hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
ISC2 CC Practice Question: A medium-sized e-commerce company operates a web…
A medium-sized e-commerce company operates a web application on three virtual servers behind a load balancer. The application handles credit card payments and stores customer data in a database server. The company has a security operations team that monitors logs from firewalls, IDS, and servers. One morning, the IDS generates a critical alert indicating a SQL injection attempt from an external IP to the web application. The alert shows that the injection string was ' OR '1'='1' -- . The web server logs confirm that the request returned a 200 OK status and a large response size. The database logs show a query that returned multiple rows. The security analyst needs to determine the best immediate course of action. The company has a documented incident response plan that includes containment, eradication, and recovery phases. Which action should the analyst take first?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the order of incident response phases, and the trap here is that candidates confuse 'preserve evidence' (Option C) with the first step, when containment must come first to stop the active breach.
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
✓
Take the web server offline and initiate the containment phase of the incident response plan
The correct first action is to take the web server offline and initiate the containment phase. The IDS alert confirms a successful SQL injection (200 OK, large response, multiple rows returned), indicating a data breach is in progress. Containment must precede any other step to stop further data exfiltration, as per the incident response plan's phases.
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 a virtual patch using a web application firewall (WAF) rule to block similar injection attempts
Why it's wrong here
While a WAF rule is a good long-term fix, immediate containment is needed; the attack may already be in progress.
- ✗
Notify the web development team to fix the SQL injection vulnerability in the code
Why it's wrong here
Code fix is eradication, but containment must come first.
- ✗
Run a full database backup to preserve evidence
Why it's wrong here
Backup is important, but the server is still compromised; containment should be immediate.
- ✓
Take the web server offline and initiate the containment phase of the incident response plan
Why this is correct
Taking the server offline stops the attack and preserves evidence.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to Security Principles
Key term
SQL injection
SQL injection is a web security vulnerability that allows an attacker to interfere with the queries an application makes to its database, often to read, modify, or destroy data.
Key term
Incident response
Incident response is the structured approach an organization uses to identify, contain, and recover from cybersecurity incidents like data breaches or ransomware attacks.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CC practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 CC exam.