Cisco Certified CyberOps Associate Advanced Practice Exam: Hard Questions 2025

During a phishing incident, a user reports entering credentials into a convincing cloud-login page. Minutes later, the SIEM shows a successful VPN authentication from a foreign IP, followed by access to a file share containing sensitive data. MFA is enabled for VPN, but the logs show the VPN session was established via SAML SSO. The IdP logs show a successful MFA challenge for the user from the user's usual device. Which scenario most plausibly explains how the attacker bypassed MFA and what is the best immediate containment action?

A SOC is tuning detections and sees frequent false positives from a rule that triggers on "multiple failed logins followed by a success". In one case, the sequence is: 12 failed logins to an Okta tenant from a single IP over 2 minutes, then a success, then immediate access to administrative settings. NetFlow shows the source IP is an egress IP for a corporate proxy used by many remote employees. Which change best reduces false positives while preserving the ability to detect true credential attacks in this environment?

You are investigating a Linux web server suspected of compromise. EDR shows a new process tree: nginx -> bash -> python3 -> curl. The bash command line contains: "bash -c {echo,<base64>}|{base64,-d}|{bash,-i}". Shortly after, a python process opens a reverse TCP connection to an external IP on port 443, but TLS inspection shows it is not actually TLS (no ClientHello). Which host-based artifact is MOST likely to provide strong evidence of persistence rather than just initial access activity?

A Windows endpoint shows intermittent credential prompts and then a successful login to a privileged account. Sysmon logs indicate Event ID 10 (ProcessAccess) where a non-signed process "C:\Users\Public\svchost.exe" accesses "lsass.exe" with GrantedAccess 0x1fffff. However, the endpoint also has an EDR agent that reports no "credential dumping" alert. Which is the BEST next analytical step to validate whether this is a true LSASS dump attempt versus a benign tool interaction?

A SOC detects DNS queries for many randomized subdomains of a single domain (e.g., a9f3x.example.com, k2m1p.example.com) from one internal host. The queries occur at a steady rate, with small TXT responses. Proxy logs show no direct HTTP/HTTPS connections to that domain. The host later initiates a single outbound TCP connection to an unrelated IP on port 53. Which interpretation and investigative pivot is MOST appropriate?

An IDS alerts on a possible SMB exploit attempt from an internal workstation to multiple file servers. Packet captures show repeated SMB2 SESSION_SETUP requests with malformed fields, followed by TCP resets from the servers. No authentication success events appear in Windows logs on the servers. Which conclusion is MOST defensible and what should be the NEXT action?

A company uses a SPAN port to feed an NDR sensor. During an incident, analysts notice gaps in visibility: some east-west traffic between two VLANs never appears in NDR, but firewall logs indicate the flows occurred. The network uses a multilayer switch doing inter-VLAN routing (SVIs) and the SPAN is configured on an access switch port. Which architectural change MOST reliably improves sensor visibility for inter-VLAN traffic without requiring pervasive host agents?

A Snort rule is generating alerts for "ET TROJAN Possible C2" based on a specific HTTP User-Agent string. During validation, analysts find the same User-Agent used by an internal software updater. The suspicious sessions, however, differ by showing periodic HTTP POSTs with small, fixed-size bodies to a single URI, always preceded by a DNS query for a domain with very short TTL. Which tuning approach best reduces false positives while retaining detection for real C2 using the same User-Agent?

After an endpoint is suspected of ransomware staging, investigators find the following on a Windows host: a scheduled task created under \Microsoft\Windows\UpdateOrchestrator with a random name; the task action runs "powershell.exe -WindowStyle Hidden -EncodedCommand ...". The task's author field is blank, and the creation time aligns with an RDP logon from an IT admin jump host. Which is the MOST appropriate next step to distinguish attacker activity from legitimate admin automation while preserving forensic value?

A SOC is formalizing incident handling. During a containment action, an analyst blocks an IP address observed in C2 traffic. Minutes later, business-critical third-party access fails because the same IP is used by a shared cloud service front end. Leadership asks how to prevent recurrence without slowing response too much. Which policy/procedure change is the BEST balance of speed and risk management?