312-40 Practice Test

Explanation:

Amazon GuardDuty: It is a threat detection service that continuously monitors for malicious activity and unauthorized behavior across your AWS accounts and workloads1. Anomaly Detection: GuardDuty uses anomaly detection to monitor for unusual behavior that may indicate a threat1.

Machine Learning: It employs machine learning to better identify threat patterns and reduce false positives1.

Integrated Threat Intelligence: The service utilizes threat intelligence feeds from AWS and leading third parties to identify known threats1.

Actionable Insights: GuardDuty provides detailed findings that include information about the nature of the threat, the affected resources, the attacker’s IP address, and geolocation1.

Protection Scope: It protects against a wide range of threats, including compromised instances, reconnaissance by attackers, account compromise risks, and instance compromise risks1.

References:

AWS’s official documentation on Amazon GuardDuty1.

Explanation:

In the context of forensic acquisition of a compromised Azure VM, it is crucial to maintain the integrity of the evidence. The backup copy of the snapshot should be taken before any operations that could potentially alter the data are performed. This means creating the backup copy in a blob container as a page blob before mounting the snapshot onto the forensic workstation. Here’s the process:
Create Snapshot: First, a snapshot of the VM’s disk is created to capture the state of the VM at the point of compromise.

Backup Copy: Before the snapshot is mounted onto the forensic workstation for analysis, a backup copy of the snapshot should be taken and stored in a blob container as a page blob.

Maintain Integrity: This step ensures that the original snapshot remains unaltered and can be used as evidence, maintaining the chain of custody.

Forensic Analysis: After the backup copy is secured, the snapshot can be mounted onto the forensic workstation for detailed analysis.

Documentation: All steps taken during the forensic acquisition process should be thoroughly documented for legal and compliance purposes.

References:

Microsoft’s guidelines on the computer forensics chain of custody in Azure, which include the process of handling VM snapshots for forensic purposes1.

Explanation:

The Warm Standby approach in disaster recovery is designed to achieve lower Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) values. This approach involves having a scaled-down version of a fully functional environment running at all times in the cloud. In the event of a disaster, the system can quickly switch over to the warm standby environment, which is already running and up-to-date, thus ensuring a quick and complete restoration of applications.

Here’s how the Warm Standby approach works:

Prepared Environment: A duplicate of the production environment is running in the cloud, but at a reduced capacity.
Quick Activation: In case of a disaster, this environment can be quickly scaled up to handle the full production load.
Data Synchronization: Regular data synchronization ensures that the standby environment is always up-to-date, which contributes to a low RPO.
Reduced Downtime: Because the standby system is always running, the time to switch over is minimal, leading to a low RTO.
Cost-Efficiency: While more expensive than a cold standby, it is more cost-effective than a hot standby, balancing cost with readiness.

References:

An article discussing the importance of RPO and RTO in disaster recovery and how different strategies, including Warm Standby, impact these metrics1.
A guide explaining various disaster recovery strategies, including Warm Standby, and their relation to achieving lower RTO and RPO values2.

Explanation:

Cloud Service Integration: As cloud services become more complex, organizations like Melissa George’s may require assistance in managing and integrating these services1.

Third-Party Assistance: A third-party entity, known as a cloud broker, can provide the necessary consultation, mediation, and facilitation services to manage cloud service usage and performance1.

Cloud Broker Role: The cloud broker manages the use, performance, and delivery of cloud services, and maintains the relationship between cloud service providers (CSPs) and cloud consumers1.

NIST Reference Architecture: According to the NIST cloud deployment reference architecture, the cloud broker is an actor who helps consumers navigate the complexity of cloud services by offering management and orchestration between users and providers1.

Other Actors: While cloud auditors, cloud carriers, and cloud providers play significant roles within the cloud ecosystem, they do not typically mediate between CSPs and consumers in the way that a cloud broker does1.

References:

GeeksforGeeks article on Cloud Stakeholders as per NIST1.

Explanation:

Vendor lock-in in cloud computing refers to a scenario where a customer becomes dependent on a single cloud service provider and faces significant challenges and costs if they decide to switch to a different provider.

Dependency: The customer relies heavily on the services, technologies, or platforms provided by one cloud service provider.

Switching Costs: If the customer wants to switch providers, they may encounter substantial costs related to data migration, retraining staff, and reconfiguring applications to work with the new provider’s platform.

Business Disruption: The process of switching can lead to business disruptions, as it may involve downtime or a learning curve for new services.

Strategic Considerations: Vendor lock-in can also limit the customer’s ability to negotiate better terms or take advantage of innovations and price reductions from competing providers.

References:

Vendor lock-in is a well-known issue in cloud computing, where customers may find it difficult to move databases or services due to high costs or technical incompatibilities. This can result from using proprietary technologies or services that are unique to a particular cloud provider12. It is important for organizations to consider the potential for vendor lock-in when choosing cloud service providers and to plan accordingly to mitigate these risks1.