Databricks-DA-Assoc Securing Data Practice Question
A data analyst is reviewing audit logs in Databricks to investigate who accessed a sensitive table 'main.finance.payroll'. The analyst needs to identify the user, the timestamp, and the action performed. Which audit log service should the analyst query to find this information?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse cluster or job logs with data access logs; only Unity Catalog logs record table-level access details.
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
✓
The 'unityCatalog' audit log service
Unity Catalog audit logs capture data access events, including user, timestamp, and action, for tables governed by Unity Catalog. The 'unityCatalog' service is the correct source for investigating access to 'main.finance.payroll'.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The 'unityCatalog' audit log service
Why this is correct
The 'unityCatalog' audit log service records events related to Unity Catalog, including data access, privilege changes, and table operations. It captures the user, timestamp, and action for queries against tables like 'main.finance.payroll'. This is the correct service to query for access details.
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The 'jobs' audit log service
Why it's wrong here
The 'jobs' audit log service logs job creation, runs, and cancellations. While it may show that a job ran, it does not provide details about which tables were accessed or the specific SQL queries executed. It is not suitable for tracking data access.
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The 'notebook' audit log service
Why it's wrong here
The 'notebook' audit log service records notebook actions such as creation, deletion, and execution. It does not capture the underlying data access details like table reads. To see which tables were queried, the analyst must look at Unity Catalog audit logs.
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The 'clusters' audit log service
Why it's wrong here
The 'clusters' audit log service records cluster creation, termination, and configuration changes. It does not log data access events such as SELECT queries on tables. Therefore, it would not contain the user and action information needed for this investigation.
About these practice questions
This Databricks-DA-Assoc question is part of Courseiva's 291-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 →
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 Databricks exam blueprint
This Databricks-DA-Assoc practice question is part of Courseiva's free Databricks 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 Databricks-DA-Assoc exam.