SSCP Security Operations and Administration Practice Question
A security administrator is evaluating backup strategies for a critical database with a recovery time objective (RTO) of 4 hours and a recovery point objective (RPO) of 1 hour. Which backup approach best meets these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse differential backups (which capture all changes since the last full backup) with incremental backups (which capture changes since the last backup of any type), leading them to choose daily differentials without realizing the RPO would be 24 hours, not 1 hour.
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
✓
Weekly full backups and hourly incremental backups
Hourly incremental backups ensure that data loss is limited to at most one hour (meeting the 1-hour RPO), while the weekly full backup combined with the incremental chain allows restoration within the 4-hour RTO, assuming the restore process is optimized. Incremental backups capture only changes since the last backup, reducing storage and backup time, which is critical for meeting tight RPOs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Weekly full backups and daily differential backups
Why it's wrong here
Differential backups taken daily still result in up to 24 hours of potential data loss, exceeding the 1-hour RPO.
- ✓
Weekly full backups and hourly incremental backups
Why this is correct
Hourly incremental backups meet the 1-hour RPO, and the weekly full backup ensures a baseline for recovery within the 4-hour RTO.
- ✗
Monthly full backups and weekly incremental backups
Why it's wrong here
This approach has an RPO of up to a week, far exceeding 1 hour.
- ✗
Daily full backups with no incremental backups
Why it's wrong here
Daily full backups cannot meet a 1-hour RPO because data loss could be up to 24 hours.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SSCP 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 SSCP exam.