USMLE STEP2 Exam Prep
Step2 (Page 44 )

• Containment policy: controls permitted communication during containment.
• Detection/response configuration: determines when containment is initiated.

• Amazon EC2 instances — ???????? ?? ?? ??????? CPU, memory ??? instance size ???????? ???????
• AWS Lambda functions — memory configuration ?????????? ???????
• Amazon EBS volumes — volume type ?? size optimize ???? ???????
• ??????? ECS workloads — resource configuration ? cost optimization-?? ???????

• Memory ? compute usage ?????????? ???? custom code ????? ???? development ? maintenance ??????
• Cost allocation tags ???? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ??????? ???; inefficient resource ??????? ?? recommendation ???? ???
• CloudTrail resource ???? ?? API activity ??????, resource utilization ????

• Limiting the number of MAC addresses learned on a switch port
• Allowing only specific, approved MAC addresses
• Taking action when the limit is exceeded, such as dropping frames or disabling the port

• Base table — the table containing common inherited fields
• Parent table — the table directly extended by the child
• Other tables in the hierarchy

• Tokens: Individual units of text processed by a model, such as words, subwords, or characters.
• Models: Systems that learn patterns and generate predictions or outputs.
• Binaries: Data represented using the binary number system, not semantic representations.

• terraform apply
• terraform destroy

• Rights issue: Raises new equity from existing shareholders. It does not increase debt or gearing, so it is least likely to breach the covenant.
• Retained earnings: Also equity finance, but the amount available may be insufficient for the required $800 million.
• Private placement of a bond: Creates additional debt and would worsen gearing, increasing the risk of breaching the covenant.
• Bank overdraft: Also debt finance, usually short-term and potentially expensive; it would still increase financial risk and gearing.

• If the attachment is safe, it is released to the user.
• If malware is detected, the attachment is blocked or removed according to the policy.
• This reduces delivery delays without disabling malware scanning.

• Replace removes the original attachment and replaces it with a text file explaining that it was blocked. It does not primarily optimize delivery time.
• Block and Enable redirect blocks messages with suspicious attachments and can redirect them for review; it does not provide the required faster delivery experience.
• Monitor and Enable redirect is for observation and does not reliably block malicious attachments.

• Custom domains: supported by Standard.
• Dedicated compute instances: Standard runs on dedicated Azure VMs.
• Load balancing: Standard supports scaling the app across multiple instances with traffic distributed between them.
• Storage: Standard provides more storage than the lower tiers.
• Cost control: Standard is cheaper than higher tiers while meeting the stated requirements.

• Free and Shared use shared infrastructure and are intended for basic/testing workloads.
• Basic provides dedicated instances, but the question’s expected answer treats Standard as the minimum tier providing the required load-balancing capability.

• Process Builder: Automates actions based on record changes; it does not create interactive user forms.
• Approval Process: Routes records for approval and captures approval decisions.
• Outbound Message: Sends information to an external system; it does not provide a user interface.

1. Yes — One account can manage multiple subscriptions

1. No — You cannot merge two subscriptions into one

1. Yes — A resource belongs to only one subscription

• The connected switch
• The switch’s port/interface
• Device and port descriptions
• Sometimes VLAN or management information

• IKE: Establishes security associations for IPsec VPNs.
• VLAN: Defines logical network segmentation; it does not identify a physical switch port.
• netstat: Displays local network connections and statistics, not the upstream switch and port.

• 50% memory utilization baseline: The environment can be provisioned with excess capacity, leaving room for growth and workload spikes.
• Storage scalability: Cloud storage can generally be expanded as needed without redesigning the physical platform.
• Single circuit failure resilience: A properly designed IaaS provider uses redundant power circuits and infrastructure, so failure of one circuit should not take the platform offline.

• A — Dual PDUs: Helps with power redundancy but does not provide storage scalability.
• C — Network load balancing: Provides network-path resilience, not memory or storage scalability, and does not address a power-circuit failure.
• D — Multiple NAS devices: May improve storage capacity, but does not inherently provide power resilience or the required compute-capacity baseline.

• The JSON files contain one billion items, so this is a big-data workload.
• PySpark uses Apache Spark’s distributed, parallel processing, allowing the data to be processed across multiple compute nodes.
• It can read and transform data directly from OneLake, helping minimize unnecessary data movement or duplication.
• A Fabric notebook can also support exploration and visualization, as well as Spark-based analytics and anomaly-detection workflows.

• Pandas is primarily in-memory and generally suited to smaller datasets. One billion records would be impractical on a typical single machine.
• A Power BI report with core visuals is appropriate for visualization and sharing, but it is not the best tool for large-scale transformation, parallel processing, or anomaly detection. It would normally consume prepared data rather than perform the entire workload.

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

• A — VARIANT "null" values are not the same as SQL NULL values: True

• B — Frequent, single-row DMLs: False

• C — Validate data before loading into the target table: True

• D — Use staging tables to manage MERGE statements: True

1. x = -100
2. -100 < x < 100
3. 100 = x < 1000
4. x = 1000

• -500 ? class 1
• 0 ? class 2
• 100 ? class 3
• 1000 ? class 4

• 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.

• Orders contains order-level information, such as the order date.
• Order Line Items contains the products, quantities, and line amounts associated with each order.
• Merging them on the order key, such as OrderID, places the order date alongside each line item. This allows you to calculate total order value and analyze it over time.
• Product attributes can remain in the Products table and be related to the resulting line-item table through ProductID.

• Merging line items with products addresses product attributes but does not first provide the order-level date and value needed for time analysis.
• DAX calculated columns or lists add unnecessary model complexity.
• Calculating order counts is not the first requirement and does not combine the required order and line-item data.

• IKE (Internet Key Exchange) negotiates the IPsec security association, including:

• ESP (Encapsulating Security Payload) protects the data after negotiation by providing encryption and optionally authentication.
• AH provides authentication and integrity but does not encrypt traffic.
• TLS is used for protocols such as HTTPS, not for negotiating IPsec parameters.

• Wireshark captures packets and allows you to examine their contents, potentially revealing usernames and passwords sent without encryption.
• Netcat creates network connections and can send or receive data, but it is not primarily a packet-analysis tool.
• Nessus scans for known vulnerabilities and configuration issues; it generally would not prove that credentials are visible in transit.
• Nmap performs network discovery and port/service scanning, not detailed packet-content inspection.

CIMA P3 topics

• IT governance and systems strategy
• Systems development and implementation
• Change and project governance
• Strategic and business risk

• A — Plan for new systems: The committee should help identify and prioritise systems requirements and ensure planned systems support organisational needs.
• D — Consider competitive issues: New information systems may affect Y’s competitive position, service quality and efficiency. These strategic implications should be considered.
• E — Ensure the system meets company goals: This is a key governance responsibility. The committee should ensure the project remains aligned with Y’s objectives and delivers business value.

• B — Develop new systems: Detailed system development should be performed by IT specialists and project teams, not the steering committee.
• C — Manage the project: The project manager should handle day-to-day project management. The steering committee should provide oversight, challenge and key decisions, rather than manage daily activities.

• 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.

• Crash cart: Provides local physical access, not remote access.
• Jump box: A secured intermediary used to reach devices over the normal network; it may be inaccessible if the appliance has not booted.
• Secure Shell (SSH): Requires the device’s operating system and network services to be running properly.

• Required response time
• Resolution time
• Availability or uptime
• Support hours
• Performance targets
• Consequences if targets are missed

• SOW (Statement of Work): Defines the project’s scope, tasks, deliverables, and schedule.
• MOA (Memorandum of Agreement): Describes the responsibilities and commitments between parties.
• MOU (Memorandum of Understanding): Documents a general mutual understanding or intent, often before a formal agreement.

• Formatting: May remove file-system references but often leaves recoverable data.
• Degaussing: Uses a magnetic field to erase data, but can damage or make magnetic drives unusable.
• Defragmentation: Rearranges data for performance; it does not securely erase information.

• Matching hashes: The software is likely unchanged.
• Different hashes: The software or its contents have been modified.

• Encryption: Protects confidentiality, not primarily integrity.
• Baselines: Document expected configurations and support comparison, but hashing is more directly suited to verifying file integrity.
• Tokenization: Replaces sensitive data with tokens and is unrelated to software tampering.

• 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.

• A: Build a custom API — possible, but unnecessary as the primary solution and potentially more costly to develop and maintain.
• B: Use pre-built chatbots — these generally answer questions but may not support the required custom workflow and real-time actions.
• C: Fine-tune with sample data — improves model behavior but does not provide live database access.
• D: Google Cloud databases + Vertex AI — stores current inventory data and lets an AI agent retrieve it and take actions based on up-to-date information.

• Data only needs to be current at 7 AM each day, so scheduled refresh is sufficient.
• Import mode provides the fastest report interaction because data is stored in Power BI’s in-memory engine.
• It supports row-level security (RLS), including the USERNAME() filter.
• You can limit the imported data to the current year and previous three years to reduce model size.
• DirectQuery would generally provide slower visual response times and is unnecessary here.
• Dual is mainly useful in composite models where some tables use DirectQuery and others use Import. That is not required by this scenario.
• Live connection is not appropriate because you are creating the semantic model.

• Additional running costs: $800
• Less depreciation: $300

• The $100 reduction in fixed production overhead absorbed is only an accounting reallocation. It does not represent an actual saving in total fixed overhead.

• Minimum
• Maximum
• Average
• Count
• Null/empty values
• Distinct values

• Enable column profile
• Enable details pane
• Show column profile in details pane

• Disabling a compromised account
• Blocking a malicious IP address
• Isolating an endpoint
• Creating or escalating an incident ticket

• Virus signatures: Primarily associated with antivirus or endpoint protection.
• Security agent deployment: Usually handled by endpoint-management or security-agent platforms.
• Vulnerability scanning: Typically performed by vulnerability-management tools.

• terraform init is normally required first, especially for a new or changed working directory. It installs providers/modules and configures the backend.
• terraform plan previews the proposed changes.
• terraform apply applies those changes. It also creates a plan internally if you have not supplied a saved plan.

text 
terraform init 
terraform validate       # optional but recommended 
terraform plan 
terraform apply

• 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.