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CAS-004 Practice Question: A financial services company is implementing a…
A financial services company is implementing a zero-trust architecture. The security architect needs to ensure that all network traffic between application tiers is inspected and logged regardless of source location. Which of the following should be implemented?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse a site-to-site VPN (Option B) with zero-trust network access (ZTNA), but VPNs only provide encrypted tunnels, not the per-flow inspection and logging required for zero-trust microsegmentation.
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
✓
Implement microsegmentation using a next-generation firewall
Microsegmentation using a next-generation firewall (NGFW) is the correct approach because it enforces granular, per-application-tier security policies that inspect and log all traffic regardless of source location. NGFWs provide deep packet inspection (DPI), application-level visibility, and logging capabilities, which are essential for zero-trust architecture where no implicit trust is granted to any network segment.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Implement microsegmentation using a next-generation firewall
Why this is correct
Microsegmentation enables fine-grained security policies between individual workloads, supporting inspection and logging.
- ✗
Deploy a site-to-site VPN across all tiers
Why it's wrong here
VPNs secure external connections but do not provide internal microsegmentation.
- ✗
Use a single, centralized firewall for all traffic
Why it's wrong here
A centralized firewall may become a bottleneck and does not provide the granularity required for zero trust.
- ✗
Place all application servers in a DMZ
Why it's wrong here
DMZs are for external-facing services, not for internal tier-to-tier traffic segmentation.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CAS-005 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 CAS-005 exam.