ISC · domain
Infrastructure And System Security
This domain covers designing and evaluating secure infrastructure: network segmentation and zoning, database and OS hardening, cloud VPC architecture, and identity-based access to hosts and services. Questions are scenario-based, asking you to choose controls, place workloads in the correct zone or subnet, and replace weak authentication with stronger mechanisms.
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What to know about Infrastructure And System Security
Be able to design segmented networks and cloud VPCs, harden databases and hosts, and choose strong authentication for administrative access. The single most important thing is isolating public-facing services from internal systems so a breach cannot move laterally.
Selecting database controls such as encryption, auditing, and least-privilege access roles
Placing public-facing services in a DMZ or public subnet separate from internal networks
Replacing static SSH keys with short-lived certificates or a bastion/jump host
Watch out for
Common Infrastructure And System Security exam traps
- ▸Treating a firewall or WAF as sufficient database security while ignoring encryption, auditing, and access control
- ▸Putting public-facing services directly in the internal network, enabling lateral movement after compromise
- ▸Leaving static SSH keys in place instead of using short-lived credentials, certificates, or a hardened bastion
Question index
All Infrastructure And System Security questions (54)
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You are designing a Zero Trust architecture in AWS. You need to implement micro-segmentation for a set of EC2 instances running a web application. Which AWS feature provides the most granular control over traffic flow between specific instances within the same VPC subnet?
Hard2Which TWO of the following are essential for protecting against SQL Injection?
Medium3Which security measure is most effective at preventing unauthorized access to a physical data center?
Easy4Which protocol should be prioritized when designing a secure logging infrastructure to prevent log tampering?
Easy5Which THREE of the following are common network security architecture tools?
Easy6What is the primary security goal of an 'Air-Gapped' network segment?
Easy7You are auditing a serverless architecture and find that functions are configured to use 'Public' network access. What is the biggest risk?
Hard8A security engineer is hardening a Linux system. Which kernel-level feature should be used to restrict processes so that even if they are compromised, they cannot access unauthorized files?
Hard9A security architect is designing an authentication flow for a distributed system. Which method provides the best defense against replay attacks?
Hard10Which THREE of the following are indicators of a potential system compromise?
Medium11A company is implementing database encryption at rest. What is the most secure way to handle the master encryption keys?
Medium12You are configuring an F5 BIG-IP LTM (Local Traffic Manager). You need to terminate SSL/TLS connections at the load balancer to inspect decrypted traffic before forwarding it to the backend web servers. Which object must you configure?
Medium13Which THREE of the following are core principles of a Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA)?
Medium14Which mechanism is best suited for securing internal web traffic using mutual authentication at the TLS layer?
Easy15An organization is migrating to a serverless architecture. Which security control is most effective at preventing 'Insecure Serverless Function Configuration' attacks?
Hard16You are implementing DNS Security (DNSSEC). What is the primary benefit of this implementation?
Hard17An organization is deploying an EDR solution across their endpoints. To ensure maximum visibility without crashing legacy applications, what is the best deployment strategy?
Medium18You are architecting a cloud-based application that needs to share secrets between two different cloud environments (AWS and Azure). What is the most secure way to exchange credentials?
Hard19You are deploying a Zero Trust architecture for a remote workforce. Which THREE of the following technologies should be implemented to effectively enforce granular access control at the application layer?
Hard20A security architect is hardening a Linux-based server environment. Which TWO of the following kernel-level security modules should be configured to enforce mandatory access control?
Hard21You are configuring a load balancer for a secure web application. Which setting ensures that cookies are protected?
Medium22In a VMware NSX-T environment, you need to implement a 'Distributed Firewall' (DFW) policy that separates traffic based on the application tier regardless of which ESXi host the VM is running on. What is the primary object used to achieve this logical grouping?
Hard23A developer needs to store sensitive secrets for an application. Which approach is considered the industry standard for cloud environments?
Medium24Which feature is essential for protecting against 'Credential Stuffing' attacks on an enterprise authentication portal?
Medium25Which TWO of the following are key requirements for securing a container orchestrator like Kubernetes?
Hard26When configuring Cisco ASA firewalls for high availability, which protocol is used to maintain state information between the primary and standby units?
Medium27A security engineer is designing a zero-trust architecture for a hybrid environment. They need to ensure that local service-to-service communication is encrypted without modifying application code. Which tool should be used?
Hard28When designing a secure API, which protocol is recommended for authorization?
Medium29A security architect is configuring IPsec VPN tunnels between two data centers. Which encryption standard provides the best balance of security and modern performance?
Medium30You need to protect a legacy web application that cannot be patched. What is the best strategy?
Medium31You are designing a secure data enclave using Confidential Computing. Which technology allows you to verify that the code running inside the TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) has not been tampered with?
Hard32An organization is deploying Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). To enforce organizational compliance, they must restrict which container images can be deployed. What is the most effective approach?
Medium33An organization is using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to deploy resources. How can they ensure that developers do not introduce insecure configurations?
Medium34Which THREE of the following are critical for a secure identity architecture?
Hard35Which THREE of the following are valid security controls for a database?
Medium36You are designing a VPC architecture in AWS. You need to ensure that database instances in a private subnet can download patches from the internet without being directly reachable from the public internet. Which architecture component should you deploy?
Medium37When designing a secure network, which zone should host public-facing services to minimize the risk of lateral movement to internal networks?
Easy38Which THREE of the following are best practices for securing a remote worker's endpoint?
Medium39A security engineer needs to secure SSH access to Linux servers in a cloud VPC. What is the most secure method to replace static SSH keys?
Medium40Which TWO of the following are key benefits of 'Immutable Infrastructure'?
Hard41You are reviewing the security architecture of a Kubernetes cluster. Which TWO of the following configurations are considered best practices for preventing unauthorized container privilege escalation?
Hard42Which THREE of the following are primary components of a typical Cisco ACI (Application Centric Infrastructure) fabric design used to enforce security segmentation?
Medium43You are auditing a GCP environment. You discover that a Cloud Function is accessing a Cloud Storage bucket using the default Compute Engine service account. What is the primary security risk?
Hard44Which TWO of the following are common methods to protect data during transit?
Medium45Which TWO of the following are essential for a secure Cloud CI/CD pipeline?
Hard46A company is migrating legacy workloads to Azure and requires host-based intrusion detection with file integrity monitoring (FIM) across hybrid environments. Which service provides this integrated capability?
Hard47Which TWO of the following are fundamental pillars of information security (CIA triad)?
Easy48A cloud architect is defining a network security architecture for a multi-tier application. How should they protect the application tier from direct internet access?
Medium49Which TWO of the following are best practices for securing API endpoints?
Medium50A company is migrating to Microsoft 365. You need to ensure that users are only able to access SharePoint sites from managed devices that are compliant with corporate security policies. Which service provides this conditional access control?
Easy51What is the primary purpose of a TPM chip in a laptop?
Easy52What is the primary function of an EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) tool compared to traditional Antivirus?
Easy53Which of the following is the most effective way to secure a remote access connection for employees?
Easy54A security architect is configuring an AWS VPC to ensure that traffic between two subnets is inspected by a centralized firewall appliance. Which configuration provides the most resilient design?
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Frequently asked questions
- What does the Infrastructure And System Security domain cover on the ISC exam?
- Be able to design segmented networks and cloud VPCs, harden databases and hosts, and choose strong authentication for administrative access. The single most important thing is isolating public-facing services from internal systems so a breach cannot move laterally.
- How many questions are in this domain?
- This page lists all 54 Infrastructure And System Security questions in the ISC 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 Infrastructure And System Security questions?
- Yes — the session launcher on this page filters questions to this domain only. Choose any session length for inline explanations and scoring.