ISC2 CC Business Continuity, DR & Incident Response Practice Question
Exhibit
[IDS Alert] Timestamp: 2024-01-20 14:30:00 Signature: SQL Injection Attempt Source IP: 10.10.10.5 Destination IP: 192.168.1.10 Payload: OR 1=1-- Action: Alert
Refer to the exhibit. What is the first action the incident responder should take?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the candidate's understanding that the first step in incident response is always to investigate and validate the alert, not to immediately contain or dismiss it, tempting candidates to jump to a reactive action like blocking the IP or disabling the application.
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
✓
Investigate the web server at 192.168.1.10
The incident responder must first investigate the web server at 192.168.1.10 to confirm whether the alert is a true positive or a false positive. Jumping to containment actions like disabling the application or blocking the IP without verification could disrupt legitimate services or overlook the root cause. The initial step in any incident response process (as per NIST SP 800-61) is to validate the alert through analysis of logs, processes, and system state.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Disable the web application
Why it's wrong here
Taking the web application offline destroys availability and evidence before the exhibit's indicators are triaged or scoped. Disabling a service is warranted once containment is confirmed and the affected host is identified, not as an untriaged first action.
- ✗
Block the source IP in firewall
Why it's wrong here
Blocking the source IP presumes the exhibit identifies a single external attacker and ignores internal or spoofed sources, potentially tipping off the adversary. Firewall blocks belong to containment after triage confirms the source and scope.
- ✗
Ignore the alert as false positive
Why it's wrong here
Dismissing the alert closes the investigation without validating the exhibit's indicators, so any real compromise persists. Ignoring alerts is only defensible when telemetry conclusively matches a documented benign pattern, which the exhibit does not establish.
- ✓
Investigate the web server at 192.168.1.10
Why this is correct
The exhibit shows the web server as the likely compromised host, so containing or examining it first stops further spread. Investigating 192.168.1.10 directly addresses the identified source of malicious activity before other remediation steps, satisfying the incident response priority of scoping the affected system.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Incident Response and Management
Key term
Containment
Containment is the incident response phase where security teams isolate a compromised system or network to prevent the threat from spreading further while preserving evidence.
Key term
False positive
A false positive is an alert or result that indicates a security threat or vulnerability exists when in fact there is no real issue.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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