This CS0-003 practice question tests your understanding of security operations. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. A key principle to apply: sign-in logs provide authentication attempt details (IP, time, user agent).. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A UEBA rule flags a user authenticating from London and Singapore within 12 minutes, followed by a mailbox forwarding rule creation. What should the analyst investigate first? In the containment trade-off phase, Which response balances containment with evidence preservation?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "first"
Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
Sign-in logs, MFA result, device details, and mailbox audit events
Impossible travel plus forwarding rule creation is a strong account-compromise pattern; identity and mailbox audit data confirm whether the activity is malicious.
B
The organisation's public DNS zone file
Why wrong: DNS zone data is unrelated to mailbox-forwarding abuse.
C
Only the user's browser cache
Why wrong: Browser cache is not the authoritative source for sign-in and mailbox-rule activity.
D
Only DHCP logs from the London office
Why wrong: DHCP logs cannot explain the remote sign-in or mailbox change.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Sign-in logs, MFA result, device details, and mailbox audit events
Option A is correct because the UEBA rule indicates a possible account compromise (impossible travel followed by mailbox rule creation). The analyst must first verify the sign-in logs for authentication source IPs, MFA result to check if the attacker bypassed MFA, device details to identify if a known device was used, and mailbox audit events to confirm the forwarding rule. These four data sources provide the minimum evidence needed to assess the scope of compromise before containment.
Key principle: Sign-in logs provide authentication attempt details (IP, time, user agent).
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Sign-in logs, MFA result, device details, and mailbox audit events
Why this is correct
Impossible travel plus forwarding rule creation is a strong account-compromise pattern; identity and mailbox audit data confirm whether the activity is malicious.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Sign-in logs provide authentication attempt details (IP, time, user agent).
✗
The organisation's public DNS zone file
Why it's wrong here
DNS zone data is unrelated to mailbox-forwarding abuse.
✗
Only the user's browser cache
Why it's wrong here
Browser cache is not the authoritative source for sign-in and mailbox-rule activity.
✗
Only DHCP logs from the London office
Why it's wrong here
DHCP logs cannot explain the remote sign-in or mailbox change.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Cisco often tests the candidate's ability to prioritize server-side logs (sign-in, MFA, audit) over client-side artifacts (browser cache) or unrelated infrastructure (DNS zone file) when investigating a UEBA alert for account compromise.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Impossible travel detection relies on geolocation of source IPs from Azure AD or on-premises AD FS sign-in logs, typically using a time-distance calculation. A 12-minute gap between London and Singapore (approx. 10,000 km) exceeds any commercial flight time, confirming the anomaly. Mailbox forwarding rules are often created via Exchange Web Services (EWS) or Graph API, and auditing these requires enabling mailbox audit logging (default in Exchange Online) to capture the Set-Mailbox or New-InboxRule cmdlet execution.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Sign-in logs provide authentication attempt details (IP, time, user agent).
MFA results confirm successful or failed multi-factor authentication attempts.
Device details link authentication to specific endpoints.
Mailbox audit events record changes made within a user's mailbox.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Sign-in logs provide authentication attempt details (IP, time, user agent).
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A SOC analyst notices unusual lateral movement in the network at 2 AM. The IR playbook dictates: identify and contain (isolate the affected machine), then eradicate (remove the malware), then recover (restore from backup), then document. Skipping containment before eradication risks the attacker regaining access. Questions like this test the sequence and rationale of incident response phases.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this CS0-003 question in full detail.
Review sign-in logs provide authentication attempt details (IP, time, user agent)., then practise related CS0-003 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
Security Operations — This question tests Security Operations — Sign-in logs provide authentication attempt details (IP, time, user agent)..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Sign-in logs, MFA result, device details, and mailbox audit events — Option A is correct because the UEBA rule indicates a possible account compromise (impossible travel followed by mailbox rule creation). The analyst must first verify the sign-in logs for authentication source IPs, MFA result to check if the attacker bypassed MFA, device details to identify if a known device was used, and mailbox audit events to confirm the forwarding rule. These four data sources provide the minimum evidence needed to assess the scope of compromise before containment.
What should I do if I get this CS0-003 question wrong?
Review sign-in logs provide authentication attempt details (IP, time, user agent)., then practise related CS0-003 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Sign-in logs provide authentication attempt details (IP, time, user agent).
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