View Full Cisco CCNP Cybersecurity 350-201 Exam Dumps and Practice Test Dumps.

 

Question 1

Which protocol provides secure remote command line access?

1. Telnet
2. HTTP
3. Secure Shell
4. TFTP

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation:

Secure Shell (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol designed specifically to provide secure, encrypted command-line administration and remote login capabilities across unsecured IP networks. It serves as a modern, secure replacement for legacy unencrypted protocols like Telnet. When an administrator connects to a network device via SSH, all transmitted keystrokes, passwords, and management commands are encapsulated in robust cryptographic wrappers. This prevents malicious actors from capturing sensitive credentials through packet sniffing or executing man-in-the-middle attacks on enterprise infrastructure. SSH operates by default over Transmission Control Protocol port 22 and requires cryptographic key exchanges prior to establishing an authenticated session.

Question 2

Which cryptographic algorithm provides secure symmetric encryption for data?

1. Advanced Encryption Standard
2. Message Digest 5
3. Secure Hash Algorithm 1
4. Rivest-Shamir-Adleman

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation:

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is a widely adopted, highly secure symmetric encryption algorithm established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Symmetric encryption utilizes the exact same cryptographic key for both encrypting plaintext into ciphertext and decrypting ciphertext back into readable data. AES supports key lengths of 128, 192, and 256 bits, providing exceptionally robust security that makes brute-force attacks computationally infeasible with modern computing power. It is heavily utilized across modern enterprise security protocols, including IPsec VPNs, Wi-Fi WPA2/WPA3 encryption, and TLS web security, ensuring data confidentiality across networks.

Question 3

What security framework ensures confidentiality, integrity, and availability?

1. Open Systems Interconnection model
2. CIA triad security model
3. Transmission Control Protocol handshake
4. Virtual Local Area Network tagging

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation:

The CIA triad is a foundational information security model structured around three core principles: Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. Confidentiality ensures that sensitive data is accessible only to authorized individuals, protecting against unauthorized disclosure through encryption and access controls. Integrity guarantees that data and systems remain accurate, complete, and untampered with during storage or transmission, often verified using cryptographic hashing. Availability ensures that network resources, applications, and data remain operational and accessible to authorized users whenever needed, protecting against denial-of-service disruptions. Together, these three pillars form the conceptual framework for evaluating security policies across enterprise environments.

Question 4

Which security device inspects application-layer traffic payloads?

1. Layer 2 Ethernet switch
2. Basic network repeater hub
3. Passive copper signal regenerator
4. Next-Generation Firewall

Correct Answer: 4

Explanation:

A Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) is an advanced security appliance that goes far beyond traditional packet-filtering firewalls by performing deep packet inspection up to Layer 7 of the OSI model. While legacy firewalls evaluated only IP addresses and port numbers, NGFWs inspect application-layer traffic payloads to identify specific applications, detect sophisticated malware signatures, prevent intrusion attempts, and enforce granular security policies. They integrate traditional firewall capabilities with intrusion prevention systems, URL filtering, and advanced threat intelligence feeds, providing comprehensive security visibility and enforcement across modern corporate networks and data centers.

Question 5

What protocol maps private IP addresses to public ones?

1. Network Address Translation
2. Address Resolution Protocol
3. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
4. Internet Control Message Protocol

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation:

Network Address Translation (NAT) is a core networking mechanism used to map internal private IP addresses to external public IP addresses, thereby conserving scarce IPv4 address space. NAT operates on border routers or enterprise firewalls, modifying source or destination IP headers as packets transition between internal local networks and the public internet. This process ensures that internal host infrastructure remains hidden from direct external inspection while retaining full outbound internet connectivity. Variants like Port Address Translation allow thousands of internal client devices to share a single routable public IP address using unique port identifiers.

Question 6

Which protocol is used for secure web traffic encryption?

1. File Transfer Protocol
2. Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
3. Unencrypted Telnet protocol
4. Simple Network Management Protocol

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation:

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is the secure extension of standard HTTP, designed to protect web communications between client browsers and enterprise web servers against eavesdropping, tampering, and man-in-the-middle attacks. HTTPS wraps standard HTTP data payloads inside Transport Layer Security (TLS) or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) cryptographic encryption wrappers backed by digital certificates issued by trusted certificate authorities. Network administrators configure HTTPS to operate over TCP port 443, ensuring robust data confidentiality, integrity, and authentication for modern web applications and cloud services.

Question 7

What AAA component verifies user identity during authentication?

1. Accounting telemetry logging
2. Authorization privilege assignment
3. Authentication credential verification
4. Auditing compliance reporting

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation:

Authentication is the first critical component of the AAA (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting) security framework, responsible for verifying the claimed identity of a user, device, or process attempting to access a network resource. Common authentication methods include passwords, multi-factor tokens, digital certificates, and biometric verification. Once the system validates the presented credentials against a local database or a centralized server (such as RADIUS or TACACS+), the user’s identity is established. This verified identity then serves as the baseline for the authorization phase, which determines what specific commands or resources the user is permitted to access.

Question 8

Which protocol provides secure authentication and encryption for VPNs?

1. Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol
2. Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol
3. Unencrypted Telnet protocol
4. Internet Protocol Security

Correct Answer: 4

Explanation:

Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) is a comprehensive framework of open standards developed to secure internet protocol communications by authenticating and encrypting each individual IP packet of a communication session. IPsec operates at the Network layer of the OSI model, making it transparent to upper-layer applications. It utilizes protocols such as Authentication Header for integrity and Encapsulating Security Payload for combined confidentiality and integrity, alongside Internet Key Exchange for secure cryptographic key management. IPsec is widely deployed to establish secure site-to-site VPN tunnels and remote-access connections across untrusted public networks.

Question 9

What security service prevents unauthorized device access via ports?

1. Cisco switch port security
2. Open Shortest Path First routing
3. Virtual Local Area Network trunking
4. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol snooping

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation:

Cisco switch port security is an essential Layer 2 access control feature that restricts input to an interface by limiting and identifying specific MAC addresses allowed to access the port. When enabled, administrators can statically define authorized MAC addresses or configure the switch to learn them dynamically up to a maximum limit. If an unauthorized device connects to a secured port, the switch can take predefined violation actions—such as dropping traffic or shutting down the interface completely—preventing rogue devices from gaining unauthorized physical access to the enterprise wired network infrastructure.

Question 10

Which protocol prevents rogue DHCP servers in enterprise networks?

1. Dynamic ARP Inspection
2. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol snooping
3. Spanning Tree Root Guard
4. VTP Transparent mode

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation:

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) snooping is a robust Layer 2 security feature built into enterprise switches that acts as a firewall between untrusted host connection ports and trusted DHCP servers. In a compromised network environment, an attacker could plug an unauthorized rogue DHCP server into a user access port and flood the local segment with malicious IP configuration parameters to launch man-in-the-middle attacks. DHCP snooping inspects incoming DHCP traffic on a per-port basis, dividing ports into trusted and untrusted states, and immediately dropping unauthorized server reply messages.

Question 11

What mechanism protects Layer 2 networks against ARP spoofing?

1. Switch port security
2. Spanning Tree Protocol
3. Dynamic ARP Inspection
4. NAT Overload translation

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation:

Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI) is a robust Layer 2 security feature that protects enterprise switched networks against Address Resolution Protocol spoofing and poisoning attacks. In an ARP poisoning attack, a malicious actor floods the local network with forged ARP replies, associating their own physical MAC address with the gateway’s IP address to intercept, modify, or drop traffic. DAI intercepts all ARP packets arriving on untrusted switch ports, compares the source IP and MAC address bindings against trusted entries stored in the DHCP snooping binding database, and drops any packets that fail validation.

Question 12

Which security standard defines port-based network access control?

1. IEEE 802.1Q trunking standard
2. IEEE 802.11ac wireless standard
3. IEEE 802.3af PoE standard
4. IEEE 802.1X network access control

Correct Answer: 4

Explanation:

The IEEE 802.1X standard defines port-based network access control, providing an authentication mechanism for devices wishing to attach to a LAN or WLAN. 802.1X uses the Extensible Authentication Protocol to pass authentication messages between the supplicant client, the network access device (authenticator), and a centralized authentication server (such as RADIUS). Until the client successfully authenticates, the switch port blocks all traffic except EAPOL frames. This ensures that unauthorized endpoints, rogue devices, or unverified computers cannot access enterprise network resources.

Question 13

What cryptographic hash function produces a 128-bit digest?

1. Message Digest 5
2. Secure Hash Algorithm 256
3. Secure Hash Algorithm 512
4. RSA public key algorithm

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation:

Message Digest 5 (MD5) is a widely used cryptographic hash function that takes an input of arbitrary length and produces a fixed 128-bit (16-byte) hash value, commonly represented as a 32-character hexadecimal string. MD5 was designed primarily as a cryptographic checksum to verify data integrity and ensure that files or messages have not been altered in transit. However, due to advances in computational cryptanalysis, MD5 has been found vulnerable to collision attacks—where two different inputs produce the exact same hash output—meaning it is no longer considered secure for digital signatures or sensitive integrity checks.

Question 14

Which firewall type inspects state parameters of active connections?

1. Packet filtering firewall
2. Stateful inspection firewall
3. Basic network repeater hub
4. Layer 2 Ethernet switch

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation:

A stateful inspection firewall—often referred to as a stateful firewall—is a network security device that monitors active connection states and evaluates incoming packets against a dynamic state table. Unlike stateless packet filters that examine each packet in complete isolation, stateful firewalls track the full context of a TCP or UDP communication session. They maintain records of established connections, handshake states, and sequence numbers, allowing the firewall to make intelligent forwarding decisions based on whether a packet belongs to an active, authorized communication session or represents an unsolicited external connection attempt.

Question 15

What protocol secures simple network management system telemetry communications?

1. SNMP version 1
2. SNMP version 2c
3. SNMP version 3
4. Unencrypted Telnet protocol

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation:

Simple Network Management Protocol Version 3 (SNMPv3) was developed to address the severe security vulnerabilities inherent in legacy SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c protocols, which transmitted community strings and management telemetry in clear text across networks. SNMPv3 introduces a robust security model incorporating user-based security modules to provide three essential security services: message integrity (ensuring packets are not tampered with in transit), authentication (verifying the identity of the management entity), and cryptographic encryption (protecting sensitive management data against eavesdropping). These security enhancements make SNMPv3 suitable for managing enterprise infrastructure securely.

Question 16

Which malware type conceals its presence within operating systems?

1. Ransomware extortion software
2. Adware marketing program
3. Network propagation worm
4. Rootkit concealment software

Correct Answer: 4

Explanation:

A rootkit is a stealthy type of malicious software designed to conceal the existence of certain processes or programs from normal methods of detection while maintaining privileged administrative access to a computer system. Rootkits frequently compromise core operating system kernels or system binaries, intercepting operating system application programming interface calls to hide files, network connections, and active malicious processes from antivirus scanners and system administrators. Because they operate at deep privilege levels, detecting and removing rootkits often requires specialized offline scanning tools or complete operating system reinstallation.

Question 17

What security assessment technique simulates authorized cyber attacks?

1. Penetration testing assessment
2. Passive packet sniffing
3. Active port scanning
4. Static VLAN hopping

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation:

Penetration testing is an authorized, simulated cyber attack launched against a computer system, network, or web application to evaluate security posture and identify exploitable vulnerabilities. Performed by ethical hackers, penetration testing mimics the tactics, techniques, and procedures utilized by real-world threat actors to bypass defenses. The assessment uncovers weak configurations, unpatched software flaws, and architectural security gaps before malicious attackers can exploit them. Comprehensive reporting from penetration tests allows security teams to prioritize remediation efforts and strengthen overall organizational defense mechanisms.

Question 18

Which cloud service model provides managed infrastructure resources directly?

1. Software as a Service
2. Infrastructure as a Service
3. Platform as a Service
4. Desktop as a Service

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud computing service model that provides fundamental computing resources over the internet, such as virtual machines, storage, networks, and operating systems, hosted on remote data center infrastructure. In an IaaS model, cloud providers manage the underlying physical hardware, virtualization layers, and facility cooling, while customers retain complete administrative control over installed operating systems, middleware, applications, and security configurations. This model offers high scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency for enterprise IT workloads without requiring heavy capital expenditure on physical data center hardware.

Question 19

What security concept mandates restricting user privileges strictly necessary?

1. Defense in depth strategy
2. Zero Trust network architecture
3. Principle of least privilege
4. Separation of duties policy

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation:

The principle of least privilege is a fundamental information security concept that dictates that a user, process, or system component must be given only the minimum levels of access permissions—or privileges—necessary to perform its specific, authorized job functions. By restricting privileges strictly to operational requirements, organizations significantly limit the potential blast radius of credential compromise, insider threats, and malware propagation. For example, standard network users should never possess administrative privileges, and software applications should execute under restricted service accounts rather than root-level permissions.

Question 20

Which security framework architecture assumes zero implicit network trust?

1. Traditional perimeter defense
2. Demilitarized zone architecture
3. Static VLAN segmentation model
4. Zero Trust Architecture

Correct Answer: 4

Explanation:

Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) is a modern cybersecurity paradigm based on the core philosophy of “never trust, always verify.” Traditional enterprise security models relied heavily on perimeter defenses, assuming that everything inside the corporate network was inherently trustworthy. Zero Trust eliminates this assumption, mandating continuous, strict identity verification, device health validation, and least-access authorization for every user and device attempting to access resources, regardless of whether they originate from inside or outside the traditional network perimeter.