEM.
✓
Set up a site-to-site VPN between the Meraki network and AWS to encrypt all traffic, including logs
Why this is correct
VPN encrypts all traffic between networks without modifying applications.
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 application-layer encryption (e.g., TLS/HTTPS) and network-layer encryption (e.g., VPN), leading candidates to mistakenly choose options that encrypt the wrong traffic or require code changes, when the correct answer is a network-level solution that secures all traffic without modifying the application.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
A site-to-site VPN using IPsec (IKEv2 or IKEv1) with Meraki Auto VPN and AWS VPN Gateway creates an encrypted tunnel at the network layer (Layer 3), encapsulating all IP packets between the Meraki network and the AWS VPC. This ensures that even if the application uses plaintext syslog (UDP 514) or unencrypted TCP, the entire packet payload is encrypted by the VPN, providing confidentiality without application-level changes. In real-world scenarios, this approach is common for legacy or proprietary applications where code modification is infeasible, but it adds overhead and requires careful routing configuration to ensure all traffic to the SIEM traverses the VPN.
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 practitioner preparing for the 200-901 exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
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.
Application Deployment and Security — This question tests Application Deployment and Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Set up a site-to-site VPN between the Meraki network and AWS to encrypt all traffic, including logs — Option D is correct because a site-to-site VPN between the Meraki network and AWS encrypts all traffic traversing the link, including the sensitive application logs sent to the SIEM, without requiring any changes to the proprietary application code. This solution operates at the network layer, ensuring that even if the application transmits logs in plaintext, the entire payload is encrypted by the VPN tunnel. Meraki Auto VPN and AWS VPN Gateway can establish an IPsec tunnel, providing confidentiality for all data in transit between the on-premises network and the AWS VPC.
What should I do if I get this 200-901 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.
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Question Discussion
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