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CAS-004 Practice Question: A multinational corporation is migrating its data…
A multinational corporation is migrating its data centers to a hybrid cloud model. The security team must ensure that data sovereignty laws are respected. The company operates in the EU, US, and Asia. Which of the following is the BEST approach?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse data sovereignty with data security, assuming encryption or VPNs (Options B and C) satisfy legal residency requirements, when in fact they only protect data in transit or at rest without controlling where the data physically resides.
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
✓
Use cloud regions in each geographic area where data is stored and processed.
Using cloud regions in each geographic area ensures data remains within the jurisdiction where it was collected, directly complying with data sovereignty laws such as the EU's GDPR, US state laws, and Asia-Pacific regulations. This approach leverages the cloud provider's regional boundaries to enforce legal data residency without relying on technical controls that can be circumvented or misconfigured.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Require all employees to sign a data processing agreement.
Why it's wrong here
A signed data processing agreement is a contractual control; it does not constrain where data is stored or transferred, so residency obligations remain unmet. It is tempting because such agreements are required under regimes like the GDPR, which suits lawful processing where location is already compliant.
- ✗
Encrypt all data at rest and in transit using a single global encryption key.
Why it's wrong here
A single global key cannot satisfy differing EU, US and Asian residency and transfer rules, since ciphertext still crosses borders and one key grants worldwide access. It is tempting because uniform encryption simplifies key management, which suits organisations without conflicting jurisdictional obligations.
- ✗
Implement a virtual private network between all data centers and cloud providers.
Why it's wrong here
A VPN encrypts traffic in transit but leaves data stored wherever the provider's regions place it, so EU residency obligations remain unmet. It is tempting because VPNs genuinely solve secure cross-region connectivity; they would be the right answer if the requirement were confidentiality between sites rather than data sovereignty.
- ✓
Use cloud regions in each geographic area where data is stored and processed.
Why this is correct
Regional cloud deployments keep data stored and processed inside each jurisdiction, so EU, US and Asian data remain subject to their own sovereignty laws. This satisfies the legal constraint without relying on contractual or encryption-based transfers.
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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.