KCSA Platform Security Practice Question
An enterprise Kubernetes cluster uses a service mesh with strict authorization policies configured. A developer complains that their frontend service cannot communicate with the backend database service. Upon inspecting the mesh configuration, you notice a PeerAuthentication resource set to STRICT mode. What does this setting enforce?
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
✓
All incoming traffic to the targeted workloads must use mutual TLS encryption
In a service mesh like Istio, setting PeerAuthentication to STRICT mode requires all incoming traffic to workloads in that scope to use mutual TLS (mTLS).
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Pod security standards must be enforced at the baseline level
Why it's wrong here
Pod Security Standards are Kubernetes admission controls, not service mesh mTLS policies.
- ✗
Network policies must block all traffic from outside the namespace
Why it's wrong here
Namespace isolation is handled by Kubernetes NetworkPolicies, whereas PeerAuthentication configures mesh-level mTLS.
- ✗
All external ingress traffic must pass through a Web Application Firewall
Why it's wrong here
PeerAuthentication deals with internal mesh workload-to-workload authentication, not WAF rules.
- ✓
All incoming traffic to the targeted workloads must use mutual TLS encryption
Why this is correct
STRICT mode rejects all plaintext connections and requires all incoming traffic to be encrypted via mTLS.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official CNCF / Linux Foundation exam blueprint
This KCSA practice question is part of Courseiva's free CNCF / Linux Foundation 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 KCSA exam.