CCSP Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security Practice Question
Which of the following is a key difference between a security group and a network ACL in a VPC?
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
✓
Security groups are stateful, while NACLs are stateless
Security groups are stateful, meaning return traffic is automatically allowed regardless of inbound rules. NACLs are stateless, requiring explicit inbound and outbound rules.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Security groups are stateless, while NACLs are stateful
Why it's wrong here
Opposite: Security groups are stateful, NACLs are stateless.
- ✗
Security groups are applied at the subnet level, while NACLs are applied at the instance level
Why it's wrong here
Opposite: Security groups at instance level, NACLs at subnet level.
- ✗
Security groups support both allow and deny rules
Why it's wrong here
Security groups support allow rules only; NACLs support allow and deny.
- ✓
Security groups are stateful, while NACLs are stateless
Why this is correct
Correct: Stateful security groups automatically allow return traffic.
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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.