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
Disabling the application is too drastic without confirmation of success.
- ✗
Block the source IP in firewall
Why it's wrong here
Blocking may be done after investigation, but the priority is to verify impact on the target.
- ✗
Ignore the alert as false positive
Why it's wrong here
The alert should not be ignored without verification.
- ✓
Investigate the web server at 192.168.1.10
Why this is correct
Investigating the target server will confirm whether the attack succeeded and what data may be compromised.
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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