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CISM Practice Question: A financial institution is hit by a Distributed…
A financial institution is hit by a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that is overwhelming their internet-facing services. The incident response team activates the plan, but the attack continues to escalate. The CEO is under pressure and asks the incident response manager whether they should pay the ransom demand (the attackers also sent an extortion note demanding payment to stop the attack). The manager must advise the CEO on the best course of action.
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
✓
Engage a DDoS scrubbing service to filter malicious traffic
Using DDoS scrubbing services (cloud-based or on-premise) is the recommended technical defense. Paying the ransom encourages future attacks and does not guarantee the attack will stop. Rate limiting may affect legitimate traffic. Shutting down external access is too drastic and impacts business.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Engage a DDoS scrubbing service to filter malicious traffic
Why this is correct
Scrubbing services can absorb and filter attack traffic while allowing legitimate traffic.
- ✗
Implement rate limiting on the firewall
Why it's wrong here
Rate limiting may mitigate but can also block legitimate traffic; not as effective as scrubbing.
- ✗
Shut down all external-facing services
Why it's wrong here
This stops the attack but also stops business; should be last resort.
- ✗
Pay the ransom to stop the attack immediately
Why it's wrong here
Paying does not guarantee cessation and funds criminal activity.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CISM practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISACA 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 CISM exam.