- A
Weekly full backups and daily differential backups
Why wrong: Differential backups taken daily still result in up to 24 hours of potential data loss, exceeding the 1-hour RPO.
- B
Weekly full backups and hourly incremental backups
Hourly incremental backups meet the 1-hour RPO, and the weekly full backup ensures a baseline for recovery within the 4-hour RTO.
- C
Monthly full backups and weekly incremental backups
Why wrong: This approach has an RPO of up to a week, far exceeding 1 hour.
- D
Daily full backups with no incremental backups
Why wrong: Daily full backups cannot meet a 1-hour RPO because data loss could be up to 24 hours.
Question 125 of 1,000
SSCP Security Operations and Administration Practice Question
This SSCP practice question tests your understanding of security operations and administration. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 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?
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
Option B is correct because 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.
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.
- ✗
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.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
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.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often 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.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Incremental backups rely on the archive log or change tracking mechanism (e.g., Oracle RMAN incremental level 1 or SQL Server differential bitmaps) to record only changed blocks since the last backup. Restoring requires applying the full backup and then each incremental in sequence, which can be accelerated using technologies like block-level incremental restore or log shipping. In real-world scenarios, a 4-hour RTO might require pre-staging the full backup on standby hardware or using snapshot-based backups to reduce restore time.
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 security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
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.
- →
Security Operations and Administration — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SSCP question test?
Security Operations and Administration — This question tests Security Operations and Administration — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Weekly full backups and hourly incremental backups — Option B is correct because 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.
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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.
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