CFA Sustainable-Investing Exam Actual Questions
Sustainable Investing Certificate(CFA-SIC) (Page 48 )

• Server — provides services or resources
• Endpoint — a user device connected to the network
• Ethernet — a networking technology, not a filtering device
• Firewall — filters and controls traffic

• Correct options: C and D.

• The AWS Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) security perspective focuses on capabilities to protect information and manage security risk.
• Observability (A) is primarily an operations/monitoring capability, not a core security capability under CAF.
• Incident and problem management (B) is IT service management/operations, not specifically a CAF security capability.
• Incident response (C) is a security-focused capability: detecting, containing, and recovering from security incidents.
• Infrastructure protection (D) involves applying security controls to protect the underlying infrastructure, which fits the security perspective.

• Recovery procedures actually work
• Recovery time and recovery point objectives can be met
• Staff understand their responsibilities
• Contact details, dependencies, and technical configurations are accurate
• Gaps or conflicts exist in the plan

• Not version-controlled: Creates a risk of using an outdated copy, but the plan might still be effective.
• Contact information needs updating: This is a specific weakness that can be corrected, often identified during testing.
• Not approved by senior management: Approval is important for authority and resource commitment, but an untested plan presents the most direct risk that recovery will fail when needed.

• Answer: No.

• Why it doesn’t meet the goal:

• How to implement correctly (brief guidance):

• Correct answer: A

• Why:

• Takeaway: For data exfiltration detection with ETD, opt for targeted data read audit logs on the designated resources to balance visibility and cost.

• Answer: C — 192.168.0.0/25 as summary and 192.168.0.0/27 for each floor

• Why:

• The Act requires:

• It does not, as a public obligation, mandate publishing a detailed report on the training data used.
• Also, the Act does not specify a fixed “six months” retention for system logs in a way that would clearly make A required; logs for traceability are implied, but the six-month period is not a defined, universal requirement.

• Mapping:

• Why:

• Quick note: If you were to host a website on a VM, it would be IaaS; if you used a platform service instead of a VM, it would be PaaS. CaaS (containers) isn’t shown here.

• A. IDS attack signatures: An IDS primarily detects suspicious network activity and usually alerts rather than directly scanning and blocking uploaded files.
• C. Load balancer: Distributes traffic among servers but does not inspect files for malware.
• D. WAF: Protects web applications from attacks such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and some malicious requests. It is not primarily a PDF-malware scanning solution.

• Amazon Kendra is a managed enterprise search service that can index content stored in S3 and support natural-language queries to find text inside documents (PDFs, Word files, etc.).

• Rekognition analyzes images/videos, not document text search.
• Polly is a text-to-speech service.
• Lex is a chatbot service.

• Create a Kendra index.
• Add a data source of type S3 and point it to your bucket (with an IAM role that allows access).
• Configure/document conversion if needed, then index the data.
• Use the Kendra API or console to run natural-language queries against your indexed documents.

• The correct option is B: AWS Storage Gateway.

• Why: The scenario requires backing up on-prem data to AWS without changing existing backup workflows. AWS Storage Gateway provides a hybrid storage solution; specifically, the Tape Gateway emulates a physical tape library, allowing your existing backup software to write to virtual tapes that are stored in AWS (in S3 or S3 Glacier). This lets you back up 10 TB to the cloud while preserving current backup workflows and on-prem infrastructure.

• How it would work: Deploy a gateway appliance or VM on-site, connect your tape-based backup software to the virtual tape library, and start writing to virtual tapes. The data is then archived in AWS, freeing up local storage.

• Why the others aren’t suitable:

• Quick tip: If you weren’t using tape, File Gateway could be another option for file-based backups; Tape Gateway is the right pick for tape-based workflows.

• What the HOTSPOT is testing

• The actual action you need on HyperV1

• Typical commands you’d use (depending on OS version)

• Why this matters for Q6

• Quick validation steps

• Risk transfer means shifting the financial impact of a threat from the organization to another party (the insurer). Buying cyber insurance accomplishes this shift.
• It is not Accept: acceptance of risk would be tolerating it without action.
• It is not Mitigate: mitigation involves reducing likelihood or impact with controls, not shifting costs.
• It is not Avoid: avoidance would be not engaging in the activity that creates the risk; insurance does not remove the risk itself.

Why B works

• AWS KMS keys are Regional resources. A normal customer managed key in Region A cannot be used directly in Region B.
• A customer managed multi-Region KMS key (MRK) has related key replicas in both Regions. The replicas share key material and key ID, although each has a Regional ARN.
• With client-side encryption, the application encrypts the data before storing it in S3. Cross-Region replication then copies already-encrypted objects, so S3 does not need to decrypt and re-encrypt them with a different Regional key.

Why the other choices are weaker

• A and C: SSE-S3 uses Amazon-managed S3 keys, not the required customer managed KMS key.
• D: SSE-KMS can work only if the solution creates and configures the appropriate KMS key or multi-Region key replica in each Region. As written, it says to create a customer managed KMS key in each Region, which implies separate keys—not the same KMS key. Replication also requires additional KMS permissions and destination encryption configuration.

• A Storage Gateway File Gateway provides an on-premises NFS/SMB file share that's backed by objects in S3. This is exactly what you need to migrate an NFS workload: applications continue using NFS, while the actual data moves to and is stored in S3.
• It can cache frequently accessed data locally for performance, while uploads go to an S3 bucket.
• Why the other options aren’t suitable:

• Correct answer: All four statements are true (A, B, C, and D). The given key (A,B) is likely incorrect.

• A) Customers can change the size of the Warehouse after creation — Yes. You can resize a virtual warehouse after it’s created using ALTER WAREHOUSE ... SET WAREHOUSE_SIZE.
• B) A Warehouse can be resized while running — Yes. Snowflake supports online resizing; you can change the size without stopping queries.
• C) A Warehouse can be configured to suspend after a period of inactivity — Yes. You can enable auto-suspend with a delay (AUTO_SUSPEND).
• D) A Warehouse can be configured to auto-resume when new queries are submitted — Yes. You can enable auto-resume (AUTO_RESUME) so a suspended warehouse automatically resumes on new queries.

• Example commands:

• Even if a warehouse is resizing or auto-suspending, queries will be queued and then executed once the warehouse has the appropriate capacity.

• The first step in risk management is to understand objectives, constraints, and drivers from those who care about the project. This stakeholder engagement helps identify what could go wrong and what risks are most critical.
• Only after you’ve gathered input from stakeholders should you identify risks and document them in the risk register. Updating the risk register (option C) is important, but it comes after identifying and analyzing risks.
• Options B (ensure resources) and D (revise the risk management plan) are actions that may follow once risks are identified and understood; they’re not the initial step.

• Premium file shares: contoso104 only
• Blob access tiers: contoso101, contoso102, and contoso103

• Premium Azure Files shares require a storage account with the FileStorage account kind. This is a specialized account type and is not used for blob storage.
• Blob access tiers such as Hot, Cool, and—where supported—Archive apply to blob-capable accounts, such as General-purpose v2 or BlobStorage accounts shown in the exhibit.
• contoso104 is therefore excluded from the blob-tier selection because it is the premium Files account.

• Correct answer: C. AWS CloudFormation

• Why: CloudFormation lets you define infrastructure as code via templates (JSON or YAML). You can create a single template that describes multiple AWS resources and reuse it to deploy consistent stacks across environments. Templates can be parameterized and stored for repeated deployments. Other options (Marketplace, AMI, OpsWorks) don’t provide reusable deployment templates in the same way.

• Each statement is evaluated as True (Yes) or False (No) independently.
• Key Azure facts to recall:

• Automation handles repetitive tasks, and orchestration coordinates responses across tools (SIEM, SOAR, EDR, etc.).
• This allows the security team to process more events with the same number of people, improving throughput and response times.
• Analysts can focus on more complex tasks like investigation and threat hunting instead of manual triage.

• It increases complexity: automation can reduce complexity when well-implemented; complexity is not the main intended benefit.
• It removes technical debt: automation/OR focuses on current incident response efficiency, not primarily on architectural debt.
• It adds additional guard rails: governance is important but not the core value of automation/orchestration within a SIEM.

• You have a 42U rack and 19 servers that are each 1U tall. To maximize airflow while fitting all servers, allocate the largest uniform space per server that still fits: floor(42 / 19) = 2U.
• 19 servers × 2U = 38U, which fits in 42U (leaving 4U for additional spacing/blanking). If you tried 3U per server, you’d need 57U, which won’t fit.

• App Tag: a label that reflects the app’s enterprise readiness based on its Cloud Confidence Index (CCI) rating. It lets you quickly group apps (e.g., Poor, Average, Good) for policy decisions.
• App Score: a numeric value representing the CCI score. It provides a precise threshold you can use to enforce policies (e.g., block apps with Score below 50).

• You can create policies that block or restrict apps with a Poor App Tag or with an App Score under a chosen threshold.
• These two aspects let you filter cloud apps by CCI ratings during policy evaluation.

• CCL isn’t described as a real-time policy facet in this scenario.
• GDPR Readiness is a separate consideration and not the two CCI aspects used for real-time protection policy in this context.

• Answer: A) Clear the Windows event logs

• Windows event logs (System, Security, Application) are key forensic artifacts. If an attacker clears these logs, there’s no built-in local record of actions taken, making it harder for investigators to trace what happened.

• Modify the system time: may misalign timestamps but does not erase past events and can be easily detected.
• Alter log permissions: could prevent new log entries, but it doesn’t remove existing ones and can raise alarms due to permission changes.
• Reduce log retention settings: affects only future logs; it doesn’t wipe already recorded activity.

• In real environments, defenders mitigate this risk with tamper-evident, centralized logging (remote SIEM, write-once storage, log integrity checks) to preserve evidence even if a host is compromised.

• In Microsoft Teams Phone System, a single Auto Attendant can handle multiple time-based greetings by using separate schedules for office hours, after hours, weekends, and holidays.
• You can configure one Auto Attendant with four distinct greetings mapped to:

• Open the Teams admin center > Voice > Auto attendants, edit or create an Auto Attendant.
• Under Time-based routing, define four rules:

• Create a Holiday schedule with the relevant dates (e.g., Easter, Christmas) and assign the Holiday greeting.
• Save the configuration.

• If your environment cannot separate weekend from after-hours within a single Auto Attendant, you might technically need more than one Auto Attendant.

• Amazon GuardDuty: Detects suspicious activity and threats using security-related data sources; it is not primarily a software vulnerability scanner.
• Amazon Detective: Helps investigate and analyze the root cause of security findings after an event.
• Amazon Cognito: Provides user authentication and authorization for applications.

• Correct answer: A
• What this is saying: You need to write a Transact-SQL query that uses REGEXP_SUBSTR to extract the ID from MessageText, and you should apply STRING_ESCAPE(MessageText, 'json') before calling REGEXP_SUBSTR.

• MessageText may contain JSON characters (quotes, backslashes, etc.). Escaping the JSON content first ensures the string you pass to the regex is safe and won’t confuse the regex engine.
• The pattern you apply with REGEXP_SUBSTR would then extract the first substring that matches your ID pattern from the (escaped) text.

• Example (conceptual):

• The question implies REGEXP_SUBSTR is available in this environment; some SQL Server and Fabric contexts don’t expose it natively in all versions. If REGEXP_SUBSTR isn’t available, you’d need an alternative approach (e.g., using built-in regex-like capabilities or CLR/UDFs).
• If you need the ID specifically from the first paragraph, you might first isolate the first paragraph and then apply REGEXP_SUBSTR, or compose a single pattern that anchors to the first paragraph.

• The correct AAA mapping (per Cisco objectives) is:

• Why the given options aren’t fully correct:

• Quick takeaway: when you configure AAA, you should conceptually map them as:

• Example commands (to reinforce concepts):

• A) configure matching hold and delay timers

• B) configure matching key-strings

• C) configure matching priority values

• D) configure unique virtual IP addresses

• Correct answer: A — The degradation of a service.

• Why: A service request is a formal request from a user for something that is pre-approved and routine (e.g., provisioning a laptop, replacing a toner cartridge). Those are typical service request actions. The degradation of a service, however, is an incident: it describes a problem affecting service quality or availability and is handled by Incident Management (and possibly Problem Management), not as a standard service request.

• Quick note on the other options:

• A) You can only apply a single template BOM to a service object.

• C) You can modify or delete lines in a BOM template regardless of whether the template has been associated to a service object, or not.

• B) You can apply many template BOMs to a service object — false; typically only one template per service object.
• D) You can modify/delete lines only if not associated — false; you can modify templates even after association (per C).

• The mapping and resolution of endpoint identities (EIDs) to their location (RLOCs) in an SD-Access fabric is handled by the control plane using the LISP protocol.
• Why not the others:

• Answer: A. Use Amazon SageMaker Serverless Inference to deploy the model.

• Why: SageMaker Serverless Inference hosts the model and serves real-time predictions without you provisioning or managing servers. It scales automatically and handles deployment details.

• Why the others aren’t suitable:

• Quick example flow: web app ? SageMaker Serverless Inference endpoint ? model ? response.

• Startup scripts run at computer startup, before any user logs on, making them ideal for machine-wide configuration on each new VM.
• They execute under the Local System account, which is appropriate for initial setup tasks.
• Linking a GPO to the OU ensures every new VM in that domain automatically receives the configuration—great for scalability.

• A) SetupComplete.cmd runs only once, right after Windows Setup, not on every boot, so it isn’t ideal for provisioning multiple VMs consistently.
• B) Logon scripts run per user, not per machine, so they aren’t reliable for initial VM configuration before a user signs in.
• D) Placing scripts in a VHD doesn’t automatically execute them.

• Correct answer: D) Microservices using API

• Why:

• Windows 10 VMs
• Windows Server 2012 or later VMs
• Running VMs—they do not need to be shut down
• Debian 8.2+ VMs, assuming the specific version is supported
• Stopped or deallocated VMs

• Storage requirement: 10 apps × 10 GB each = 100 GB total. Basic’s storage quota is insufficient to host 100 GB in one plan, whereas Standard provides enough storage capacity for multiple apps.

• Dedicated compute: The plan must use dedicated compute instances; Free/Shared do not meet this, while Basic, Standard, and higher do.

• Load balancing: The plan must include load balancing between instances. Standard includes built-in load balancing across app instances; Basic may not meet this requirement.

• Costs: Among the plans that satisfy storage, dedicated compute, and load balancing, Standard is the lowest-cost option.

• Multi-pass wipe: Overwrites the drive’s existing data multiple times, making recovery much more difficult while preserving the drive’s functionality.
• Single-pass wipe: May be sufficient in some modern sanitization standards, but is presented here as less secure than multiple overwrites.
• Degaussing: Uses a strong magnetic field to disrupt data. It can render the drive unusable or unreliable, reducing its resale value.
• Pinning: Is not an appropriate data-sanitization method.

• Key difference: DirectQuery leaves data in the on-prem SQL Server and queries it live. That means every visual request can trigger online processing on the source, which can be slower and adds load on the on-prem system. In contrast, Import loads data into the Power BI data model, so visuals render from the in-memory engine (faster).

• Why that helps with the requirements:

• Why not A or B: Both rely on live data via DirectQuery, which contradicts the goal to minimize online processing and visuals performance.

• Why not D: It uses Import, but refreshing hourly adds unnecessary processing and complexity when daily refresh already satisfies currency needs.

• Correct answer: C — The model is deployed at UK border checkpoints.

• The EU AI Act applies to AI systems used within the EU or by entities established in the EU. So:

• Control plane: Managed by Databricks and contains the Databricks web application, workspace services, cluster management, and job orchestration.
• Data plane: Runs in your cloud account and contains compute resources such as:

• Worker node: Data plane compute.
• Driver node: Data plane compute.
• JDBC data source: Usually an external data system.
• Databricks Filesystem (DBFS): Provides storage access and is backed by cloud object storage rather than being entirely part of the control plane.

• The user needs the chosen occasion to remain available as they navigate through the current shopping experience. Session scope stores data for the duration of the user’s session.
• Request scope data is cleared with each HTTP request; Page scope only lasts for rendering a single page; Content slots are for page/content presentation, not user data.
• Since you don’t want to persist the selection in system/custom objects, session scope is the right level: it preserves state across pages during the same session but isn’t stored long-term.

• I can’t view the images, so I can’t tell which table is labeled as A in your screenshot. But here’s how to decide:

• How to identify the fact table:

• How to identify the surrogate key in the Patient table:

• Relationship:

• Requirements map to this: send to syslog server at 10.10.10.1, use a reliable protocol (TCP), and avoid well-known ports (0–1023). Port 1024 is the first non–well-known port, so it satisfies the non–well-known requirement.
• Why the others are wrong:

• TCP provides reliability for syslog delivery, unlike UDP.
• Port numbers in the 0–1023 range are well-known ports; using 1024+ avoids the well-known range.

• Shadow IT describes employees using unsanctioned tools or methods to access systems, often without IT oversight (e.g., bypassing the VPN).
• Not A (Espionage): this implies external covert actors; here the activity is internal.
• Not B (Data exfiltration): there’s no explicit data transfer shown, just bypassing the VPN.
• Not C (Nation-state attack): this involves external political/strategic actors; not the internal behavior described.

• Implement policy and training to enforce approved tools.
• Use IAM, VPN enforcement, and network access controls to ensure only sanctioned access.
• Monitor for unsanctioned tools and provide secure, approved alternatives.

• The correct answer: D) Sniffer

• Why: The issue is that requests to the anti-malware update site are being redirected to a malicious site. A network sniffer lets you capture and analyze live traffic to see exactly what is being sent and received. You can check:

• Why the others aren’t first steps:

• Quick practical approach:

• It is a sequence of distinct phases that flow one after another (requirements ? design ? implementation ? verification ? maintenance).
• Requirements are defined up front and changes are costly; the project often requires formal sign-off before moving to the next phase.
• It emphasizes heavy documentation and minimal iteration after a phase is completed.

• Answer: B — Improve employee training and awareness

• Why this is correct:

• Why the other options are less effective here:

• Quick practical note:

• The missing piece is to configure an event source mapping between the DynamoDB stream and the Lambda function. Enabling DynamoDB Streams alone doesn’t trigger the function—you must wire the stream to Lambda so events invoke the function.
• Note that changing StreamViewType (A) only affects what data is delivered (e.g., NEW_IMAGE) and does not trigger invocations. Options C and D are not required for invocation: you don’t need SNS, and increasing the timeout won’t enable the trigger.

• All authentication events must be processed by PolicyApp. By using two separate topics, you can route sign-in and sign-out events to the same app (via subscriptions pointing to PolicyApp), ensuring both types are processed.
• Sign-outs must be processed as fast as possible. Isolating sign-out events on their own topic/subscription lets you scale and prioritize that path independently from sign-ins, reducing contention and latency.
• Decoupling the flows provides better control and RBAC granularity. You can apply different access controls and scaling policies per topic/subscription if needed.
• A single subscription with a subject filter (e.g., subjectBeginsWith) would still require handling both event types and wouldn’t offer the same isolation and independent scaling benefits as separate topics and subscriptions.