easyMultiple Choice
CS0-003 Incident Response Practice Question
A company uses a cloud-based identity provider (IdP) for single sign-on (SSO) to all applications. The SOC receives an alert that a user's account logged in from an IP address associated with a country where the company has no offices. The user is currently on a planned vacation and is not in that country. The analyst reviews the authentication logs and sees the login used a valid token and correct multi-factor authentication (MFA) method. Which of the following is the BEST initial step to handle this alert?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is to immediately disable the account or block the IP when seeing an anomalous login. However, because the authentication succeeded with MFA, the first step should be verification with the user before taking irreversible actions.
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
✓
Contact the user to verify if they logged in.
The best initial step is to contact the user to verify if they logged in. Since the login used a valid token and correct MFA, it could be authorized (e.g., user using a VPN or traveling). Disabling the account or blocking the IP without verification could impact productivity if the login is legitimate. Reviewing recent activity may be useful but should come after contacting the user to avoid delays.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Review the user's recent activity for other anomalies.
Why it's wrong here
Good next step, but initial step should be contacting the user.
- ✗
Add the IP address to the block list.
Why it's wrong here
Premature; the IP could be legitimate if user uses a VPN.
- ✓
Contact the user to verify if they logged in.
Why this is correct
Quickest way to confirm if it was the user or a compromise.
- ✗
Disable the user account immediately.
Why it's wrong here
Too drastic without verification; may lock out legitimate user.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
SOC Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 Analyst Roles
Key term
SOC
A Security Operations Center (SOC) is a centralized team that monitors, detects, analyzes, and responds to cybersecurity incidents to protect an organization's information systems.
Key term
Alert
An alert is a notification that something unusual or potentially harmful has happened in a computer system or network.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CS0-004 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 CS0-004 exam.