CCSP Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security Practice Question
This CCSP practice question tests your understanding of cloud platform and infrastructure security. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A developer accidentally launched an EC2 instance with an overly permissive security group that allows SSH from 0.0.0.0/0. After a security review, the team wants to ensure this cannot happen again. What is the MOST effective preventive control?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Attach an IAM policy to developer roles that denies the ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress action if the CIDR is 0.0.0.0/0.
Option B is correct because IAM policies can enforce preventive controls by denying the ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress action when the CIDR is 0.0.0.0/0, which blocks the action at the API level before any rule is created. This is a preventive control because it stops the insecure configuration from being applied, rather than detecting or remediating it after the fact. By attaching this policy to developer roles, the team ensures that even if a developer attempts to add an overly permissive SSH rule, the request is denied by AWS IAM.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Grant developers full access to EC2 and rely on training.
Why it's wrong here
Training is not a technical control and is less effective.
✓
Attach an IAM policy to developer roles that denies the ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress action if the CIDR is 0.0.0.0/0.
Why this is correct
This IAM policy condition prevents the action at the time of request.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use AWS Systems Manager to automatically remediate open SSH rules.
Why it's wrong here
Remediation is reactive, not preventive.
✗
Enable AWS Config rules to detect and alert on open SSH.
Why it's wrong here
Config rules are detective, not preventive.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
ISC2 often tests the distinction between preventive controls (IAM deny policies) and detective/reactive controls (AWS Config, Systems Manager remediation), and the trap here is that candidates may choose a detective or reactive option because they think 'alerting' or 'auto-remediation' is sufficient, when the question explicitly asks for the 'most effective preventive control.'
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The IAM condition key ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress can be evaluated against the request parameter cidrIp using a StringNotEquals condition to deny any rule with 0.0.0.0/0. This works because the ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress API call includes the CIDR block as a parameter, and IAM policies can inspect and deny the request before the security group rule is committed. In a real-world scenario, this policy can be combined with a similar deny for ec2:RevokeSecurityGroupIngress to prevent removal of compliant rules, and it can be scoped to specific security groups or VPCs using additional condition keys.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security — This question tests Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Attach an IAM policy to developer roles that denies the ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress action if the CIDR is 0.0.0.0/0. — Option B is correct because IAM policies can enforce preventive controls by denying the ec2:AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress action when the CIDR is 0.0.0.0/0, which blocks the action at the API level before any rule is created. This is a preventive control because it stops the insecure configuration from being applied, rather than detecting or remediating it after the fact. By attaching this policy to developer roles, the team ensures that even if a developer attempts to add an overly permissive SSH rule, the request is denied by AWS IAM.
What should I do if I get this CCSP question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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