312-85 Data Analysis Practice Question
When performing statistical analysis on threat actor TTP frequency, you identify a set of outliers that do not fit the normal distribution of observed incident timestamps. Which statistical measure should you apply to determine if these outliers are significant enough to warrant a change in threat modeling?
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
✓
Calculate the Z-score of the timestamp distribution.
Standard deviation or Z-score is used to determine how many standard deviations an observation is from the mean.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Apply the Mode of the frequency dataset.
Why it's wrong here
Mode only identifies the most frequent value, not the significance of outliers.
- ✓
Calculate the Z-score of the timestamp distribution.
Why this is correct
Z-score identifies how far, in terms of standard deviations, a data point is from the mean.
- ✗
Perform a simple Median split.
Why it's wrong here
Median is resistant to outliers and does not highlight them.
- ✗
Use the Range calculation.
Why it's wrong here
Range only shows the difference between max and min, ignoring distribution.
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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.