CCSP Cloud Application Security Practice Question
A developer wants to ensure that sensitive data in a cloud database is protected even if the database backup files are stolen. Which best practice should be implemented?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse network-level controls (VPC isolation) or access controls (IAM) with data-at-rest encryption, failing to recognize that backup files are a separate attack surface requiring encryption specifically applied to the backup media.
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
✓
Enable transparent data encryption (TDE) with customer-managed keys for the database and its backups.
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) with customer-managed keys encrypts the database at rest and, when properly configured, also encrypts backup files. This ensures that even if backup files are stolen, the data remains unreadable without the decryption keys, providing a strong defense against data breaches involving physical or logical theft of backups.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Restrict access to the backup files using IAM roles.
Why it's wrong here
IAM restrictions govern access to backup objects but do not render a stolen file unreadable, so exfiltrated backups remain plaintext. It is tempting because least-privilege access control is a genuine best practice, and it would be correct where the threat is unauthorised retrieval rather than physical theft of the file.
- ✗
Use a virtual private cloud (VPC) to isolate the database from the internet.
Why it's wrong here
A VPC only isolates network paths to the running database; it does nothing to protect a stolen backup file, which leaves the provider's storage already encrypted or not. VPCs are the right control for restricting inbound access to live instances, not for data-at-rest confidentiality of exported backups.
- ✓
Enable transparent data encryption (TDE) with customer-managed keys for the database and its backups.
Why this is correct
TDE encrypts database files and their backups at rest, so stolen backup media yields only ciphertext. Customer-managed keys keep control of decryption outside the provider, satisfying the requirement that sensitive data stays protected even when backup files are exfiltrated.
- ✗
Implement data tokenization for all sensitive fields.
Why it's wrong here
Tokenisation replaces sensitive values with surrogate tokens, but the token vault and the mapping remain recoverable, and backups still hold the surrogates; it does not render stolen backup files unreadable. Tokenisation suits reducing PCI DSS scope in live systems, not protecting backup media itself.
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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.