CND · domain
Application And Data Protection
This domain covers securing applications and data across Microsoft SQL Server, Elasticsearch, Python Flask uploads, and enterprise DLP. It tests your ability to select native database controls, configure authentication and transport security, validate file uploads against RCE, and identify standard DLP capabilities across endpoint, network, and storage vectors.
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What to know about Application And Data Protection
You must be able to select and configure native security controls for SQL Server, Elasticsearch, and Flask uploads, and identify DLP capabilities. The most important thing: choose the correct built-in feature for each layer—encryption, authentication, validation, or inspection—without adding third-party tools.
SQL Server 2019 native features: Transparent Data Encryption, Always Encrypted, and SQL Server Audit for data protection and auditing.
Elasticsearch cluster security: X-Pack Security authentication realms and TLS/SSL transport layer encryption to protect indices.
Flask file upload validation: check file extension, MIME type, magic bytes, and store outside web root to prevent RCE.
Enterprise DLP standard capabilities: content inspection, policy enforcement, and incident reporting across endpoint, network, and storage.
Watch out for
Common Application And Data Protection exam traps
- ▸Confusing SQL Server Transparent Data Encryption (at-rest) with Always Encrypted (client-side column encryption) or omitting SQL Server Audit for compliance.
- ▸Assuming Elasticsearch basic license includes authentication; X-Pack Security or Open Distro plugins are required for authentication and TLS.
- ▸Relying only on file extension or MIME type for upload validation; attackers bypass these, so magic byte checks and non-executable storage are essential.
Question index
All Application And Data Protection questions (33)
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A security administrator is configuring a corporate proxy server (Squid) to inspect outbound HTTPS traffic from endpoints. To perform SSL interception (Man-in-the-Middle inspection) for content filtering and DLP, what cryptographic setup must be installed on client workstations?
Medium2A security analyst is reviewing IIS 10 web server logs and notices numerous requests attempting path traversal using URL-encoded characters such as '%2e%2e%2f'. Which built-in IIS feature or security tool should be configured to automatically block such requests?
Medium3An organization is evaluating methods to secure data in transit across public networks. Which TWO cryptographic protocols or mechanisms provide secure communication channels?
Easy4An administrator is configuring Microsoft BitLocker Drive Encryption on a Windows Server 2019 machine. Which TWO authentication methods are natively supported by BitLocker for operating system volume startup protection?
Medium5An enterprise security architect is configuring database security controls in Microsoft SQL Server 2019. Which THREE native features should be implemented to ensure comprehensive data protection and auditing?
Hard6A penetration tester is evaluating a web application built on Node.js and discovers that user objects passed into an administrative function are vulnerable to prototype pollution. Which remediation strategy should the development team apply to prevent this vulnerability?
Medium7An organization is deploying a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solution to protect sensitive intellectual property. Which TWO locations or data states must a comprehensive DLP architecture monitor?
Easy8A security engineer is performing a security audit on an enterprise PostgreSQL database server. Which THREE hardening steps should be implemented to secure database access and data at rest?
Hard9An administrator needs to configure Microsoft BitLocker Drive Encryption via Group Policy to require a startup PIN on a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) equipped system. Which specific policy path must be navigated in the Local Group Policy Editor?
Easy10A small business wants to secure its web application against SQL injection without modifying application code. The application uses a MySQL database and receives user input through web forms. Which defensive measure should be implemented at the database layer to reduce the impact of SQL injection attacks?
Easy11An organization is utilizing PostgreSQL to store sensitive customer records and needs to implement Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) for data at rest. Which core native PostgreSQL mechanism or extension should the Database Administrator configure?
Hard12A systems administrator needs to secure data at rest on an enterprise Linux server by encrypting an entire secondary disk partition (e.g., /dev/sdb1) using LUKS (Linux Unified Key Setup). Which command should be executed first to initialize the encrypted partition?
Easy13An enterprise security architect is deploying Digital Guardian DLP to protect intellectual property on Windows endpoints. An employee attempts to upload proprietary source code to a personal cloud storage provider via a web browser. Which DLP component intercepts this action at the browser level?
Hard14An enterprise application stores user passwords in a PostgreSQL database. To comply with modern cryptographic standards, which hashing algorithm configuration should the database administrator verify is in use to ensure strong password protection against offline brute-force attacks?
Hard15A security analyst is hardening an enterprise Microsoft Exchange email server and needs to prevent Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) and insecure deserialization attacks targeting Exchange web components. Which security control or update management practice is most critical?
Medium16A security engineer is configuring a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to protect an online banking portal. The WAF must detect and drop HTTP requests containing patterns typical of SQL injection attacks before they reach the web server. What category of WAF protection rule is being utilized?
Easy17An enterprise network administrator needs to enforce data loss prevention rules across corporate endpoints. They deploy McAfee Data Loss Prevention Endpoint. Which client component inspects and blocks data movement to USB mass storage devices locally on the workstation?
Easy18An enterprise database administrator is configuring Microsoft SQL Server Always On Availability Groups and needs to ensure that database traffic transmitted between replicas across the network is encrypted. Which configuration setting must be enabled?
Hard19A security analyst is deploying Snort IDS to inspect incoming web traffic and needs to write a rule that triggers when the HTTP URI contains the exact string 'admin_login.php' regardless of case. Which Snort rule option modifier accomplishes this?
Medium20A financial services company stores customer records in a Microsoft SQL Server 2019 database. A security administrator must ensure that sensitive columns such as credit card numbers are encrypted at rest and that even a database administrator with full server access cannot read the plaintext values without an additional secret. Which SQL Server feature should be implemented to meet this requirement?
Hard21A security analyst is hardening an Apache HTTP Server against web attacks. Which TWO directives or modules should be configured to enhance application security and mitigate common web threats?
Medium22A security engineer is configuring a Symantec Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Network Monitor policy to intercept outgoing HTTP traffic containing credit card numbers. Which detection technology should be selected to match standard credit card formats using Luhn algorithm validation?
Easy23A healthcare organization is implementing a data loss prevention (DLP) program for endpoints running Windows 10. The security team wants to prevent protected health information (PHI) from leaving the organization through email and removable media. Which TWO controls should be enabled in a Microsoft Defender for Endpoint DLP policy to directly block these exfiltration channels? (Choose two.)
Medium24An application security team is performing static code analysis on a Java Spring Boot web application. The scanner flags a potential SQL injection vulnerability in a JDBC template query. Which remediation method should the developer implement to secure the database interaction?
Medium25A security analyst is reviewing an application that stores user passwords in a database. The analyst finds that passwords are hashed with SHA-256 and a unique salt per user. The organization wants to increase resistance to offline brute-force attacks using GPUs. Which change should the analyst recommend?
Medium26An enterprise security auditor is reviewing an Elasticsearch cluster configuration. To prevent unauthorized access to stored indices containing sensitive PII and financial records, which authentication and transport layer security (TLS) settings must be enforced?
Hard27A software developer is writing a Python Flask web application that accepts file uploads from users. To prevent arbitrary file upload vulnerabilities leading to Remote Code Execution (RCE), which validation procedure must the developer implement?
Medium28A cybersecurity architect is designing an enterprise Data Loss Prevention (DLP) deployment strategy across endpoint, network, and storage vectors. Which THREE technical capabilities are standard functions of enterprise storage discovery DLP tools?
Hard29An organization wants to secure data in transit between microservices communicating within a Kubernetes cluster. Which service mesh technology provides mutual TLS (mTLS) encryption automatically between service pods without modifying application code?
Easy30A security practitioner is deploying an intrusion prevention system (IPS) rule to detect XML External Entity (XXE) injection attacks in HTTP POST requests. Which core feature of an XML parser is being abused in an XXE attack and must be disabled?
Easy31An organization is implementing database transparent data encryption (TDE) and needs to understand its architectural security boundaries. Which THREE security characteristics or limitations are true regarding TDE?
Hard32An organization is implementing database activity monitoring (DAM) to detect unauthorized data access and SQL injection attempts against their enterprise SQL Server databases. Where should the DAM sensor ideally be placed to capture all database queries accurately without relying solely on database logs?
Easy33An enterprise application developer is implementing JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for stateless session authentication. Which implementation flaw represents the highest risk of signature forgery and unauthorized privilege escalation?
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Frequently asked questions
- What does the Application And Data Protection domain cover on the CND exam?
- You must be able to select and configure native security controls for SQL Server, Elasticsearch, and Flask uploads, and identify DLP capabilities. The most important thing: choose the correct built-in feature for each layer—encryption, authentication, validation, or inspection—without adding third-party tools.
- How many questions are in this domain?
- This page lists all 33 Application And Data Protection questions in the CND question bank. The actual exam draws from this domain proportionally to its weighting in the official exam blueprint.
- What is the best way to practise this domain?
- Start with a short focused session (10 questions) to identify gaps, then work through explanations. Repeat with a longer session once the weak areas feel solid.
- Can I practise only Application And Data Protection questions?
- Yes — the session launcher on this page filters questions to this domain only. Choose any session length for inline explanations and scoring.