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

Data classificationis afundamental security practiceused toprotect sensitive informationbased onrisk, confidentiality, integrity, and regulatory requirements.

Key Factors in Data Classification:

Data Sensitivity:

Organizations classify data based onhow sensitive it is:

Public(e.g., marketing material).

Internal Use Only(e.g., business plans).

Confidential(e.g., financial reports).

Restricted/Highly Confidential(e.g., personal healthcare records, credit card details).

Compliance & Legal Requirements:

Certain data types have strict compliance laws:

PII (Personally Identifiable Information) → GDPR, CCPA

Financial Data → PCI DSS

Healthcare Data → HIPAA

Cloud providers must ensure security policies align with compliance frameworks.

Impact on Security Controls:

Highly sensitive data requires encryption at rest and in transit.

Access control must be enforced with least privilege and IAM policies.

Risk Management:

Properdata classification helps organizations define security policiessuch as:

Retention policies(How long data should be stored?).

Backup and disaster recovery strategies.

This is outlined in:

CCSK v5 - Security Guidance v4.0, Domain 11 (Data Security and Encryption)

Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM) - Data Security and Data Classification Standards​

The most effective way to identify security vulnerabilities in an application is to conduct automated and manual security testing throughout the development lifecycle. This approach ensures that security is continuously evaluated at every stage of development, rather than waiting until the end. Automated tools can help identify common vulnerabilities quickly, while manual testing allows for more in-depth analysis, including testing for complex, contextual security issues. This proactive and ongoing approach reduces the risk of vulnerabilities being overlooked and helps ensure that security is integrated into the application from the start.

Performing code reviews just prior to release is valuable, but it’s not comprehensive enough. Security testing should be done early and continuously, not just before release. Relying solely on secure coding practices is important but not sufficient. Even with secure coding practices, testing is essential to identify vulnerabilities. Waiting for a single penetration test after development is not effective because waiting until the end can allow many vulnerabilities to go unnoticed during development, leaving the application exposed.

The principle of least privilege limits access to only necessary permissions, reducing the risk of misuse and exposure of sensitive data. Reference: [CCSK v5 Curriculum, Domain 5 - IAM]

Containersare the most appropriate cloud workload for running isolated applications with minimum resource overhead. Containers provide lightweight, isolated environments that share the host operating system, reducing resource consumption compared to virtual machines (VMs). They are ideal for microservices and applications requiring isolation without the overhead of a full VM.

From theCCSK v5.0 Study Guide, Domain 2 (Cloud Infrastructure and Platform Security), Section 2.5:

“Containers are lightweight, portable, and isolated environments that share the host OS kernel, making them highly efficient for running applications with minimal resource overhead. Unlike VMs, which require a full guest OS, containers provide application isolation with significantly lower resource demands.”

Option A (Containers) is the correct answer.

Option B (Function as a Service) is incorrect because FaaS is designed for event-driven, short-lived functions, not for running full applications.

Option C (AI Workloads) is incorrect because AI workloads are a category of tasks, not a specific workload type, and may run on VMs or containers.

Option D (Virtual Machines) is incorrect because VMs include a full guest OS, resulting in higher resource overhead compared to containers.

In the context of Function as a Service (FaaS), trigger events are primarily defined in addition to the functions themselves. FaaS allows you to run individual functions in response to events, such as HTTP requests, file uploads, database changes, or messages in a queue. These trigger events initiate the execution of the serverless function, making them a core part of FaaS architecture.

Data storage is not directly defined by FaaS, as storage is typically managed separately (e.g., cloud storage or databases). Network configurations are not the main focus of FaaS, since cloud providers manage the underlying network infrastructure. User permissions may be relevant but are typically handled through identity and access management (IAM), not directly tied to the definition of a FaaS function.

CI/CD pipelines integrate security into the DevOps process, ensuring thatsecurity is automated at every stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC).

Why CI/CD Pipelines Enhance Cloud Security?

Automates Security Scans & Compliance Checks

CI/CD pipelines integrate Static Application Security Testing (SAST) & Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST).

Infrastructure as Code (IaC) security scans prevent misconfigurations in cloud deployments.

Reduces Human Errors in Security Configurations

Automates security best practices (e.g., enforcing HTTPS, setting least privilege IAM roles).

Reduces risk of manual security misconfigurations.

Speeds Up Secure Deployments

Automatically tests for vulnerabilities before production releases.

Ensures that security patches are rapidly deployedwithout breaking functionality.

Shifts Security Left in DevSecOps

CI/CD enables early vulnerability detectionin thedevelopment phase, reducing costs and risks.

Cloud-native CI/CD tools like AWS CodePipeline, GitHub Actions, and Jenkins integrate security automation.

This aligns with:

CCSK v5 - Security Guidance v4.0, Domain 10 (Application Security)

DevSecOps and Cloud Security Best Practices (Cloud Security Alliance - DevSecOps Working Group)​.

NIST defines cloud computing as on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable resources, aligning with the essential characteristics of cloud services. Reference: [Security Guidance v5, Domain 1 - Cloud Computing Models]

Cloud governance establishes controls and policies that align with the organization’s goals for security, compliance, and efficient management in the cloud. Reference: [Security Guidance v5, Domain 2 - Cloud Governance]