ECCouncil 212-89 (EC-Council Certified Incident Handler) Practice Test 95

Question 940

The team wants a measurable hardening change following this situation: A company allows departing administrators to retain remote tokens until the end of a monthly access review. What improvement best addresses the root weakness in a future incident?

  1. Automate identity revocation from verified HR lifecycle events
  2. Use privileged access management with session recording and just-in-time grants
  3. Compare termination timestamps with active remote sessions and token expiration
  4. Audit post-termination activity and reclaim registered devices and secrets

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Event-driven offboarding reduces exposure windows; its effectiveness can be exercised against the warning conditions associated with whether offboarding revokes privileges promptly.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Traceability supports insider investigation and prevention; the activity targets whether insider action attribution is possible; recurrence prevention here concerns whether offboarding revokes privileges promptly.

C:

A delayed review leaves usable credentials after authorization ends; for whether offboarding revokes privileges promptly, an investigation is not recurrence prevention; recurrence prevention remains necessary.

D:

Offboarding completeness includes machine and application credentials; the requirement concerns whether offboarding revokes privileges promptly, so case recovery is not future-risk control.

Question 941

During lessons learned, the security owner reviews this completed incident: Security and HR disagree about who may approve investigation of suspected employee misconduct. Which repeatable safeguard best prevents this failure mode in the future?

  1. Review incident escalation matrix, HR policies and legal-hold requirements
  2. Maintain independent confidential reporting and nonretaliation policies
  3. Rehearse HR, legal and security escalation roles in insider response exercises
  4. Document approvals, evidence scope and decisions in a restricted case record

Explanation

Correct Answer

C:

Preparation reduces conflict during sensitive incidents; the control owner can test whether this reduces repeat conditions affecting whether insider investigations have accountable authority.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Unclear decision rights can cause unlawful collection or delayed containment; the requirement concerns whether insider investigations have accountable authority, so an investigation is not recurrence prevention.

B:

Trusted channels encourage early warnings; the activity targets whether reporting channels bypass a conflict of interest; recurrence prevention here concerns whether insider investigations have accountable authority.

D:

Defensible case handling requires traceable authorization; the case needs recurrence prevention addressing whether insider investigations have accountable authority; case recovery is not future-risk control.

Question 942

Forensic review begins with this reported event: A user creates several access tokens with long expiration times the day before a role transfer. Which evidence-based task answers the primary uncertainty?

  1. Review token issue logs, scope and subsequent API calls
  2. Revoke unauthorized tokens and prevent new issuance under outdated privileges
  3. Correlate DLP classification, proxy upload metadata and device file access
  4. Limit token lifetime and tie service permissions to identity lifecycle

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Long-lived tokens may bypass expected access changes after the role shift; it connects the question of whether credential staging creates persistent access to an observable record and a reproducible check.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Token-specific containment closes the persistence avenue; the case needs evidence validation addressing whether credential staging creates persistent access; immediate protection does not substantiate findings.

C:

Encrypted transport alone does not establish misuse; content and policy context matter; it is meant to address whether an unsanctioned channel moved restricted data, not evidence validation for whether credential staging creates persistent access.

D:

Access should change when employment duties change; for whether credential staging creates persistent access, prevention is not incident verification; evidence validation remains necessary.

Question 943

The coordinator needs corrective action rather than another alert. The event was: A disgruntled operator modifies production application settings to break authentication for all customers. Which follow-through step verifies the weakness was removed?

  1. Validate restored login functionality and investigate related changes
  2. Use two-person approval and immutable configuration history for critical settings
  3. Freeze configuration access and roll back with emergency approval
  4. Restore recoverable records and investigate the approval chain

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Recovery should confirm no hidden settings remain altered; the recovery decision is tied to whether a trusted configuration change caused availability impact, not merely to reduced alert volume.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Change controls reduce single-person sabotage capacity; future hardening is not current-state recovery in the decision about whether a trusted configuration change caused availability impact.

C:

Immediate containment restores service while preserving change evidence; the case needs trusted restoration addressing whether a trusted configuration change caused availability impact; temporary protection does not complete correction.

D:

Recovery should transparently note irretrievable gaps; this serves whether a trusted operator is tampering with evidence, whereas the requested result is trusted restoration involving whether a trusted configuration change caused availability impact.

Question 944

The team needs temporary protection and must retain evidence. The observed event is: A system owner repeatedly changes record retention to erase customer complaints after audits are announced. What narrowly scoped action would best control the immediate risk?

  1. Restore recoverable records and investigate the approval chain
  2. Compare retention changes, deletion events and audit calendar
  3. Freeze retention-policy changes and preserve independent backups
  4. Freeze configuration access and roll back with emergency approval

Explanation

Correct Answer

C:

A protective hold prevents ongoing evidentiary loss; the immediate response addresses whether a trusted operator is tampering with evidence while the team preserves relevant case records.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Recovery should transparently note irretrievable gaps; for whether a trusted operator is tampering with evidence, corrective follow-through follows initial protection; initial containment or preservation remains necessary.

B:

Authorized configuration access may be abused to destroy records; the requirement concerns whether a trusted operator is tampering with evidence, so investigation alone does not control current conditions.

D:

Immediate containment restores service while preserving change evidence; this serves whether a trusted configuration change caused availability impact, whereas the requested result is initial containment or preservation involving whether a trusted operator is tampering with evidence.

Question 945

The immediate risk must be managed. The response record describes: A senior analyst requests an export of all customer records citing a secret project but provides no authorized project ticket. Which intervention is most effective before full eradication or restoration?

  1. Hold the exceptional export pending independent project-owner approval
  2. Check access request approvals, project sponsor and prior export behavior
  3. Pause unapproved bulk exports while confirming project requirements
  4. Reconcile requested data with minimum necessary project scope

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Authorization checks protect against misuse without making accusations; the protective decision should be recorded and its effect tested against whether claimed business justification can be verified.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Seniority alone does not establish need for a mass data export; the goal is initial containment or preservation for whether claimed business justification can be verified. Investigation alone does not control current conditions.

C:

Narrow containment avoids treating every scripted query as malicious; the activity targets whether unusual legitimate tooling masks insider exfiltration; initial containment or preservation here concerns whether claimed business justification can be verified.

D:

If approved, work should use a restricted and monitored extract; the case needs initial containment or preservation addressing whether claimed business justification can be verified; corrective follow-through follows initial protection.

Question 946

Responders are preparing to reinstate operations after this situation: Employees routinely share passwords to cover vacation absences because no approved delegation workflow exists. What should be corrected before technical closure of the incident?

  1. Migrate maintenance to scoped identities with approval and session logging
  2. Rotate exposed passwords and implement documented delegated access
  3. Disable password sharing and assign named temporary delegates
  4. Provide safe time-bound delegation rather than shared identities

Explanation

Correct Answer

B:

Recovery preserves coverage without ambiguous logins; this goes beyond temporary protection and addresses the failure identified through whether account sharing undermines attribution.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Operational recovery corrects entitlement design; this serves whether just-in-time privilege would reduce insider opportunity, whereas the requested result is trusted restoration involving whether account sharing undermines attribution.

C:

Individual accountability protects both investigators and staff; when judging whether account sharing undermines attribution, temporary protection does not complete correction; this is instead initial containment or preservation.

D:

Usable access workflows reduce incentives to bypass policy; for whether account sharing undermines attribution, future hardening is not current-state recovery; trusted restoration remains necessary.

Question 947

A long-term control assessment uses this recent event: A privileged user deletes unusual volumes of source files and wipes local recycle bins before leave approval. Which change provides measurable prevention rather than an emergency workaround?

  1. Alert on audit disablement and require independent approval of logging changes
  2. Correlate file-deletion events, repository activity and identity records
  3. Use immutable version control and alert on bulk destructive operations
  4. Restore verified files and review all affected projects for hidden modifications

Explanation

Correct Answer

C:

Protected history limits the impact of insider deletion; this turns the weakness behind whether destructive insider activity occurred into a measurable prevention requirement.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Administrative separation makes concealment harder; it is meant to address whether monitoring suppression preceded data movement, not recurrence prevention for whether destructive insider activity occurred.

B:

Independent deletion traces can establish activity even after user cleanup; for whether destructive insider activity occurred, an investigation is not recurrence prevention; recurrence prevention remains necessary.

D:

Recovery should cover both removal and possible tampering; the goal is recurrence prevention for whether destructive insider activity occurred. Case recovery is not future-risk control.

Question 948

The team needs temporary protection and must retain evidence. The observed event is: A developer disables audit logging on a production repository shortly before copying protected branches. What narrowly scoped action would best control the immediate risk?

  1. Suspend destructive rights and protect repository snapshots
  2. Validate repository history and revoke any covert automation tokens
  3. Restore protected audit collection and restrict the responsible privileged session
  4. Compare audit-setting changes, branch downloads and privileged session records

Explanation

Correct Answer

C:

Containment stops further blind copying; the immediate response addresses whether monitoring suppression preceded data movement while the team preserves relevant case records.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Rapidly limiting write access preserves remaining assets; this serves whether destructive insider activity occurred, whereas the requested result is initial containment or preservation involving whether monitoring suppression preceded data movement.

B:

Repair includes visibility and access channels; the requirement concerns whether monitoring suppression preceded data movement, so corrective follow-through follows initial protection.

D:

The sequence can reveal deliberate evasion followed by export; investigation alone does not control current conditions in the decision about whether monitoring suppression preceded data movement.

Question 949

An evidence-led review starts with the following report: The security program flags every employee who works at night as a possible insider without considering job schedules. What investigation should establish the disputed activity and its timeline?

  1. Review log repository rights and administrator ability to change retention
  2. Compare alerts with shift rosters, job duties and normal activity distributions
  3. Require contextual triage before intrusive investigation or sanctions
  4. Review analytics for bias, relevance and false-positive rates

Explanation

Correct Answer

B:

Atypical time alone does not establish malicious intent; it makes the determination of whether behavior analytics has an appropriate baseline defensible and reviewable by the incident owner.

Incorrect Answers

A:

A subject of investigation should not be able to erase the only relevant audit trail; the other incident centers on whether monitoring is independent of monitored insiders, not this evidence validation question about whether behavior analytics has an appropriate baseline.

C:

Fair analysis prevents unsupported escalation; the case needs evidence validation addressing whether behavior analytics has an appropriate baseline; immediate protection does not substantiate findings.

D:

Responsible detection limits harm and operator fatigue; when judging whether behavior analytics has an appropriate baseline, prevention is not incident verification; this is instead recurrence prevention.

Question 950

The incident is not yet closed. Response staff report: A staff member sends the customer database to a competitor using a company email account after being denied promotion. Which short-term measure protects the affected process or asset?

  1. Work with legal to scope exposed customers and revoke associated access
  2. Preserve the message and suspend unauthorized bulk outbound transfers
  3. Compare outbound message attachments, classification labels and recipient identity
  4. Block the unauthorized transfer mechanism and retain policy evidence

Explanation

Correct Answer

B:

Evidence retention and access control prevent further dissemination; this is a first-response safeguard for whether a trusted mailbox was used for intentional disclosure, not a substitute for full root-cause analysis.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Response must respect due process while addressing data loss; the goal is initial containment or preservation for whether a trusted mailbox was used for intentional disclosure. Corrective follow-through follows initial protection.

C:

Content and destination determine suspected disclosure regardless of a valid login; the case needs initial containment or preservation addressing whether a trusted mailbox was used for intentional disclosure; investigation alone does not control current conditions.

D:

Containment should focus on confirmed unauthorized movement; the activity targets whether an unsanctioned channel moved restricted data; initial containment or preservation here concerns whether a trusted mailbox was used for intentional disclosure.

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