ISC2 CC Practice Question: Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, and Incident Response
An organization stores backup data on a tape drive (onsite) and also replicates critical data to a cloud storage service. This practice best exemplifies which backup rule?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse backup methods (full, incremental, differential) with the 3-2-1 rule, which is about copy count, media diversity, and offsite placement rather than how changes are captured.
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
✓
3-2-1 backup rule
The 3-2-1 backup rule states that you should keep at least three copies of data, on two different media types, with one copy stored offsite. Storing backups on tape (onsite) plus replicating critical data to cloud storage satisfies the multiple-media and offsite requirements, making it the textbook example of the rule.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Incremental backup strategy
Why it's wrong here
Incremental backups capture only data changed since the last backup of any type; the stem describes onsite tape plus cloud replication, which is the 3-2-1 rule (three copies, two media, one offsite). Incremental tempts because it also spans multiple backup sets, but it governs change tracking, not copy redundancy.
- ✗
Differential backup strategy
Why it's wrong here
Differential backups capture only data changed since the last full backup; the stem describes onsite tape plus cloud replication, which is the 3-2-1 rule (three copies, two media, one offsite). Differential is tempting because it also involves multiple backup sets, but it concerns change tracking, not copy count or location.
- ✗
Full backup strategy
Why it's wrong here
A full backup strategy describes copying all data each run, not the 3-2-1 rule's requirement for one offsite copy. It is tempting because the scenario does involve a complete copy, but the question asks which rule the onsite-plus-cloud arrangement exemplifies, and that is 3-2-1.
- ✓
3-2-1 backup rule
Why this is correct
The 3-2-1 rule requires three copies of data, on two different media types, with one copy held offsite. Tape and cloud storage satisfy the two-media requirement, while cloud replication provides the offsite copy, directly matching the stem's onsite tape plus cloud arrangement.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official ISC2 exam blueprint
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