Free Practice Questions for Cloud Security Alliance CCSK Exam

The correct answer isD. Cloud systems automatically monitor resource usage and provide billing based on actual consumption.

Measured Service is one of theessential characteristics of cloud computingas defined by theNIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). It implies that cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource usage by leveraging ametering capability. This capability tracks and reports resource consumption (such as CPU, storage, or bandwidth), which is used for billing, monitoring, and planning.

Key Characteristics:

Automatic Monitoring:Cloud platforms continuously track resource usage without manual intervention.

Billing Based on Usage:Customers are billed based on the actual consumption of resources (pay-as-you-go model).

Transparency:Users can view detailed usage reports to understand their resource utilization and associated costs.

Resource Optimization:Providers use these metrics to optimize resource allocation and improve efficiency.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:

A. Fixed immutable set of measured services:This contradicts the concept of elasticity and resource pooling in cloud computing.

B. Elastic resources:While elasticity is a cloud characteristic, it does not directly define measured service.

C. Manual reporting:Measured service is aboutautomated, real-time monitoring and billing, not manual data gathering.

Real-World Example:

In AWS, services likeAmazon CloudWatchautomatically collect and provide usage metrics, and the AWS Billing Console shows the cost associated with each resource.

The CSA STAR Registry provides transparency by listing security and privacy controls of CSPs, helping customers assess provider security. Reference: [CCSK Overview, STAR Registry]

Multi-region resiliency enhances infrastructure resilience bydistributing resources across multiple geographic locations, reducing the impact of regional outages. Reference: [Security Guidance v5, Domain 7 - Infrastructure & Networking]

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]

Cloud adoption transforms how incident response (IR) is conducted. Unlike traditional IT environments, cloud environments involveshared responsibility,provider collaboration, andremote orchestration. This shift requires security teams to adjust response strategies, tools, and governance to effectively detect, analyze, and remediate incidents.

Cloud-specific tools (e.g., CSP logs, API calls, auto-scaling environments) must be incorporated into IR plans. Coordination with cloud service providers is often necessary to access logs, enforce controls, or conduct forensics.

This transformation is outlined inDomain 9: Incident Response, which stresses that effective IR in the cloud must be pre-planned and adapted to each provider and cloud model.

Immutable infrastructure maintains static configurations after deployment, ensuring consistency and preventing unauthorized changes. Reference: [Security Guidance v5, Domain 8 - Cloud Workload Security]

The primary function of Privileged Identity Management (PIM) and Privileged Access Management (PAM) is to manage the risk of elevated permissions. These systems are designed to control and monitor access to sensitive resources and actions by users with elevated or privileged access rights, such as administrators. By managing these privileged accounts and ensuring they are granted only when necessary, for the least amount of time, and with appropriate oversight, organizations reduce the risk of misuse or abuse of these powerful permissions.

This helps protect critical systems and sensitive data from being compromised by unauthorized access, which is especially important for maintaining the security of IT environments.

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is commonly used to provide secure, encrypted connections between on-premises data centers and cloud deployments, ensuring that data transmitted across the internet is protected from unauthorized access. VPNs help safeguard sensitive information byencrypting the communication channel, offering confidentiality and integrity for the data in transit.

VPNs are not necessarily more cost-effective than other options like dedicated private connections or direct connect services, especially when considering performance and reliability. While VPNs provide secure connections, they do not eliminate the need for third-party authentication services, which are still important for controlling access. VPNs typically offer lower bandwidth and higher latency compared to direct connection solutions, which are designed for higher-performance use cases.