easyMultiple Select
CV0-004 Practice Question: Which TWO of the following are common security…
Which TWO of the following are common security concerns specific to a public cloud infrastructure?
⚠ Common exam trap
CV0-004 often tests the shared responsibility model — candidates pick provider-side concerns like physical theft or hypervisor malware, forgetting those are the cloud provider's responsibility, not the customer's.
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
✓
Exposure of insecure application programming interfaces (APIs).
Option A is correct because public cloud services are managed and automated through publicly reachable REST APIs (e.g., AWS EC2, S3, IAM endpoints), and insecure or unauthenticated APIs are a leading cloud-specific attack vector, as seen in breaches like the 2019 Capital One incident. Option D is correct because cloud resources are provisioned via declarative templates and consoles, and a single misconfigured S3 bucket ACL, security group, or IAM policy can expose data to the internet, making misconfiguration one of the most common causes of cloud data breaches. Option B is not a cloud-specific concern because physical server theft is mitigated by the provider's data center controls and is a general on-premises risk, not unique to public cloud. Option C is not cloud-specific because packet sniffing on internal networks applies to any shared network environment and is largely mitigated by encryption (TLS) and virtual network isolation. Option E is not cloud-specific because hypervisor-level malware affects any virtualization platform, including private and on-premises environments, not just public cloud.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Exposure of insecure application programming interfaces (APIs).
Why this is correct
Public cloud APIs are internet-facing management interfaces, so misconfiguration or weak authentication exposes them to unauthorised access. This concern is specific to public cloud because the provider's control plane is reachable externally, unlike isolated private infrastructure.
- ✗
Physical theft of servers from data centers.
Why it's wrong here
Physical theft of servers is a concern for the provider's own data-centre controls, not something the tenant can mitigate or is exposed to under the shared responsibility model. It is tempting because physical security is a genuine cloud consideration, but it sits with the provider, not the customer's public cloud workload.
- ✗
Packet sniffing on the provider's internal network.
Why it's wrong here
Packet sniffing on the provider's internal network is largely mitigated by tenant isolation, encrypted overlay networks and the provider's own controls, so it is not a tenant-specific public cloud concern. It is tempting because sniffing is a classic network threat, but in a public cloud the customer cannot inspect or secure the provider's internal fabric.
- ✓
Misconfiguration of cloud resources leading to data exposure.
Why this is correct
Misconfigured storage buckets, permissive identity policies and exposed management interfaces routinely leak data in public clouds, where self-service provisioning and shared responsibility place configuration squarely on the tenant. This satisfies the stem's demand for a cloud-specific concern, since on-premises equivalents lack the same API-driven, instantly reachable exposure surface.
- ✗
Hypervisor-level malware.
Why it's wrong here
Hypervisor-level malware is a provider-side concern; tenants have no visibility or control over the hypervisor, so it is not a customer-specific public cloud security concern. It is tempting because hypervisor attacks are a recognised cloud threat model, but the shared responsibility model places hypervisor hardening with the provider, not the tenant.
Visual reference
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
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About these practice questions
This CV0-004 question is part of Courseiva's 834-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on CV0-004
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. Which TWO of the following are common vulnerabilities in cloud environments that can lead to unauthorized access? Select two.
medium- A.Enabling automatic patching
- ✓ B.Lack of encryption for data in transit
- C.Using multi-factor authentication
- D.Properly scoped IAM roles
- ✓ E.Misconfigured security groups allowing overly permissive inbound rules
Why B: Options B and E are correct because lack of encryption for data in transit exposes sensitive data to interception, and misconfigured security groups allowing overly permissive inbound rules can grant unauthorized access. Options A, C, and D are security best practices that help prevent vulnerabilities.
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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.