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CAS-004 Practice Question: A healthcare provider is migrating patient…
A healthcare provider is migrating patient records to a cloud EHR system. The security officer is concerned about data ownership and portability. Which contractual clause is MOST critical to include in the cloud service agreement?
⚠ Common exam trap
The CASP+ exam often tests the distinction between security controls (encryption, breach notification) and contractual governance clauses (data portability, ownership), leading candidates to pick a technically valid but contextually irrelevant option like customer-managed encryption keys.
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
✓
A clause on data portability and format standards
Data portability and format standards clauses directly address the security officer's concerns about data ownership and the ability to move patient records out of the cloud EHR system. Without such a clause, the provider could lock the healthcare organization into proprietary formats, making migration difficult or impossible. This is critical for compliance with regulations like HIPAA, which require patients to access and transfer their health information.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
A clause on data portability and format standards
Why this is correct
Portability and format standards guarantee the provider returns records in a usable, structured form on exit, directly satisfying the security officer's data ownership and portability concern. Without defined formats, extraction becomes impractical, so this clause is the most critical contractual protection.
- ✗
A service level agreement guaranteeing 99.999% uptime
Why it's wrong here
An uptime SLA guarantees availability, not data ownership or portability; it says nothing about export formats or exit rights. It is tempting because availability is a headline cloud metric, and would be correct where the concern is service reliability rather than vendor lock-in.
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A stipulation that encryption keys are managed by the customer
Why it's wrong here
Customer-managed encryption keys address confidentiality and control, not ownership or portability of the records themselves. It is tempting because key custody is a strong data-control clause, and would be correct where the concern is preventing provider access to plaintext rather than exit rights.
- ✗
A requirement for breach notification within 24 hours
Why it's wrong here
A 24-hour breach notification clause governs incident disclosure timing, not who owns the data or how it can be exported. It is tempting because rapid notification is a common healthcare compliance demand, and would be correct where the risk being mitigated is delayed awareness of a security incident.
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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.