ISC Practice Question: Systems Security Implementation Verification And Validation
A security engineer is validating the implementation of a TLS 1.3 configuration on an Nginx server. Which configuration directive must be verified to ensure only secure ciphers are used?
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
✓
ssl_protocols TLSv1.3;
The 'ssl_protocols' and 'ssl_ciphers' directives are critical for TLS implementation verification.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m;
Why it's wrong here
This configures performance, not the security of the cipher suite.
- ✗
ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;
Why it's wrong here
While useful, it doesn't define the protocol version or the cipher set specifically.
- ✗
ssl_verify_client on;
Why it's wrong here
This enables mTLS, which is a different security control.
- ✓
ssl_protocols TLSv1.3;
Why this is correct
Restricting the protocol to TLSv1.3 is the primary way to ensure modern, secure communication.
About these practice questions
This ISC question is part of Courseiva's 209-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official (ISC)² exam blueprint
This ISC practice question is part of Courseiva's free (ISC)² 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 ISC exam.