Chris Noth has recently joined CloudAppSec Private Ltd. as a cloud security engineer. Owing to several instances of malicious activities performed by former employees on his organization's applications and data that reside in an on-premises environment, in 2010, his organization adopted cloud computing and migrated all applications and data to the cloud. Chris would like to manage user identities in cloud-based services and applications. Moreover, he wants to reduce the risk caused by the accounts of former users (employees) by ensuring that the users who leave the system can no longer log in to the system. Therefore, he has enforced an IAM standard that can automate the provisioning and de-provisioning of users when they enter and leave the system. Which of the following IAM standards is implemented by Chris Noth?
Correct Answer: A
Chris Noth is looking to manage user identities and automate the provisioning and de-provisioning of users in cloud-based services and applications. The IAM standard that supports this functionality is SCIM (System for Cross-domain Identity Management). SCIM Overview: SCIM is an open standard designed to manage user identity information across different domains. It simplifies user management in cloud-based applications and services by allowing for automated user provisioning and de-provisioning1. Automated Provisioning: With SCIM, when new users are added to an organization's system, their identities can be automatically provisioned across various cloud services without manual intervention1. Automated De-provisioning: Similarly, when users leave the organization or their roles change, SCIM can ensure that their access is automatically revoked or adjusted across all connected services. This reduces the risk of former employees retaining access to sensitive systems and data1. Why Not the Others?: XACML (eXtensible Access Control Markup Language) is used for defining access control policies, not for identity provisioning. OpenID is an authentication standard that allows users to be authenticated by certain co-operating sites using a third-party service, without the need for passwords. OAuth is an open standard for access delegation, commonly used as a way for Internet users to grant websites or applications access to their information on other websites but without giving them the passwords. Reference: MajorKey Tech: What is Provisioning and De-provisioning in IAM1. SailPoint: What is automated provisioning?2. Nestmeter: Streamlining Security: User Provisioning and Deprovisioning with IAM3.
312-40 Exam Question 2
An organization wants to detect its hidden cloud infrastructure by auditing its cloud environment and resources such that it shuts down unused/unwanted workloads, saves money, minimizes security risks, and optimizes its cloud inventory. In this scenario, which standard is applicable for cloud security auditing that enables the management of customer data?
Correct Answer: B
ISO 27001 & 27002 standards are applicable for cloud security auditing that enables the management of customer data. These standards provide a framework for information security management practices and controls within the context of the organization's information risk management processes. ISO 27001: This is an international standard on how to manage information security. It provides requirements for an information security management system (ISMS) and is designed to ensure the selection of adequate and proportionate security controls. ISO 27002: This standard supplements ISO 27001 by providing a reference set of generic information security controls including best practices in information security. Auditing and Management: Both standards include guidelines and principles for initiating, implementing, maintaining, and improving information security management within an organization, which is essential for auditing and managing customer data. Risk Assessment: They emphasize the importance of assessing IT risks as part of the audit process, ensuring that any hidden infrastructure or unused workloads are identified and managed appropriately. Reference: ISO 27001 & 27002 standards are recognized globally and are often used as a benchmark for assessing and auditing information security management systems, making them suitable for organizations looking to optimize their cloud inventory and manage customer data securely12.
312-40 Exam Question 3
Trevor Noah works as a cloud security engineer in an IT company located in Seattle, Washington. Trevor has implemented a disaster recovery approach that runs a scaled-down version of a fully functional environment in the cloud. This method is most suitable for his organization's core business-critical functions and solutions that require the RTO and RPO to be within minutes. Based on the given information, which of the following disaster recovery approach is implemented by Trevor?
Correct Answer: D
The Warm Standby approach in disaster recovery involves running a scaled-down version of a fully functional environment in the cloud. This method is activated quickly in case of a disaster, ensuring that the Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) are within minutes. Scaled-Down Environment: A smaller version of the production environment is always running in the cloud. This includes a minimal number of resources required to keep the application operational12. Quick Activation: In the event of a disaster, the warm standby environment can be quickly scaled up to handle the full production load12. RTO and RPO: The warm standby approach is designed to achieve an RTO and RPO within minutes, which is essential for business-critical functions12. Business Continuity: This approach ensures that core business functions continue to operate with minimal disruption during and after a disaster12. Reference: Warm Standby is a disaster recovery strategy that provides a balance between cost and downtime. It is less expensive than a fully replicated environment but offers a faster recovery time than cold or pilot light approaches12. This makes it suitable for organizations that need to ensure high availability and quick recovery for their critical systems.
312-40 Exam Question 4
Ray Nicholson works as a senior cloud security engineer in TerraCloud Sec Pvt. Ltd. His organization deployed all applications in a cloud environment in various virtual machines. Using IDS, Ray identified that an attacker compromised a particular VM. He would like to limit the scope of the incident and protect other resources in the cloud. If Ray turns off the VM, what will happen?
Correct Answer: A
When Ray Nicholson, the senior cloud security engineer, identifies that an attacker has compromised a particular virtual machine (VM) using an Intrusion Detection System (IDS), his priority is to limit the scope of the incident and protect other resources in the cloud environment. Turning off the compromised VM may seem like an immediate protective action, but it has significant implications: * Shutdown Impact: When a VM is turned off, its current state and all volatile data in the RAM are lost. This includes any data that might be crucial for forensic analysis, such as the attacker's tools and running processes. * Forensic Data Loss: Critical evidence needed for a thorough investigation, such as memory dumps, active network connections, and ephemeral data, will no longer be accessible. * Data Persistence: While some data is stored in the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD), not all of the forensic data can be retrieved from the disk image alone. Live analysis often provides insights that cannot be captured from static data. Thus, by turning off the VM, Ray risks losing essential forensic data that is necessary for a complete investigation into the incident. References: * NIST SP 800-86: Guide to Integrating Forensic Techniques into Incident Response * AWS Cloud Security Best Practices * Azure Security Documentation
312-40 Exam Question 5
An organization wants to implement a zero-trust access model for its SaaS application on the GCP as well as its on-premises applications. Which of the following GCP services can be used to eliminate the need for setting up a company-wide VPN and implement the RBAC feature to verify employee identities to access organizational applications?
Correct Answer: B
Zero Trust Access Model: The zero-trust model is a security concept centered on the belief that organizations should not automatically trust anything inside or outside its perimeters and instead must verify anything and everything trying to connect to its systems before granting access1. Eliminating VPNs: The zero-trust model can be implemented without the need for traditional VPNs by using cloud services that verify user identities and device security status before granting access to applications1. Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP): Google Cloud's IAP enables the control of access to applications running on GCP, GKE, and on-premises, based on identity and context of the request (such as the user's identity, device security status, and IP address)1. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): IAP supports RBAC, which allows organizations to enforce granular access controls based on roles assigned to users within the organization2. Benefits of IAP: By using IAP, organizations can secure their applications by ensuring that only authenticated and authorized users are able to access them. IAP works as a building block for a zero-trust approach on GCP1. Reference: Google Cloud's explanation of applying zero trust to user access and production services1. Google Cloud's documentation on Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)2.
