SSCP Network and Communications Security Practice Question
This SSCP practice question tests your understanding of network and communications security. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A multinational company has a headquarters (HQ) and several branch offices connected via site-to-site IPsec VPN tunnels. The branch offices use a single internet connection and a VPN concentrator at HQ. Recently, users in the Asia branch report intermittent connectivity to the HQ file server, with high latency and occasional packet loss. The network team runs a traceroute from Asia branch to the HQ server; it shows the path goes through multiple hops with high latency at the second hop, which is the ISP router. The VPN tunnel status shows 'up' but with increasing rekey failures. The team has verified that the local internet link is stable and there are no bandwidth saturation issues. Which action should the team take first?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "first"
Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Review and adjust the IPsec tunnel lifetime and rekeying thresholds.
The symptoms—intermittent connectivity, high latency at the ISP router, and increasing rekey failures with the tunnel status 'up'—point to IPsec tunnel rekeying issues. Adjusting the IPsec tunnel lifetime and rekeying thresholds (Option C) directly addresses the root cause: the tunnel is attempting to renegotiate security associations (SAs) but failing, likely due to mismatched lifetimes or network delays during rekey. This is the first logical step before escalating to the ISP or changing encryption algorithms.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Upgrade the internet bandwidth at the Asia branch.
Why it's wrong here
The link is not saturated; bandwidth increase won't fix rekey failures.
✗
Change the tunnel to use a different encryption algorithm like AES-256.
Why it's wrong here
Encryption strength is unlikely to cause rekey failures.
✓
Review and adjust the IPsec tunnel lifetime and rekeying thresholds.
Why this is correct
Rekey failures indicate mismatch or too short lifetimes.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Contact the ISP to check for routing issues.
Why it's wrong here
The traceroute shows high latency at ISP, but the local link is stable and other branches might work fine.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates see high latency at the ISP router and immediately blame the ISP (Option D) or bandwidth (Option A), overlooking the IPsec rekey failure logs and the fact that the tunnel is 'up' but failing to rekey, which is a classic IPsec misconfiguration symptom.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
The traceroute shows high latency at ISP, but the local link is stable and other branches might work fine.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
IPsec tunnels use Security Associations (SAs) that have a finite lifetime (e.g., 3600 seconds or 10 MB of traffic). When the lifetime expires, the VPN concentrator and branch initiate a rekey using Internet Key Exchange (IKE) phase 2. If the rekey fails due to packet loss, latency, or mismatched lifetimes (e.g., one side has a shorter lifetime), the tunnel remains 'up' but data stops flowing until the next rekey attempt. Adjusting the lifetime (e.g., increasing it to 86400 seconds) and enabling dead peer detection (DPD) can reduce rekey frequency and improve stability.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A developer is choosing between AES-256 (symmetric) and RSA-2048 (asymmetric) for encrypting a large file that will be sent to a partner. Symmetric encryption is fast but requires key exchange; asymmetric is slower but solves the key distribution problem. A hybrid approach — encrypt the file with AES, encrypt the AES key with RSA — is standard. Questions like this test whether you understand when each approach applies.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Network and Communications Security — This question tests Network and Communications Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Review and adjust the IPsec tunnel lifetime and rekeying thresholds. — The symptoms—intermittent connectivity, high latency at the ISP router, and increasing rekey failures with the tunnel status 'up'—point to IPsec tunnel rekeying issues. Adjusting the IPsec tunnel lifetime and rekeying thresholds (Option C) directly addresses the root cause: the tunnel is attempting to renegotiate security associations (SAs) but failing, likely due to mismatched lifetimes or network delays during rekey. This is the first logical step before escalating to the ISP or changing encryption algorithms.
What should I do if I get this SSCP question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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