WGU Secure-Software-Design Exam Prep
WGU Secure Software Design (D487, KEO1) (Page 10 )

1. Find the subnet-mask increment in the octet where the prefix ends.
2. Identify the network address by finding the subnet boundary at or below the given IP.
3. The first usable address is network address + 1.
4. The broadcast address is one address before the next subnet.
5. The last usable address is broadcast - 1.

• 172.28.228.144/18

• 172.28.228.144/23

• contoso.onmicrosoft.com
• contoso1.onmicrosoft.com

• onmicrosoft.com domains: Maximum of five per tenant.
• Custom domains: Domains that your organization owns and verifies in Microsoft 365.

• Keep earlier prompt versions.
• Identify the last version that produced acceptable output.
• Restore it as a baseline.
• Make small, controlled changes—ideally one significant change at a time.
• Test the output after each change.

• A: Discards useful information about what worked.
• B: Large simultaneous changes make it difficult to identify the cause of problems.
• D: Accepts output that does not meet the requirements.

• Maximum response and resolution times
• Expected uptime or availability
• Performance requirements
• Escalation procedures
• Consequences for failing to meet requirements

• SOW: Defines a project’s scope, tasks, deliverables, and schedule.
• MOA: Documents specific responsibilities agreed upon by two parties.
• MOU: Records a general understanding or intent to cooperate.

• 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.

• 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.

• The current and previous versions
• Which clauses were changed
• When each revision occurred
• Potentially, who made the changes

• Version validation: Verifies a version’s accuracy or integrity but does not primarily track revisions.
• Version changes: Not the standard name for a formal document-management process.
• Version updates: Describes updating a document, not the complete process of managing and tracking its revisions.

• Vulnerability scanner: Identifies technical weaknesses in systems, applications, or devices.
• Penetration test: Simulates attacks to determine whether vulnerabilities can be exploited.
• SCAP (Security Content Automation Protocol): Uses standardized formats and protocols for automated vulnerability, configuration, and compliance checks.
• Illumination tool: Maps and analyzes broader supply-chain exposure and third-party risk.

• 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.

• 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.

• B: Developer Edition has limited user, storage, and data-volume capacity, making realistic community testing difficult.
• C: A Developer Edition org cannot contain sandboxes, so it cannot provide separate environments for development, integration, and UAT.
• E: A standalone Developer Edition org is not part of the production org’s deployment path, so change sets cannot be used to deploy from it directly to that production org. The team would need Metadata API, Salesforce CLI, or another deployment method.

• 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 ????

yaml 
clusterIP: None

• CronJob: Runs Jobs on a schedule and normally does not need stable networking.
• Deployment: Manages interchangeable, stateless replicas and usually uses a regular Service.
• DaemonSet: Runs a Pod on selected nodes but does not inherently require stable Pod identities.

• A: Allow SAN certificates — SANs are used to identify valid hostnames in a certificate. They do not bypass trust validation.
• C: Open the secure LDAP port — A blocked port would normally cause a timeout or connection-refused error, not certificate errors.
• D: Increase the TLS version on the RA — The issue concerns certificate trust, not the organization’s registration authority.

• Have a definite, clear objective (C): Know exactly what you want to communicate. A clear purpose reduces ambiguity and irrelevant information.
• Plan the communication (E): Decide what to say, who needs the information, the appropriate channel and the best timing.
• Seek feedback (F): Check that the receiver understood the message. This could involve asking for confirmation or inviting questions.

• Ask questions (A): Usually associated with the receiver checking or clarifying information, although a sender may use questions in practice.
• Give feedback (B): Feedback is generally the receiver’s response to the sender’s message. The sender’s responsibility here is to seek feedback.
• Consider their contribution (D): This is not a standard sender-focused step in the communication process. The sender should consider the receiver’s needs and perspective, but the wording is less precise than the three recognised actions above.

• BCP (Business Continuity Plan): Ensures the organization can continue its broader business operations during and after a disruption. It is broader than the IT-focused recovery required here.
• Communication plan: Defines how information is shared with employees, the public, and other stakeholders; it does not restore systems.
• IRP (Incident Response Plan): Handles and contains security incidents, such as malware or unauthorized access. A tornado is a disaster, not primarily a cybersecurity incident.

• 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.

• Personally identifiable information (PII) detection

• Prompt Shields

• Self-harm content filtering addresses self-harm-related content.
• Violence content filtering addresses violent content.
• Neither protects customer PII or detects document-based prompt injection.

• A. IDS attack signatures: An IDS primarily detects suspicious network activity; it is not the best tool for scanning uploaded files.
• C. Load balancer: Improves availability and distributes traffic but does not inspect files for malware.
• D. WAF: Protects web applications against attacks such as SQL injection and command injection. It may inspect HTTP requests, but malware scanning of uploaded PDFs is the key requirement here.

• Deterministic approve/reject results
• Strict adherence to predefined rules
• Consistent, reproducible outcomes
• Auditability and regulatory compliance

• The CSV contains the external users’ email addresses.
• The bulk invitation feature supports inviting many guest users in one operation.
• Each invited user becomes a guest account in contoso.com.

• Transport and handling
• Storage and warehousing
• Refrigeration
• Shelf-stacking or replenishment
• Other costs directly attributable to product P

• Regression predicts continuous numeric outcomes, such as house price, temperature, or sales amount.
• Linear regression assumes the target can be estimated from a linear relationship between the input features and the target.
• In Azure Machine Learning, you use a labeled dataset containing:

• Classification predicts a category or class, such as “spam” or “not spam.”
• Clustering groups similar records without a known label; it is an unsupervised learning technique.

• Outer packet: 10.5.1.1 > 52.165.16.154
• IPv4 protocol field: 41, which indicates IPv6 encapsulation
• Inner packet: IPv6 traffic between 2001:... addresses

• MAC address spoofing: Changes Layer 2 addressing; it does not explain the IPv6-in-IPv4 structure.
• Steganography: Hides data inside files or media, not visibly in a tunneled protocol.
• Broken encryption: No evidence of encryption being cracked.
• On-path sniffing: Involves intercepting traffic, not sending data to an external host.

• Compare each server’s drive specifications and performance data.
• Identify the drive that is faulty, slow, or mismatched.
• Replace it with a drive that matches the required interface, capacity, and performance characteristics.
• Avoid selecting a slower drive, because storage performance can bottleneck the entire server.
• In a redundant array, use a compatible replacement so rebuilding does not create unnecessary performance degradation.

• s3:GetObject for the relevant objects
• s3:ListBucket if listing is required
• Appropriate bucket and object resource permissions

• B: Making the bucket public is insecure and unnecessary.
• C: Prompt engineering cannot override AWS IAM or encryption permissions.
• D: Data sensitivity does not determine whether the role can access it.

• How quickly the vendor must respond to an incident or request
• Target resolution times
• Availability or uptime requirements
• Performance metrics and penalties for not meeting them

• SOW (Statement of Work): Describes the project’s scope, tasks, deliverables, and timeline.
• MOA (Memorandum of Agreement): Documents a formal agreement to cooperate or perform specific activities.
• MOU (Memorandum of Understanding): Records a mutual understanding or intent, often less binding than a contract.

• Espionage: Stealing confidential information, often for a competitor or government.
• Data exfiltration: Unauthorized transfer of data outside the organization. This could occur, but the question focuses on using unapproved access methods.
• Nation-state attack: An attack sponsored or conducted by a government.
• Shadow IT: Employees using technology or access methods outside the organization’s approved security controls.

• Plenum: Describes a fire-resistant cable jacket rating, not a transmission medium or speed.
• Ethernet: Describes a networking technology; Ethernet can use copper or fiber, so the term alone does not identify the fastest cable type.
• DAC (Direct Attach Copper): Uses copper and is typically intended for short-distance, high-speed connections in data centers.

1. Install a Cassandra-compatible ODBC driver.
2. Configure a data source name (DSN), if required.
3. In Power BI Desktop, select Get Data > ODBC.
4. Choose the configured DSN and connect.

• Microsoft SQL Server database: Connects to SQL Server, not Cassandra.
• OLE DB: Requires a compatible OLE DB provider; this is not the standard choice for Cassandra in Power BI.
• OData: Requires Cassandra data to be exposed through an OData service, which is not the normal direct connection method.

• 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.

• Restarting the device: may fix software problems, but not a directional connection issue.
• Swollen battery: is a safety concern, but would not typically cause recognition only in one orientation.
• Failing cable: possible in general, but less likely because it works on other similar devices.
• Dirty or damaged port: best matches the symptoms. Inspect and carefully clean the port, or have it serviced if damaged.

• 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.

• Server provisioning
• Operating systems and runtime infrastructure
• Scaling
• Much of the maintenance and patching

• Thin clients reduce endpoint hardware requirements but do not specifically streamline code deployment.
• Private cloud provides dedicated cloud infrastructure but usually requires more management and expense.
• Virtual machines improve resource utilization, but administrators still manage the VMs, operating systems, and deployments.

• Un AG puede tener réplicas en Windows y Linux desde SQL Server 2017; por tanto, una réplica Windows y otra Linux es posible.
• Sin embargo, las réplicas de un AG deben utilizar normalmente la misma versión principal de SQL Server. Una instancia SQL Server 2017 no puede tener directamente una réplica secundaria SQL Server 2019 como configuración normal y permanente.
• En tu escenario, SQL Server 2017 en Windows y SQL Server 2019 en Linux no se pueden añadir directamente como réplicas equivalentes de AG1. Primero habría que realizar un proceso de actualización/migración compatible, por ejemplo mediante una actualización gradual o una tecnología de migración como log shipping o distributed availability groups, según el diseño.

• Tipo de clúster y mecanismo de quorum.
• Failover normalmente manual en configuraciones multiplataforma.
• Edición y características compatibles.
• Configuración de endpoints y permisos.
• Limitaciones específicas de SQL Server en Linux.

• 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.

• Sets a high initial price for a new product.
• Targets customers willing to pay more, often called early adopters.
• Gradually reduces the price to attract more price-sensitive customers as the product becomes less novel and competition increases.

• Penetration pricing: starts with a low price to gain market share quickly.
• Premium pricing: maintains a high price to communicate superior quality or status; it does not necessarily involve later price reductions.
• Loss leader pricing: sells one product at a very low price, sometimes below cost, to attract customers who may buy other products.

• Physical: Protects facilities or equipment, such as locks and security cameras.
• Technical: Uses technology, such as firewalls, encryption, or access controls.
• Operational: Covers day-to-day actions and processes, such as training, backups, or incident response.
• Managerial: Includes policies, standards, risk assessments, and procedures.

• Online payment fraud
• Account takeover
• Fake account creation
• Suspicious transactions

• VLAN 10 for data
• VLAN 20 for voice

• A: Describes physical trunking or logical switch ports, not an SVI.
• B: An SVI can provide management access, but that is only one use—not the best description here.
• D: SVI use is not related to running out of physical ports.

• CCTV system — Detective control: Cameras monitor and record activity, helping identify or investigate security incidents after—or while—they occur.
• Signs about being filmed — Deterrent control: The signs discourage people from attempting unauthorized or criminal activity because they know surveillance is present.

• Preventive: Stops an incident from occurring, such as a lock or access-control system.
• Corrective: Restores systems after an incident.
• Directive: Instructs people to behave in a certain way, such as a security policy.
• Compensating: Provides an alternative control when the preferred control cannot be implemented.

• Espionage: Stealing information for intelligence or competitive purposes.
• Data exfiltration: Unauthorized removal or transfer of data.
• Nation-state attack: A sophisticated attack sponsored by a government.
• Shadow IT: Unapproved technology or access methods used by employees.

• 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.

• Tokenization: Replaces the value with a nonsensitive token, often reversible through a secure token vault.
• Hashing: Converts data into a one-way fixed-length value, generally used for integrity checks or password storage.
• Obfuscation: A broad term for making data difficult to understand; it is less precise than masking in this context.

• 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.

• Authentication — verifies who the user is.
• Authorization — determines what the authenticated user is allowed to access.
• Accounting — records session activity, such as login time and resource usage.

• CIA — confidentiality, integrity, and availability; core security objectives.
• ACL — access control list; rules that permit or deny traffic or access.
• PEM — Privacy Enhanced Mail, an older email security standard.

• Which host first communicated with the suspected malicious source
• Whether that host initiated suspicious traffic or merely received it
• Which other hosts show evidence of infection, such as connections from the originating host
• Which hosts have no related suspicious activity and are therefore clean

• An outbound connection to a suspicious external address
• A downloaded or executed malicious file
• Later lateral connections from that host to other internal systems
• Firewall logs showing the direction and timing of the traffic

• The identified risk
• Its likelihood and potential impact
• The person or team responsible for handling it
• The response or treatment plan
• Risk thresholds, such as when escalation or action is required
• Current status and review dates

• Risk tolerance: The amount of risk an organization is willing to accept; it is a concept or limit, not usually the primary documentation.
• Risk transfer: Moving the responsibility or financial impact of a risk to another party, such as through insurance.
• Risk analysis: The process of evaluating risk likelihood and impact.

• Future costs — Only costs occurring in the future can be affected by the investment decision. Past costs are sunk and irrelevant.
• Incremental costs — These are additional costs caused by choosing the investment. They are relevant because they differ between alternatives.
• Cash flows — Capital investment decisions are based on future cash inflows and outflows, usually discounted to present value.

• Committed costs have already been agreed or incurred and generally cannot be changed by the decision.
• Unavoidable costs will arise regardless of which option is selected, so they do not affect the choice.

• Virus signatures: Primarily associated with antivirus or antimalware tools.
• Security agent deployment: Usually handled by endpoint-management or endpoint-security platforms.
• Vulnerability scanning: Performed by vulnerability-assessment tools, although a SIEM may ingest their results.