CIMA E3 Exam Prep
E3 Strategic Management (Page 14 )

• B — The most significant risks are held by SQ.

• C — SQ should recognise the cars as inventory.

• F — SQ recognises revenue when LM sells a car to a third party.

• A: LM does not hold the most significant risks.
• D: LM does not recognise the cars as inventory.
• E: SQ should not recognise revenue when cars are merely delivered to LM.

• Honeypots: Deliberately vulnerable or attractive systems designed to lure attackers. Legitimate users should not access them, so activity on a honeypot is a strong indicator of compromise.
• DNS sinkholes: Redirect requests for known malicious domains to a controlled internal system instead of allowing the connection. This can identify infected hosts attempting to contact command-and-control infrastructure.

• Tokenization: Replaces sensitive data with non-sensitive tokens; it protects data but does not primarily detect attackers.
• CI/CD: Automates software development and deployment processes.
• Threat modeling: Identifies potential threats and weaknesses before or during system design.
• Data obfuscation: Makes data harder to understand, but it is not an attacker-detection method.

• 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.

• Load balancer: Distributes application traffic; it does not protect switch MAC tables.
• IPS: May detect some attack traffic, but it is not the primary control for switch-port MAC learning.
• NGFW: Protects at network boundaries but does not directly limit MAC addresses learned on access ports.

• The application failing to start or becoming unhealthy
• An incorrect probe path, port, or protocol
• The application needing more startup time
• Dependency or configuration failures
• A liveness probe being too aggressive

bash 
kubectl describe pod <pod-name> 
kubectl logs <pod-name> --previous

• Scale to more replicas: may hide the issue but does not diagnose it.
• Decrease initialDelaySeconds: makes probes run earlier and could worsen startup failures.
• Drain and reboot the node: node metrics are normal, so rebooting is not justified as the first step.

• Reporting relationships
• Organizational structures
• Leadership styles
• Team maturity
• Individual and group behavior
• Communication and motivation

• Acquire Project Team: Focuses on obtaining the people needed for the project.
• Develop Project Team: Focuses on improving team skills, relationships, and performance.
• Manage Project Team: Focuses on tracking performance, resolving issues, and managing changes within the team.

• A — Securing information assets: This is the responsibility of management and operational/security teams.
• B — Validating protection: Correct. The auditor checks whether controls—such as access restrictions, encryption, retention, and handling procedures—match the asset’s classification.
• C — Ensuring alignment with regulations: Management and legal/compliance functions typically establish classification requirements; the auditor may assess compliance but does not primarily define alignment.
• D — Defining classification levels: This is a management responsibility based on business needs, risk, and regulatory obligations.

• 16GB RAM: A 64-bit OS is needed to use more than roughly 4GB effectively, but RAM capacity does not prove the CPU supports 64-bit operation.
• 500GB HDD: Storage capacity has no bearing on OS architecture.
• 1Gbps Ethernet: Network speed is unrelated to CPU architecture.

• Initial Intrusion: The compromised VPN account and stolen phishing credentials describe how the attacker first gained access, but that happened months earlier.
• Persistence: The scheduled tasks and recurring C2 connections show how the attacker maintained and automated continued access.
• Search and Exfiltration: This would involve locating and transferring data. The scenario does not primarily describe data discovery or theft.
• Cleanup: Cleanup involves removing evidence or covering tracks. Obfuscated scripts may make detection harder, but the main behavior here is maintaining access.

1. Wireless AP

1. Router

1. Firewall

1. Device placement

• Assign endpoints to a group based on the result of one policy.
• Use that group as the scope of another policy.
• This effectively passes the endpoints from one policy’s processing flow to another.

• Bronze: Raw ingested data
• Silver: Cleaned, validated, and transformed data
• Gold: Business-level data for analytics, dashboards, and reporting

• A script of cloud CLI commands: IaC because the commands can be saved, reviewed, versioned, and rerun consistently.
• Manually run curl commands: Not necessarily IaC; they are manual actions unless organized into an automated script.
• A sequence of REST requests passed to an API: Could represent automation, but the wording does not explicitly say they are stored and executed as reusable code.
• Commands entered into a cloud console: Manual operation, not IaC.

• transform() — modifies every element in an array
• filter() — keeps elements matching a condition
• exists() — checks whether any element matches
• aggregate() — reduces array elements to one result

sql 
SELECT transform(scores, x -> x * 2) 
FROM student_scores;

• A is incorrect because higher-order functions are mainly useful for nested or complex data.
• B is incorrect because they do not convert logic into Python.
• D is incorrect because their purpose is not to fix slow built-in functions, but to process arrays or maps with custom logic.

text 
interface GigabitEthernet0/0.10 
 encapsulation dot1Q 3

• .10 is the router’s local subinterface number.
• dot1Q 3 identifies the 802.1Q VLAN tag carried on the trunk.

text 
interface GigabitEthernet0/0.3 
 encapsulation dot1Q 3

text 
interface GigabitEthernet0/0.2 
 encapsulation dot1Q 2

apex 
Set<Id> accountIds = new Set<Id>{ accountId1, accountId2 }; 


List<Account> accounts = [ 
    SELECT Id, Name 
    FROM Account 
    WHERE Id IN :accountIds 
];

• A: LIMIT accepts a number, not a collection of IDs.
• B: Set.containsAll() checks set contents in Apex; it does not filter SOQL results.
• C: Database.query() accepts a dynamic SOQL string, not a Set<Id> directly.

• Static IP address: Not needed if the workstation already has network connectivity.
• Subnet mask: Incorrect subnetting would usually prevent local communication, including pinging the server.
• Default gateway: Primarily affects communication outside the local network; it does not normally prevent finding an internal domain controller.

• Fileless malware: Nothing in the command indicates malware executing only in memory.
• Living-off-the-land binaries: Mimikatz is a credential-access tool, not a normal system utility used for LOLBin abuse.
• Social engineering: The command shows technical credential abuse, not manipulation of an accountant.

• Maintain head office control: Transfer pricing generally supports decentralisation rather than direct head-office control.
• Establish centralised decision making: This conflicts with divisional autonomy.
• Develop a top-down culture: Transfer pricing is intended to support empowered divisions and goal congruence, not impose purely top-down management.

1. Product + ProductSubCategory: Inner join

1. Result + ProductCategory: Left outer join

• Lower order numbers appear first.
• For example, a variable with order 100 appears before one with order 200.
• The Sequence field is not the control used for catalog variable display order.
• The Default Value sets a value, not placement.
• The Choice field defines selectable options, not the variable’s position.

• IRR assumes that interim cash flows can be reinvested at the project’s own IRR. This may be unrealistic, especially when the IRR is very high.
• MIRR assumes reinvestment at a specified rate, usually the company’s cost of capital or another realistic reinvestment rate.

• B: MIRR does not specifically favour projects with long payback periods.
• C: MIRR and IRR can rank competing projects differently.
• D: MIRR is not always higher than IRR; it may be higher or lower depending on the cash flows and reinvestment rate.

• SQL injection
• Cross-site scripting (XSS)
• Malicious or malformed web requests
• Some application-layer abuse

• Layer 4 firewall: Filters based mainly on IP addresses, ports, and connections; it lacks detailed web-request inspection.
• NGFW: Provides broader network security, but a WAF is more specialized for protecting web applications.
• UTM: Combines multiple security functions, but it is not necessarily optimized for web-application protection.

• The S3 bucket as an origin for static content
• The Application Load Balancer (ALB) as an origin for dynamic content
• An Amazon Route 53 alias record pointing the application domain to CloudFront

Why this works

• Static data: CloudFront caches objects from S3 at edge locations, reducing latency for users worldwide.
• Dynamic data: CloudFront forwards requests that require application processing to the ALB. It can also maintain persistent connections and use the AWS global edge network to improve delivery performance.
• One domain: CloudFront behaviors can route different path patterns to different origins—for example, /static/* to S3 and other paths to the ALB.

Why the other options are incorrect

• Global Accelerator is designed primarily for accelerating traffic to applications with endpoints such as ALBs, not for caching S3 content.
• Using separate domains or splitting static and dynamic traffic adds unnecessary complexity.
• CloudFront already provides the required global edge distribution and caching, so combining it with Global Accelerator is unnecessary here.

• A — .gitignore: Controls Git tracking; it does not configure Copilot exclusions.
• B — copilot.ignore: This is not the standard GitHub Copilot Business exclusion mechanism.
• D — Renaming files: Adding _no_copilot has no recognized effect.

• Compute: Not used; no virtual warehouse is required.
• Data Storage: Not scanned again.
• Metadata: May help Snowflake manage and validate cached results, but it is not the Snowflake architectural layer identified as serving the request.
• Cloud Services: Handles query coordination, metadata services, authentication, and result-cache access.

• Active remediation actions role in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

• Security Reader role in Azure AD/Entra ID

• Security Administrator is broader than necessary because it grants extensive security-management permissions, violating least privilege.
• Compliance Data Administrator is intended for compliance data management, not Defender for Endpoint remediation approvals.

• DB1 (500 TB): Azure Data Box Heavy

• Virtual machines: Azure Migrate

• Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates define the virtual machines and related Azure resources declaratively. You can deploy the same template repeatedly, ensuring consistent VM sizes, networking, storage, extensions, and other infrastructure settings.

• PowerShell DSC extension applies and maintains the required Windows configuration inside each VM. DSC is state-based: if a setting changes or becomes incorrect, DSC can bring it back to the desired configuration.

• Azure Pipelines deployment groups organize deployment targets, but they do not primarily enforce ongoing VM configuration.
• Custom Script Extension runs setup scripts, but it is generally less maintainable and does not continuously enforce configuration like DSC.
• Pipeline stage templates reuse pipeline workflow definitions; they do not configure the VMs themselves.

• Code suggestions: Inline completions as you write code, such as lines, functions, or blocks.
• Chat: An interactive interface for asking questions, explaining code, generating code, and helping with debugging.

• Knowledge Base: Not listed as a standard Copilot Individual IDE feature in this context.
• Pull Request Diff Analysis: More closely associated with GitHub-based code review or pull-request features, not the core Individual IDE extension capabilities.

• Third-party enterprise application with embedded AI: The provider manages most security controls. The customer mainly manages users, data, and configuration.
• Application using an existing third-party FM: The customer controls the application and its inputs/outputs, but the provider controls the underlying model and infrastructure.
• Fine-tuning a third-party FM: The customer has additional responsibility for training data, data protection, and model behavior, but still depends on the provider’s base model and platform.
• Building and training a model from scratch: The customer controls the model, training data, application, deployment, and many security safeguards. This creates the greatest security ownership.

• SQL injection
• Cross-site scripting (XSS)
• Malicious file uploads
• Common web-application exploits

• Layer 4 firewall: Filters primarily by IP addresses, ports, and transport protocols; it lacks detailed web-application inspection.
• NGFW: Provides advanced network filtering and may include application awareness, but a WAF is more specialized for protecting web applications.
• UTM: Combines several security functions in one device, but it is not specifically focused on web-application attacks.

• Database data: Aggregates are used to retrieve structured data, commonly from entities and database sources.
• Screen scope: A Screen Aggregate belongs to the screen where it is defined and is not directly reusable as a screen-level aggregate elsewhere.
• Asynchronous and parallel execution: Multiple Screen Aggregates can run asynchronously and in parallel, helping the screen load data efficiently.

• 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.

1. Clear principles and boundaries — Employees have freedom, but decisions must remain within clear organizational values, policies and limits.
2. High degree of freedom — Managers are trusted to make decisions rather than seeking continual approval from senior management.
3. Frontline customer responsibility — Customer-facing managers should be empowered to manage customer relationships and respond quickly to needs.
4. Transparent and ethical information — Information should be openly available and used honestly, supporting trust and informed decision-making.

• AWS Network Firewall can inspect and block traffic across a VPC when traffic is routed through the firewall. A Drop action rule can deny traffic from the suspicious source IP.
• GuardDuty findings are sent to Security Hub.
• A Lambda function can be invoked when Security Hub receives a new GuardDuty finding, extract the source IP, and update the Network Firewall policy with a blocking rule.

• GuardDuty threat lists: Used to identify or increase the severity of findings; they do not directly block VPC traffic.
• AWS WAF: Protects supported web applications, such as CloudFront or Application Load Balancers. It does not provide general VPC-wide traffic blocking.
• GuardDuty suppression rules: Suppress or hide findings. They do not block the suspicious traffic.

• D — Value analysis: Correct. It examines an existing product to identify ways of reducing its cost while still providing the required functions, quality and reliability.
• E — Kaizen costing: Correct. It involves making continuous, small improvements and cost reductions while the product is already in production.

• Functional analysis: It is not limited to minimizing the cost of the originally defined functions. It examines what functions are required and how they can be provided at the lowest overall cost.
• Value engineering: Usually applies to the design and development of a new product, rather than being a fundamental redesign of existing organisational processes. That description is closer to business process re-engineering.
• Target costing: The target cost is generally established during the product development stage, before production begins. It is not continuously reset while the product is in production.

• The users currently have Office 365 Enterprise E3 licenses assigned directly.
• Assigning Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 through a group does not automatically remove their directly assigned E3 licenses.
• From the Licenses blade, you can select the E3 product and remove it from all assigned users in one operation. This requires less effort than editing 2,500 users individually.

• Identity Governance manages access reviews, entitlement management, and related governance—not bulk license removal.
• Set-AzureAdUser does not remove product licenses.
• Set-WindowsProductKey applies Windows product keys and is unrelated to Microsoft 365 licensing.

• Admin access to the deployment pipeline
• Contributor access to the Development and Test workspaces
• Viewer access to the Production workspace

• A password cracker would normally be identified by behavior such as loading password hashes or attempting dictionary/brute-force attacks.
• The question describes a routine audit, not password recovery.
• Simply encountering a protected file during an audit is characteristic of a misconfigured or insufficiently privileged FIM.

• Install unauthorized or unsupported software
• Access features blocked by the manufacturer or operating system
• Customize system behavior beyond normal settings

• Identified risks
• Risk owners or responsible parties
• Likelihood and impact
• Risk response plans
• Current status
• Risk thresholds or trigger conditions

• Risk tolerance: The amount and type of risk an organization is willing to accept; it is not primarily a tracking document.
• Risk transfer: Moving the financial or operational impact of a risk to another party, such as through insurance or outsourcing.
• Risk analysis: The process of evaluating a risk’s likelihood and impact.

• Penetration test: Tests for exploitable vulnerabilities; it does not provide a broad opinion on whether security controls operate effectively.
• Annual self-assessment: Not independent, so it provides less assurance.
• Allow each client the right to audit: Inefficient because every customer may conduct a separate audit, creating duplicated effort and disruption.

• \Pipeline1
• \Folder1\Lakehouse1

• Pipeline1 remains at the workspace root in Workspace1, so it is deployed to the root of Workspace2.
• Lakehouse1 was moved into Folder1, so its full path is preserved as \Folder1\Lakehouse1.
• Fabric deployment pipelines preserve folder paths because an item’s full path is treated as part of its name.

• Customer: Dual
• Date: Dual
• Sales: DirectQuery
• SalesAggregate: Import

• Sales – DirectQuery: Near-real-time data should not rely on an imported cache. DirectQuery sends queries to the source when visuals are loaded, allowing recent sales data to appear.
• SalesAggregate – Import: A weekly refresh is sufficient, and imported data generally gives faster visual performance because it is stored in Power BI’s in-memory cache.
• Customer and Date – Dual: These are dimension tables used with both the DirectQuery Sales table and the imported SalesAggregate table. Dual allows Power BI to use cached data when possible, while still behaving appropriately in queries involving DirectQuery data. This can improve performance and reduce unnecessary limited relationships.

• 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: \(\$10\)

• Report on the discount approval time for quotes

• Dashboard of opportunity stage duration

• Lead conversion trends measure lead-generation effectiveness, not opportunity closing time.
• Campaign ROI evaluates marketing performance, not delays in the sales process.