SSCP Risk Identification, Monitoring, and Analysis Practice Question
A security analyst is configuring a SIEM to detect potential insider threats. Which TWO of the following data sources would be most relevant for detecting an employee exfiltrating sensitive data via email?
⚠ Common exam trap
The exam often tests the distinction between logs that show network-level activity (firewall, DNS) versus logs that inspect content or policy violations (email gateway, DLP), leading candidates to mistakenly choose firewall logs because they see 'outbound traffic' without considering content inspection.
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
✓
Email gateway logs
Email gateway logs capture metadata and content of outbound emails, including sender, recipient, subject, and attachments, enabling detection of anomalous data transfers. Data Loss Prevention (DLP) logs provide detailed policy violation alerts when sensitive data patterns (e.g., credit card numbers, classified text) are matched in email content, directly identifying exfiltration attempts.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Physical access logs
Why it's wrong here
Physical access logs are not relevant to email exfiltration.
- ✓
Email gateway logs
Why this is correct
Email logs capture details of outgoing emails.
- ✗
Firewall logs
Why it's wrong here
Firewall logs show connections but not email content.
- ✓
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) logs
Why this is correct
DLP logs detect sensitive data in emails.
- ✗
DNS logs
Why it's wrong here
DNS logs might show domains but not email content.
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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.