easyMultiple Choice
CCSP Practice Question: A financial services company is migrating a…
A financial services company is migrating a critical application to the cloud. They must ensure that the cloud provider supports the ability to conduct forensic investigations in case of a security incident. Which of the following is the MOST important requirement to include in the contract?
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
✓
The provider must grant the customer access to raw logs and the ability to perform memory captures on virtual instances.
Forensic investigations require access to raw logs and the ability to capture memory from virtual instances to analyze incidents. Option A is incorrect because uptime guarantees (99.999%) relate to availability, not forensic capability. Option B is incorrect because automatic patching is a security measure but not specific to forensics. Option D is incorrect because data residency restrictions address data sovereignty, not forensic access.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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The provider must guarantee 99.999% uptime for all cloud services used.
Why it's wrong here
An uptime guarantee addresses service availability, not the provider's obligation to preserve evidence and assist an investigation. It is tempting because availability is a common contractual metric, but forensic capability depends on cooperation, logging and evidence retention clauses instead.
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The provider must automatically patch all virtual machines within 24 hours of patch release.
Why it's wrong here
Automatic patching reduces exposure to known vulnerabilities but does not enable forensic investigation; patching can even overwrite artefacts. It is tempting because rapid patching is a standard contractual security control, yet the scenario asks for investigation support, not vulnerability remediation.
- ✓
The provider must grant the customer access to raw logs and the ability to perform memory captures on virtual instances.
Why this is correct
Forensic investigation requires evidence the customer can actually examine. Raw logs and memory captures on virtual instances give the customer direct artefacts, whereas provider-only summaries or notifications would not satisfy the requirement to conduct investigations themselves.
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The provider must store data only in data centers located within the country of operation.
Why it's wrong here
Data residency constrains where data is stored; it does not grant the provider's cooperation, log retention or access needed to investigate an incident. It is tempting because financial regulators mandate residency, but that is a compliance control, not a forensic-investigation capability.
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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.