CV0-004 Security Practice Question
A cloud architect is designing identity and access management (IAM) for a multi-cloud environment. The architect wants to enforce least privilege and support federation with an on-premises Active Directory. Which TWO of the following should be implemented? (Select TWO).
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
✓
Using service accounts for application authentication
Federation with SAML allows SSO from on-prem AD, and service accounts provide non-human identities for applications, both supporting least privilege by granting only necessary permissions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Storing shared credentials in application code
Why it's wrong here
Embedding shared credentials in code defeats least privilege, since every user of that code inherits identical standing access and rotation requires redeployment. It is tempting as a quick way to let an application authenticate to a service, which is what a managed identity or secrets vault handles instead.
- ✗
Assigning full administrator roles to all users
Why it's wrong here
Granting full administrator roles to every user directly contradicts least privilege, giving all identities unrestricted control across subscriptions. It is tempting during initial tenant build-out or lab work, where broad access speeds setup; production requires scoped role assignments instead.
- ✗
Disabling multi-factor authentication (MFA)
Why it's wrong here
Disabling MFA removes the second authentication factor, weakening the very identity assurance federation with on-premises Active Directory is meant to strengthen. It is tempting when troubleshooting sign-in failures or legacy clients that cannot present a second factor, where conditional access exclusions would be scoped instead.
- ✓
Using service accounts for application authentication
Why this is correct
Service accounts provide dedicated identities with minimal permissions for apps.
- ✓
Federation using SAML
Why this is correct
SAML federation lets the on-premises Active Directory act as identity provider, so users authenticate once and cloud platforms receive signed assertions with group claims. This satisfies the federation requirement while enabling least-privilege role mapping from directory groups.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CV0-004 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 CV0-004 exam.