ECCouncil 212-89 (EC-Council Certified Incident Handler) Practice Test 106

Question 1050

A technical closure review begins after this incident: Security and HR disagree about who may approve investigation of suspected employee misconduct. After the immediate situation is stabilized, what addresses the enabling failure?

  1. Establish an authorized joint case lead before intrusive inquiry
  2. Review incident escalation matrix, HR policies and legal-hold requirements
  3. Rehearse HR, legal and security escalation roles in insider response exercises
  4. Document approvals, evidence scope and decisions in a restricted case record
  5. Limit collection to documented security purposes with controlled retention

Explanation

Correct Answer

D:

Defensible case handling requires traceable authorization; the affected workflow should not be considered trusted until the issue of whether insider investigations have accountable authority is resolved.

Incorrect Answers

A:

A coordinated process protects the investigation and affected employee; for whether insider investigations have accountable authority, temporary protection does not complete correction; trusted restoration remains necessary.

B:

Unclear decision rights can cause unlawful collection or delayed containment; the requirement concerns whether insider investigations have accountable authority, so verification is not the corrective step.

C:

Preparation reduces conflict during sensitive incidents; the goal is trusted restoration for whether insider investigations have accountable authority. Future hardening is not current-state recovery.

E:

Operational recovery includes appropriate handling of already gathered records; the other incident centers on whether monitoring scope is proportionate and authorized, not this trusted restoration question about whether insider investigations have accountable authority.

Question 1051

A security analyst is asked to validate the following reported behavior: An engineer downloads source-code archives just before resigning and transfers them to a personal drive despite an explicit restriction. Which check can confirm the relevant facts before a disruptive action?

  1. Correlate repository downloads, device transfers and departing employee identity
  2. Apply role-based source access and reviewed offboarding controls
  3. Suspend unauthorized export channels and preserve access evidence with HR/legal oversight
  4. Compare outgoing content classification with legitimate work requirements and policy

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Multiple independent records can establish the movement of protected data and timing; the review should retain source and timing information relevant to whether an intentional insider exfiltration occurred.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Least privilege and timely revocation lower departure-related exposure; for whether an intentional insider exfiltration occurred, prevention is not incident verification; evidence validation remains necessary.

C:

Evidence-based containment limits loss without assuming every departure is malicious; the requirement concerns whether an intentional insider exfiltration occurred, so immediate protection does not substantiate findings.

D:

An improper transfer may arise from convenience rather than malicious intent; it is meant to address whether careless behavior created an insider data incident, not evidence validation for whether an intentional insider exfiltration occurred.

Question 1052

Cleanup is not considered complete. The case record describes: A contractor uses a shared service credential to query private customer information after their contract expired. Which remediation task is necessary rather than merely suppressing the visible symptom?

  1. Correlate database audit, service credential use and contract termination date
  2. Recalculate legitimate access for the new role and audit token use
  3. Reissue scoped credentials to current service owners and assess accessed records
  4. Rotate the exposed service secret and restrict unapproved data access
  5. Inventory nonhuman credentials associated with contractor lifecycle

Explanation

Correct Answer

C:

Recovery replaces a shared secret without breaking legitimate integrations; the recovery decision is tied to whether a service identity provides residual insider access, not merely to reduced alert volume.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Machine credentials can remain active independently of a terminated personal account; the case needs trusted restoration addressing whether a service identity provides residual insider access; verification is not the corrective step.

B:

Recovery separates needed capabilities from pre-transfer entitlements; that method could help with whether credential staging creates persistent access; the trusted restoration decision here involves whether a service identity provides residual insider access.

D:

Containment closes the bypass of HR-driven identity revocation; the requirement concerns whether a service identity provides residual insider access, so temporary protection does not complete correction.

E:

Offboarding must include delegated and shared access; the goal is trusted restoration for whether a service identity provides residual insider access. Future hardening is not current-state recovery.

Question 1053

Following initial stabilization, the team must prove recovery for this case: A contractor is blackmailed into sharing a badge and VPN token with an external actor. Which correction must be verified before the affected service or process is restored?

  1. Revoke affected tokens and badge access while arranging a safe reporting channel
  2. Maintain confidential coercion reporting and strong token/device controls
  3. Assess transferred code, revoke residual credentials and remediate unauthorized copies where lawful
  4. Replace credentials and investigate actions taken by the external actor

Explanation

Correct Answer

D:

Recovery focuses on the unauthorized access path and resulting impact; the owner can validate the correction against the evidence bearing on whether a coerced insider enabled unauthorized access.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Containment should protect both systems and the threatened person; the requirement concerns whether a coerced insider enabled unauthorized access, so temporary protection does not complete correction.

B:

Supportive escalation encourages early reporting of threats; the goal is trusted restoration for whether a coerced insider enabled unauthorized access. Future hardening is not current-state recovery.

C:

Recovery must address both disclosure and continuing access; the other incident centers on whether an intentional insider exfiltration occurred, not this trusted restoration question about whether a coerced insider enabled unauthorized access.

Question 1054

The first task is to corroborate an alert. The case notes state: A payroll clerk uses legitimate permissions to alter their own bank details in a backend system that should require separate approval. What should the investigator examine to distinguish a substantiated finding from an assumption?

  1. Correlate badge entry, VPN sessions and the contractor's verified report
  2. Correlate payroll record changes, approval workflow and actor identity
  3. Restore approved payroll data and review related transactions
  4. Freeze the suspect transaction and restrict the clerk's high-risk modification privileges
  5. Use separation of duties and independent approval for sensitive payroll changes

Explanation

Correct Answer

B:

A valid login does not make a self-benefiting change authorized; it makes the determination of whether authorized access was misused outside its intended purpose defensible and reviewable by the incident owner.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Coercion changes intent but does not remove technical access risk; the activity targets whether a coerced insider enabled unauthorized access; evidence validation here concerns whether authorized access was misused outside its intended purpose.

C:

Integrity review determines the business impact of misuse; for whether authorized access was misused outside its intended purpose, recovery is not factual verification; evidence validation remains necessary.

D:

Containment protects records while due process proceeds; the requirement concerns whether authorized access was misused outside its intended purpose, so immediate protection does not substantiate findings.

E:

Control design prevents single-person self-approval; the goal is evidence validation for whether authorized access was misused outside its intended purpose. Prevention is not incident verification.

Question 1055

A security analyst is asked to validate the following reported behavior: A multinational company has no secure mechanism for employees to report suspicious actions by senior managers. Which check can confirm the relevant facts before a disruptive action?

  1. Maintain independent confidential reporting and nonretaliation policies
  2. Route the concern to an authorized independent ethics/security channel
  3. Compare termination timestamps with active remote sessions and token expiration
  4. Inspect whistleblowing escalation and confidential incident intake procedures

Explanation

Correct Answer

D:

Reports against executives require independent handling to prevent suppression; it connects the question of whether reporting channels bypass a conflict of interest to an observable record and a reproducible check.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Trusted channels encourage early warnings; when judging whether reporting channels bypass a conflict of interest, prevention is not incident verification; this is instead recurrence prevention.

B:

A protected path preserves evidence and reporter confidentiality; for whether reporting channels bypass a conflict of interest, immediate protection does not substantiate findings; evidence validation remains necessary.

C:

A delayed review leaves usable credentials after authorization ends; the other incident centers on whether offboarding revokes privileges promptly, not this evidence validation question about whether reporting channels bypass a conflict of interest.

Question 1056

The initial scene or threat protection decision concerns the following: A disgruntled operator modifies production application settings to break authentication for all customers. How should responders limit the damage while retaining the investigation trail?

  1. Validate restored login functionality and investigate related changes
  2. Freeze configuration access and roll back with emergency approval
  3. Restore protected audit collection and restrict the responsible privileged session
  4. Compare configuration diff, operator session and authentication error timing

Explanation

Correct Answer

B:

Immediate containment restores service while preserving change evidence; the action limits the impact connected to whether a trusted configuration change caused availability impact without assuming the underlying flaw is already gone.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Recovery should confirm no hidden settings remain altered; corrective follow-through follows initial protection in the decision about whether a trusted configuration change caused availability impact.

C:

Containment stops further blind copying; that method could help with whether monitoring suppression preceded data movement; the initial containment or preservation decision here involves whether a trusted configuration change caused availability impact.

D:

The change sequence may link an authorized identity to unauthorized sabotage; for whether a trusted configuration change caused availability impact, investigation alone does not control current conditions; initial containment or preservation remains necessary.

Question 1057

The responder must establish the timeline from this observation: A system owner repeatedly changes record retention to erase customer complaints after audits are announced. Which analysis step best addresses the missing confirmation?

  1. Restore recoverable records and investigate the approval chain
  2. Freeze retention-policy changes and preserve independent backups
  3. Separate retention administration from business record ownership
  4. Compare configuration diff, operator session and authentication error timing
  5. Compare retention changes, deletion events and audit calendar

Explanation

Correct Answer

E:

Authorized configuration access may be abused to destroy records; that evidence directly tests the concern about whether a trusted operator is tampering with evidence, rather than relying on a single unverified indicator.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Recovery should transparently note irretrievable gaps; the requirement concerns whether a trusted operator is tampering with evidence, so recovery is not factual verification.

B:

A protective hold prevents ongoing evidentiary loss; the goal is evidence validation for whether a trusted operator is tampering with evidence. Immediate protection does not substantiate findings.

C:

Independent oversight reduces insider manipulation; prevention is not incident verification in the decision about whether a trusted operator is tampering with evidence.

D:

The change sequence may link an authorized identity to unauthorized sabotage; the other incident centers on whether a trusted configuration change caused availability impact, not this evidence validation question about whether a trusted operator is tampering with evidence.

Question 1058

A long-term control assessment uses this recent event: A support analyst queries records of celebrities without a business case and exports hundreds of profiles. Which change provides measurable prevention rather than an emergency workaround?

  1. Detect access to sensitive profiles without matching business transactions
  2. Correlate sensitive record reads with assigned cases and export logs
  3. Determine affected records and apply HR/legal-directed remediation
  4. Limit token lifetime and tie service permissions to identity lifecycle

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Behavioral baselines reveal suspicious but authenticated activity; the control owner can test whether this reduces repeat conditions affecting whether database access patterns show insider snooping.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Legitimate role membership does not explain accesses outside assigned duties; for whether database access patterns show insider snooping, an investigation is not recurrence prevention; recurrence prevention remains necessary.

C:

Scope and authorization determine follow-up actions; the requirement concerns whether database access patterns show insider snooping, so case recovery is not future-risk control.

D:

Access should change when employment duties change; this serves whether credential staging creates persistent access, whereas the requested result is recurrence prevention involving whether database access patterns show insider snooping.

Question 1059

The recovery owner is reviewing the underlying failure in this report: A privileged user deletes unusual volumes of source files and wipes local recycle bins before leave approval. What action most directly repairs the affected access, evidence or system state?

  1. Restore verified files and review all affected projects for hidden modifications
  2. Validate repository history and revoke any covert automation tokens
  3. Correlate file-deletion events, repository activity and identity records
  4. Use immutable version control and alert on bulk destructive operations
  5. Suspend destructive rights and protect repository snapshots

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Recovery should cover both removal and possible tampering; this goes beyond temporary protection and addresses the failure identified through whether destructive insider activity occurred.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Repair includes visibility and access channels; this serves whether monitoring suppression preceded data movement, whereas the requested result is trusted restoration involving whether destructive insider activity occurred.

C:

Independent deletion traces can establish activity even after user cleanup; verification is not the corrective step in the decision about whether destructive insider activity occurred.

D:

Protected history limits the impact of insider deletion; the case needs trusted restoration addressing whether destructive insider activity occurred; future hardening is not current-state recovery.

E:

Rapidly limiting write access preserves remaining assets; when judging whether destructive insider activity occurred, temporary protection does not complete correction; this is instead initial containment or preservation.

Question 1060

During lessons learned, the security owner reviews this completed incident: An administrator covertly configures an automated nightly job to copy audit archives to personal cloud storage. Which repeatable safeguard best prevents this failure mode in the future?

  1. Apply behavior analytics with peer-role context and approved workload baselines
  2. Revoke credentials used by the job and assess historical archive exposure
  3. Monitor new data-export jobs and restrict destinations for archive storage
  4. Inspect scheduler configuration, identity grants and cloud upload records

Explanation

Correct Answer

C:

Job governance reduces stealthy recurring copies; the assurance measure is designed around whether scheduled automation is an insider persistence route, rather than hiding the reported activity.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Context is necessary to detect abuse without constant false alarms; the relevant condition for that step is whether unusual legitimate tooling masks insider exfiltration, which is not shown for whether scheduled automation is an insider persistence route.

B:

Eradication must remove both automation and its access method; the goal is recurrence prevention for whether scheduled automation is an insider persistence route. Case recovery is not future-risk control.

D:

A recurring job can continue exfiltration without interactive logins; the case needs recurrence prevention addressing whether scheduled automation is an insider persistence route; an investigation is not recurrence prevention.

EC-Council Certified Incident Handler (212-89) Practice Tests