WGU Managing-Cloud-Security - WGU Managing Cloud Security (JY02)

This is an example ofsocial engineering, where attackers manipulate individuals into divulging confidential information or performing actions that compromise security. In this case, the fraudulent caller convinced the help desk to disclose sensitive employee data.

Man-in-the-middle attacks involve intercepting communication between parties, escalation of privilege involves gaining higher access rights, and internal threats come from legitimate insiders. None of these fit the situation as accurately as social engineering.

Social engineering exploits human trust rather than technical vulnerabilities. Common tactics include phishing, pretexting, and phone-based fraud (vishing). Preventing such threats requires strong identity verification processes, employee awareness training, and layered authentication mechanisms. By recognizing the human element as a weak point, organizations can better prepare staff to resist manipulative tactics.

Continuous auditingin the context of Information Rights Management (IRM) allows organizations to monitor access events in real time. It records who accessed a file, when, and how often. This enables organizations to enforce accountability and detect unusual access patterns, which are crucial for both security monitoring and compliance reporting.

Automatic expiration sets a time limit on file availability, while dynamic policy control adjusts permissions based on context (such as location or device). Persistent protection ensures files remain encrypted and controlled wherever they travel. While each feature is valuable, only continuous auditing provides the tracking and visibility into usage required by the scenario.

This approach aligns with governance requirements, providing an audit trail that supports incident response and compliance with data protection regulations. Continuous auditing strengthens both operational security and accountability.

Cloudsecurity groupstypically filter traffic based onports and protocols. By allowing or denying specific port/protocol combinations, engineers can control communication between deployments. For example, permitting HTTPS (TCP port 443) while blocking other ports enforces segmentation.

MAC addresses are not used in cloud-level segmentation because they apply to physical networks. Unique identifiers and definitions are not practical mechanisms for traffic filtering.

Using ports and protocols aligns with the principle of least privilege by ensuring that only necessary communication pathways exist. In multi-deployment or hybrid cloud setups, this reduces the attack surface and prevents lateral movement by malicious actors. Security groups thereby provide logical network segmentation without requiring physical infrastructure changes.

Cloud providers typically manage multi-tenant infrastructure, where physical hardware is shared among customers. Therefore, drives are not destroyed for each customer unless explicitly required in thecontract. If the customer’s agreement specifies dedicated hardware disposal, then the provider must comply by physically destroying the drives.

Cryptographic erasure and degaussing are valid sanitization methods, but they may not meet the specific contractual requirement of physical destruction. Insurance clauses are unrelated to disposal.

This question underscores the importance of negotiating contractual terms in cloud agreements. Customers handling highly sensitive or regulated data may require physical destruction, while others may accept logical erasure. Clear agreements ensure both compliance and alignment of security responsibilities.