APSE CESP Exam Prep
Certified Employment Support Professional (Page 2 )

• Disable default accounts: Default or unused accounts may have known usernames or predictable settings, making them targets. They should be disabled, removed, or securely configured.
• Remove unnecessary services: Every running service creates potential vulnerabilities. Removing services the server does not need reduces exploitable entry points.

• Add the server to the asset inventory: Important for asset management, but not a hardening step.
• Document default passwords: Default passwords should be changed or eliminated—not documented for continued use.
• Send server logs to the SIEM: Valuable for monitoring and detection, but generally performed as part of logging/monitoring configuration.
• Join the server to the corporate domain: May be necessary operationally, but does not itself harden the server.

• Driver node: Coordinates Spark jobs and runs in the compute environment.
• Worker node: Executes tasks and processes data.
• Databricks Filesystem (DBFS): Provides storage access for data used by compute resources.

• Atomicity: a write fully succeeds or does not appear.
• Consistency: table state remains valid.
• Isolation: concurrent operations do not corrupt one another.
• Durability: committed changes persist.

• Flexible schemas: common data lakes often support flexible or schema-on-read data.
• Open-source formats: common data lakes commonly use open formats such as Parquet.
• Scalable storage: cloud data lakes already provide scalable storage.

• Microsoft Purview portal: Create and manage sensitivity labels and configure support for sensitivity labels used with Office files in SharePoint and OneDrive.
• SharePoint admin center: Primarily manages SharePoint settings. Older guidance and PowerShell procedures used SharePoint tenant configuration, which can make this question confusing.
• IRM: Concerns Information Rights Management and is a separate protection mechanism; it should not be used to identify the portal for configuring Microsoft Purview sensitivity labels.

• Record changes — a flow can start when a record is updated or otherwise changes.
• Schedules — a flow can run at a specified date/time or on a schedule.
• Record inserts — a flow can start when a new record is created.

• Subflows are reusable flow components called by another flow; they are not normally trigger types.
• Record views do not generally initiate a Flow Designer flow.

• API tool matcher: runs a deterministic normalization command after the API tool returns.
• Write/Edit matcher: checks whether the target path begins with src/api/ and runs the linter.

json 
{ 
  "hooks": { 
    "PostToolUse": [ 
      { 
        "matcher": "api_tool", 
        "hooks": [ 
          { "type": "command", "command": "normalize-to-snake-case" } 
        ] 
      }, 
      { 
        "matcher": "Write|Edit", 
        "hooks": [ 
          { "type": "command", "command": "lint-if-under-src-api" } 
        ] 
      } 
    ] 
  } 
}

• Two-part tariff pricing: $10 per unit
• Dual pricing: $20 per unit

Two-part tariff pricing

Dual pricing

• Division X, the seller, is credited with the market price: \(\$20\)
• Division Y, the buyer, is charged the marginal cost: \(\$10\)

• Deterrent control: The signs warning that people may be filmed can discourage unauthorized or malicious activity. They do not directly stop the action; they influence behavior.
• Detective control: CCTV records or monitors activity so security personnel can identify events or investigate them afterward.

• Preventive: Stops an incident from occurring, such as access control.
• Corrective: Restores systems after an incident.
• Directive: Instructs people to behave in a certain way, such as a security policy.
• Compensating: An alternative control used when the preferred control is not feasible.

• Microsoft manages the physical datacenter, hardware, and virtualization.
• You manage the virtual machine’s operating system, installed software, configuration, and data.
• You choose the VM size, storage, networking, and scaling options.

• SaaS: You consume a complete application managed by the provider, such as Microsoft 365.
• PaaS: You deploy applications without managing the underlying operating system or VM infrastructure, such as Azure App Service.

• Label applied does not automatically exclude a file from Copilot.
• Encryption/usage rights determine whether Copilot can access the file’s content.
• If the user has no permission under Label2, File3 should be unavailable to Copilot for that user.
• File3’s label might be inherited by derived content only if File3 was actually processed and contributed by an authorized user; it should not be treated as contributing merely because it exists in the source set.

• Three DHCP scopes: Each VLAN has its own IPv4 subnet. DHCP scopes are subnet-specific, so create one scope for:

• Two DHCP relays: DHCP client discovery begins as a broadcast, and broadcasts do not cross routers or VLAN boundaries. Therefore, configure a DHCP relay on the router or Layer 3 switch interface for each client VLAN.

• SAS (Serial Attached SCSI):

• SSD (solid-state drive):

1. The original app version exists.
2. You create and publish a new version, so there are now two versions.
3. When you restore the previous version, Power Apps does not delete or overwrite the newer version. Instead, it creates another version based on the restored one.

• Original version
• Newly created and published version
• New version created by the restore operation

• Deploy five individual VMs: This does not create a VM scale set.
• Modify Availability Zones or Size settings: These actions do not create the required scale set and add unnecessary steps.
• VM orchestration mode: This is Flexible orchestration, intended for more individually managed VMs and mixed configurations. It is not the best choice for a straightforward group of identical instances.

• Use the grant-date fair value: $30
• Do not remeasure to the year-end value of $45
• Update the estimate of employees expected to vest

• Dr Share-based payment expense $450,000
• Cr Equity/share option reserve $450,000

• Installing software
• Applying configuration changes
• Calling PowerShell scripts
• Running setup or customization commands

cmd 
powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File C:\Scripts\ConfigureVM.ps1

• GPO logon script: Runs only when a user logs on and depends on domain/GPO processing.
• GPO startup script: Runs during startup, but requires the VM to be domain joined and receives the applicable GPO.
• Place scripts in a VHD: Merely makes the scripts available; it does not automatically execute them.

• One network address
• Two usable host addresses—one for each router
• One broadcast address

• Router A: 10.2.1.1
• Router B: 10.2.1.2

• The vulnerability scan identifies a vulnerability.
• The administrator verifies that the vulnerability is not present.
• Therefore, the scan produced a false positive.

• True positive: A vulnerability is reported and genuinely exists.
• False negative: A vulnerability exists, but the scan fails to detect it.
• True negative: No vulnerability exists, and the scan correctly reports no issue.

• Tracking who accessed or changed customer information
• Detecting unauthorized activity
• Supporting accountability and investigations
• Providing evidence for compliance and incident response

• Single sign-on not enabled: SSO improves convenience and centralized authentication, but it is not essential for access control.
• Complex passwords not required: This weakens authentication, but other controls may reduce the risk.
• Security baseline not consistently applied: A concern, but it is less specific and less immediately damaging than having no activity records at all.

• Box 1: No — The rule requires user.department to equal Engineering. Engineer does not match, so User1 is not in AU1. Admin1 cannot reset User1’s password.
• Box 2: No — Admin1’s role is scoped to AU1 and cannot manage users outside that AU.
• Box 3: Yes — Admin2 is a Global Administrator and can reset User3’s password.

• Run the backup with WITH CHECKSUM
• Store the backup on an SMB network share

sql 
BACKUP DATABASE DB1 
TO DISK = '\\FileServer\SqlBackups\DB1_full.bak' 
WITH CHECKSUM;

• DMS does not create the SQL Server backups for you.
• You must provide a valid full database backup.
• You must continue taking transaction log backups while the source database remains online.
• The full backup and subsequent log backups must be available in the SMB share that DMS can access.
• WITH CHECKSUM enables backup checksum validation, helping detect backup corruption.

• Red team: Simulates attackers and tests exploitability.
• Blue team: Defends, monitors, detects, and responds to attacks.
• Purple team: Combines red- and blue-team activities to improve cooperation and defenses.
• White team: Manages and oversees the rules, scope, and authorization of the exercise.

• httprint fingerprints Web servers by analyzing their HTTP responses. It can help identify the Web server type and sometimes its version, even when the banner has been modified or hidden.
• Wget is mainly used to download files or Web content.
• WinSSLMiM is associated with SSL man-in-the-middle testing.
• Whisker is an older Web-server vulnerability assessment tool, especially associated with IIS, rather than the expected banner-grabbing tool here.

• S3 Glacier Deep Archive is designed for long-term archival data with very infrequent access and has a lower storage cost than S3 One Zone-IA.
• The documents are copies stored elsewhere, so reduced availability and delayed retrieval are acceptable.
• An S3 interface VPC endpoint allows private access from the VPC without exposing the bucket through the public internet.
• A bucket policy can restrict access to requests coming through that endpoint.

• A business-hours greeting
• An after-hours greeting
• A holiday greeting

• Weekday evenings/nights
• Saturdays and Sundays

1. Auto attendant 1

1. Auto attendant 2

• The application stores data on Amazon EBS volumes, so the encryption should be applied directly to those volumes.
• EBS encryption uses AWS-managed cryptographic operations and is designed to provide encryption at rest with minimal performance impact.
• The volumes are created during initial deployment, so they can be configured as encrypted when provisioned.

• B: Moving data to an encrypted S3 bucket changes the storage design and does not encrypt the EBS data the application uses.
• C: A custom encryption algorithm adds application overhead and is unnecessary.
• D: Ephemeral disks are temporary storage and can lose data when instances stop or terminate. Encrypting only the AMI’s root volume does not protect data stored elsewhere.

• A — If there is no demand, there should be no production.

• B — Not all sales equal profit.

• C — Stocking up on inventory is bad for business.

• D — All costs, except materials, are considered fixed.

• E — Departments should operate at full capacity regardless of bottlenecks.

• Each Case must follow defined support steps.
• Each step must be completed within a specified time limit.

• Case Escalation Rules: Escalate Cases based mainly on age or criteria; they do not model a complete sequence of service steps.
• Process Builder with Scheduled Actions: Can automate time-based actions but is not the standard framework for Case service-level commitments.
• Omni-Channel Routing: Routes work to agents based on capacity and priority; it does not track Case lifecycle deadlines.

• Partners first log in to the corporate portal, which uses the shared SAML Identity Provider.
• When they select a Salesforce link, the IdP can send a SAML assertion directly to Salesforce.
• Salesforce validates the assertion and grants access to the Partner Community without requiring another login. This is IdP-initiated SSO because authentication begins outside Salesforce.

• SP-initiated SSO starts when Salesforce sends an authentication request to the IdP. That would be appropriate if users began by visiting Salesforce.
• The Web Server and User Agent OAuth flows are for OAuth authorization, not browser-based SAML federation between an IdP and Salesforce.

• Third-party attestation: Provides independent confirmation, often for formal compliance reporting, but is not usually performed frequently.
• Penetration testing: Attempts to exploit vulnerabilities; it focuses on technical security, not overall compliance procedures.
• Vulnerability scans: Identify known technical weaknesses in systems, but do not evaluate whether policies and processes meet compliance requirements.

• LastName: Required.
• FirstName: Optional.
• AccountId: Optional; a Contact may be associated with an Account later or remain private, depending on organization settings.
• Name: A compound display field made from first and last name; it isn’t entered as a separate field.

• Install unauthorized or unapproved applications
• Access system areas normally restricted
• Add features unavailable in the default software
• Modify the device’s operating system

• SQL injection (SQLi): Attacks databases by inserting malicious SQL commands.
• Cross-site scripting (XSS): Injects malicious scripts into web pages viewed by users.
• Sideloading: Installs an application from outside the official app store, but it does not necessarily remove the phone’s operating-system restrictions.

• UPS battery-backed outlets: Connect only essential devices needed during an outage:

• Surge-protector-only outlets: Connect nonessential devices, especially the printer. Printing does not need to continue while you are saving work and shutting down.
• UPS power source: Plug the UPS directly into a wall outlet.
• Surge protector power source: Plug it directly into a wall outlet as well. Do not normally plug a surge protector into the UPS, because that creates a daisy chain and can overload the UPS.

• A. Periodically rotate responsibilities: May reduce some risks, but it does not directly detect unauthorized changes.
• B. Review segregation-of-duties conflicts: Identifies incompatible access combinations, not whether a specific data change was unauthorized.
• C. Log changes in an outside application: Logs provide evidence, but someone must review and analyze them. Logging alone does not detect misuse.
• D. Independent review: Directly detects unauthorized changes and reduces the risk that the person making the change can conceal it.

• Self-signed certificate — Causes a certificate trust warning, not incorrect name resolution.
• Nameserver record — A DNS record problem would usually affect multiple users, unless only this computer uses a different DNS server.
• IP helper — Relays certain network services, commonly DHCP, between subnets; it does not normally determine website name resolution.

Manager role

DAX 
Country[Manager] = USERPRINCIPALNAME()

• Sales
• Human Resources

CFO role

• See sales for all countries
• See no Human Resources data

• Do not restrict the Country table or Sales table.
• Apply a filter to Human Resources that always returns false, such as:

DAX 
FALSE()

• 255.255.255.128 = /25: 128 total, 126 usable
• 255.255.255.192 = /26: 64 total, 62 usable
• 255.255.255.224 = /27: 32 total, 30 usable
• 255.255.255.240 = /28: 16 total, 14 usable

• One for the network address
• One for the broadcast address

• 8 total addresses
• 6 usable addresses
• Mask: 255.255.255.248

• Type 1 hypervisor: Runs directly on the physical hardware (“bare metal”).
• Type 2 hypervisor: Runs inside the host OS as an application.

• Bare-metal installation: Type 1
• Local management only: Not a defining characteristic
• Specific hardware requirements: Not the key distinction

• 10.2.1.0 — network address
• 10.2.1.1 — usable host
• 10.2.1.2 — usable host
• 10.2.1.3 — broadcast address

• Verifies the sender’s identity using their private key.
• Confirms the transaction was not altered after signing.
• Provides evidence that the signer approved or originated the transaction.

• Digital certificates: Bind an identity to a public key, but do not themselves prove that a specific transaction was signed.
• Encrypted passwords: Protect confidentiality or authentication, but generally do not provide transaction-level nonrepudiation.
• One-time passwords: Authenticate a user for a session or transaction, but usually do not provide durable proof of who authorized the electronic record.

• Case Assignment Rules normalmente são avaliadas quando o caso é criado. Elas podem ser executadas novamente em uma edição somente se o usuário marcar “Assign using active assignment rules”; isso não acontece automaticamente apenas porque o caso foi fechado.
• Portanto, criar uma regra de atribuição não corrige os centenas de casos já fechados e não garante, por si só, que um caso será transferido antes de ser fechado.

• B — Usar uma ferramenta de dados: corrige os registros históricos já existentes, atualizando o Owner.
• D — Criar uma regra de validação: impede que um caso seja fechado enquanto ainda pertence a uma fila. Exemplo conceitual: se Status = Closed e o proprietário for uma fila, bloquear o salvamento.

• Portfolio definition cycle — establishes and maintains the portfolio strategy, objectives, and management framework.
• Portfolio delivery cycle — coordinates and monitors the delivery of change initiatives, ensuring the portfolio remains aligned with strategic objectives and delivers value.

• Practice — a structured area of portfolio management activity, such as risk management or resource management.
• Technique — a method used to perform an activity; it is not the term for portfolio delivery itself.
• Principle — a guiding rule for effective portfolio management.

• Economy: Obtaining inputs at the lowest appropriate cost.
• Efficiency: Making the best use of resources, such as staff, money, and equipment.
• Effectiveness: Achieving the intended objectives or outcomes.

• Technical platform interfaces: Important for integration and interoperability, but they should support—not drive—the architecture.
• Scalability of the network: Valuable as the organization grows, but a scalable solution is ineffective if it does not meet business or security needs.
• Development methodologies: Relevant to implementation, but they do not define the organization’s fundamental security requirements.

• The server accepts unauthenticated image uploads, which creates an opportunity for an attacker to upload a malicious script disguised as an image or using an unexpected file type.
• A web shell is a malicious script placed on a web server that gives an attacker remote command execution through web requests.
• The suspicious process and outbound connection to a low-reputation IP are consistent with the attacker using the web shell to execute commands or establish communication with command-and-control infrastructure.

• Worm: Usually self-propagates across multiple systems; the scenario focuses on the upload page.
• Cryptocurrency mining: Possible, but there is no indication of resource-intensive mining activity or insider involvement.
• Rootkit Trojan over RDP: The evidence points to the vulnerable upload functionality, not an exposed RDP service.

• 25 — Traditional SMTP server-to-server mail delivery; often restricted and not the usual client submission port.
• 110 — POP3, used for retrieving email; normally unencrypted.
• 143 — IMAP, used for retrieving and synchronizing email; normally unencrypted.

• Help the team identify the root causes of delays.
• Empower the team to improve its workflow and practices.
• Facilitate removal of impediments.
• Avoid directing the team toward a solution without its involvement.
• Protect quality and sustainable delivery rather than simply accelerating everything.

• A: An impediment log may help, but merely recording problems does not empower the team to solve them.
• B: Directing the team to solutions conflicts with self-management.
• C: Adding impediments to the product backlog may incorrectly treat internal obstacles as product features and delays their resolution.

• Share files with the wrong people
• Use public links unnecessarily
• Fail to classify sensitive data
• Upload data to unauthorized services
• Misunderstand company sharing policies

• A — Step-up authentication: Helps protect administrator accounts, but does not directly address improper file sharing by users.
• C — Password complexity: Helps reduce password attacks, not accidental data disclosure.
• D — Mobile device management: Secures managed mobile devices, but does not directly control file-sharing behavior across the organization.

• A — Tables
• B — Named file formats
• C — Schemas
• E — Databases

Why these are correct

• Tables: Can be cloned using CREATE TABLE ... CLONE. The clone initially uses zero-copy cloning, so storage is shared until changes are made.
• Named file formats: Can be cloned as database objects, preserving the file-format definition.
• Schemas: A schema and its eligible objects can be cloned.
• Databases: A database and its eligible schemas and objects can be cloned.

Why the others are incorrect

• Shares: A share is an account-level data-sharing object, not a normal cloneable database object.
• Users: Users are security principals and cannot be cloned with CLONE.