312-85 Data Collection And Processing Practice Question
While processing threat intelligence, you encounter an indicator containing a 'base64' encoded payload. Which action should be performed during normalization to maintain searchability?
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
✓
Decode the content and extract nested indicators.
Decoding the payload allows the analyst to extract actual IOCs (like C2 domains) which can then be indexed.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Replace the payload with a static hash.
Why it's wrong here
This loses the context of the malicious command.
- ✗
Discard the indicator as encrypted.
Why it's wrong here
Base64 is an encoding, not encryption, and contains valuable data.
- ✗
Store the raw base64 string as a comment.
Why it's wrong here
This prevents indexing and searching for the content.
- ✓
Decode the content and extract nested indicators.
Why this is correct
Decoding is essential for normalization and indicator extraction.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official EC-Council exam blueprint
This 312-85 practice question is part of Courseiva's free EC-Council 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 312-85 exam.