CASP+ Enterprise Security Architecture 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An organization is merging with another company and needs to integrate their IT systems securely. Which approach BEST supports secure integration while minimizing risk?
- Immediately merge all systems into a single domain
- Deploy a federated identity model with trust boundaries between organizations (Correct answer)
- Share all credentials between both organizations during transition
- Disable all firewalls to allow unrestricted communication during migration
Correct answer: Deploy a federated identity model with trust boundaries between organizations
A federated identity model allows each organization to maintain its own identity store while establishing controlled trust, minimizing the attack surface during merger.
Question 2: A CASP+ architect must design a zero-trust network for a financial institution. Which control is MOST critical to enforce zero-trust principles?
- Perimeter firewall with stateful inspection
- Continuous verification of identity and device posture for every request (Correct answer)
- VPN tunnels for all remote users
- Static ACLs on all network switches
Correct answer: Continuous verification of identity and device posture for every request
Zero trust requires continuous verification of identity and device health for every access request, regardless of network location.
Question 3: Which security architecture pattern BEST reduces the blast radius of a compromised internal service?
- Flat network with shared authentication
- Microsegmentation with per-service access controls (Correct answer)
- Single sign-on across all services
- Network address translation (NAT) at the perimeter
Correct answer: Microsegmentation with per-service access controls
Microsegmentation isolates services so that a compromised component cannot laterally move to other services without explicit authorization.
Question 4: A security architect is evaluating a new SaaS application. Which document MOST effectively communicates security requirements to the vendor?
- Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
- Security Requirements Traceability Matrix (SRTM) (Correct answer)
- Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
- Service Level Agreement (SLA) with uptime guarantees
Correct answer: Security Requirements Traceability Matrix (SRTM)
An SRTM maps each security requirement to specific controls, acceptance criteria, and verification methods, making vendor compliance measurable.
Question 5: An enterprise deploys a SIEM. Which integration provides the MOST actionable threat intelligence for the architecture?
- Syslog feeds from all endpoints
- Threat intelligence platform (TIP) with indicator enrichment (Correct answer)
- Email alerts from antivirus vendors
- Manual log review by the SOC team
Correct answer: Threat intelligence platform (TIP) with indicator enrichment
A TIP enriches SIEM events with curated indicators of compromise (IOCs) and context, enabling faster, higher-fidelity alerting.
Question 6: Which architectural control BEST protects against supply chain attacks on third-party software libraries?
- Blocking all internet access from build servers
- Software composition analysis (SCA) integrated into the CI/CD pipeline (Correct answer)
- Requiring vendors to sign NDAs
- Using only open-source libraries
Correct answer: Software composition analysis (SCA) integrated into the CI/CD pipeline
SCA tools scan dependencies for known vulnerabilities and license issues at build time, catching supply chain risks before deployment.
