CCSK Exam Dumps - Cloud Security Alliance Cloud Security Knowledge Questions and Answers

Taking snapshots of virtual machines (VMs) is one of the most effective techniques for preserving digital evidence in a cloud environment. Snapshots capture the entire state of a VM, including its memory, configuration, and disk contents at a particular point in time. This allows investigators to preserve evidence as it was at the moment of the incident, enabling detailed analysis without altering the original state of the system.

While isolating the compromised system is important to prevent further damage, snapshots are more directly useful for preserving evidence. Backing up data and analyzing management plane logs are also valuable for incident response, but they don't capture the complete state of a compromised system as effectively as snapshots do.

Access policies in cybersecurity are critical for managing and controlling how users and devices access resources within a network or cloud environment. These policies are primarily concerned with defining permissions and rules that govern access to resources. They help organizations implement role-based access control (RBAC) or attribute-based access control (ABAC), which specify who can access what resources and under what conditions.

In the context of cloud computing, access policies are typically enforced using Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools and services, which allow administrators to define and manage the permissions associated with user identities. Access policies include various rules that specify allowed or denied actions based on roles, user attributes, device types, or network conditions.

For example, in the AWS environment, access policies are written in JSON and define permissions for services like EC2, S3, or RDS. Similarly, Azure uses Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to manage resource access policies.

Access policies are not concerned with real-time monitoring (option A), user authentication methods (option B), or encryption protocols (option C). Instead, they explicitly focus on defining access permissions and controlling how resources are utilized.

Passwordless authentication removes the reliance on traditional passwords and instead relies on strong, cryptographic-based login mechanisms. The primary technology behind passwordless authentication is the use of local tokens or certificates, particularly implemented through protocols like FIDO2 and WebAuthn.

These mechanisms work by storing a private key on the user’s device (like a hardware security module or TPM), while the public key is stored with the cloud service. When a login attempt is made, the system uses asymmetric cryptography to verify the user—without ever transmitting a secret like a password.

“Passwordless authentication is enabled by mechanisms such as biometric verification and secure local credentials like hardware-bound certificates or tokens. The use of cryptographic authenticators (such as FIDO2) is becoming the cornerstone of secure, phishing-resistant authentication.”

— Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in Cloud Computing v4.0, Domain 12: Identity, Entitlement, and Access Management

Also supported by the Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM) under IAM-12:

“Utilize multifactor authentication or strong authentication mechanisms such as cryptographic tokens or certificates for user access to cloud services.”

— Cloud Controls Matrix v3.0.1 (IAM-12)

Serverless environments are vulnerable to misconfigurations, which can expose sensitive data and resources, making security configurations critical. Reference: [Security Guidance v5, Domain 8 - Cloud Workload Security][16†source].