CISSP Security Operations Practice Question
Which type of digital forensics involves capturing and analyzing network traffic to investigate a security incident?
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
✓
Network forensics
Network forensics focuses on monitoring and analyzing network traffic for evidence.
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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Media analysis
Why it's wrong here
Media analysis, often referred to as disk forensics, primarily focuses on the examination of persistent storage devices such as hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), and removable media. This process involves creating forensically sound bit-for-bit images of the storage media to preserve evidence integrity, followed by detailed analysis of file systems, deleted files, and artifacts left behind by user activity or malware. While crucial for reconstructing events on a specific host, it does not involve the real-time capture and analysis of network communication streams.
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Log analysis
Why it's wrong here
Log analysis involves the systematic review and interpretation of event records generated by operating systems, applications, and network devices to identify security incidents, system anomalies, or user activities. While an indispensable component of many forensic investigations, including network forensics, it primarily focuses on historical data recorded in logs rather than the real-time or post-capture examination of network packets and communication streams themselves. Therefore, it provides insights into events but isn't the overarching discipline for capturing live traffic.
- ✓
Network forensics
Why this is correct
Network forensics is the specialized discipline of digital forensics that focuses on monitoring, capturing, storing, and analyzing network traffic to detect intrusions, identify malicious activity, and reconstruct communication events. It involves the examination of network packets, communication protocols, and flow data to understand the origin, nature, and impact of security incidents. This type of forensics directly addresses the capturing and analysis of data in transit across a network, making it the correct answer for examining network traffic.
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Memory forensics
Why it's wrong here
Memory forensics specifically deals with the acquisition and analysis of data residing in a computer's volatile memory, such as Random Access Memory (RAM). This process aims to extract critical artifacts like running processes, open network connections, loaded kernel modules, and cryptographic keys that are only present while the system is powered on. While vital for understanding the real-time state of an active system and identifying sophisticated malware, it does not involve the capture and analysis of network communication streams themselves.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Security Governance and Principles
Key term
Security
Security in IT is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, damage, or theft.
Key term
Incident
An incident is a security event that violates an organization's policies or threatens its data, systems, or operations, requiring a structured response.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CISSP 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 CISSP exam.