XDR Analyst Advanced Practice Exam: Hard Questions 2025

A global enterprise uses Cortex XDR for endpoints and wants to correlate endpoint alerts with network telemetry from next-generation firewalls. Due to data residency constraints, some regions cannot forward raw logs to a central SIEM, but the SOC still needs unified investigations in XDR. Which architecture best meets the requirement while minimizing duplicate data pipelines?

During an XDR deployment, a subset of endpoints consistently show as "protected" but generate no behavioral telemetry for several hours, while other endpoints in the same subnet work normally. The SOC confirms users are active and generating process/network activity. Which is the MOST likely cause to validate first, given the symptom pattern?

An attacker uses a legitimate admin tool to execute commands remotely (living-off-the-land). Cortex XDR raises a medium-severity alert for suspicious remote execution, but the organization has many legitimate remote admin sessions. As an analyst, you need to determine whether this is malicious with the highest confidence using XDR-native context. What is the BEST next step?

A Cortex XDR alert indicates a suspicious script execution followed by a network connection to a newly registered domain. The endpoint user claims they were installing a browser extension. You see the script spawned by a trusted browser process. Which evidence combination MOST strongly suggests malicious activity rather than benign extension installation?

Your team is investigating an incident where the attacker likely used credential dumping and then moved laterally. You have one confirmed compromised endpoint. Which investigation approach in Cortex XDR is MOST effective to quickly identify additional affected endpoints while minimizing false positives?

A recurring alert for suspicious PowerShell is triggered daily on dozens of endpoints. Investigation reveals it is caused by a legitimate IT automation job, but you still want to detect similar malicious activity that differs in key ways (e.g., obfuscation and network beaconing). What is the BEST tuning strategy that preserves detection value?

A high-severity ransomware alert fires on an endpoint hosting a critical application. The alert indicates rapid file modifications and suspicious encryption-like activity. The business requires maximum uptime, but you must prevent spread and preserve evidence. What is the BEST immediate response sequence using Cortex XDR capabilities?

An analyst isolated a suspected compromised endpoint in Cortex XDR. Minutes later, multiple alerts appear for failed remediation: the endpoint remains isolated, but malicious activity continues locally and additional artifacts are detected. What is the MOST likely explanation and best next action?

After containing an incident, leadership asks for a report that quantifies dwell time, scope, and control effectiveness, and also provides evidence supporting root cause. What is the BEST approach to produce a defensible report using Cortex XDR data without over-claiming certainty?

You are tasked with creating an operational dashboard for SOC management to monitor detection quality and response performance in Cortex XDR. The SOC has a problem with alert fatigue and inconsistent closure reasons. Which metric set is MOST useful to drive measurable improvement and enable targeted tuning and training?