easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
CCSP Practice Question: Migrating sensitive customer data to a public…
A company is migrating sensitive customer data to a public cloud storage service. They want to ensure that even the cloud provider cannot access the plaintext data. Which encryption strategy should they implement?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the distinction between encryption at rest (server-side) and encryption in transit or before upload (client-side), and the trap is that candidates confuse server-side encryption with the ability to prevent provider access, not realizing that the provider still holds the keys.
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
✓
Client-side encryption before uploading data
Client-side encryption ensures that data is encrypted before it leaves the customer's environment, so the cloud provider only ever receives ciphertext. This means the cloud provider cannot access the plaintext data, even if the storage service is compromised or the provider is legally compelled to disclose data. The encryption keys are managed and stored by the customer, not the cloud provider.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Client-side encryption before uploading data
Why this is correct
Client-side encryption ensures the provider never sees plaintext.
- ✗
Server-side encryption with cloud-provider-managed keys
Why it's wrong here
Server-side encryption may allow provider access to plaintext if they manage keys.
- ✗
Tokenization of sensitive fields at the application layer
Why it's wrong here
Tokenization is not an encryption strategy; it replaces data with tokens.
- ✗
Enforcing role-based access control (RBAC) on the storage bucket
Why it's wrong here
RBAC controls access but does not encrypt data at rest.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 964 original CCSP practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CCSP 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 CCSP exam.