Cloud Security Alliance Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge v5 (CCSKv5.0) CCSK Exam Dumps: Updated Questions & Answers (December 2025)

The most direct benefit of automated deployment pipelines in addressing continuous security and reliability is that they enable consistent and repeatable deployment processes. This ensures that the same steps are followed every time code is deployed, reducing human error and inconsistencies that could introduce vulnerabilities or reliability issues. Automated pipelines can also include security checks, such as static codeanalysis, vulnerability scanning, and automated testing, all of which help ensure that security and reliability are maintained continuously.

Enhancing collaboration through shared tools is a benefit of automated pipelines but doesn't directly address security and reliability. Providing detailed reports on team performance is useful for team management but doesn't directly contribute to security or reliability. Ensure code quality through regular reviews can improve security indirectly but is not the most direct benefit when it comes to continuous security and reliability in the deployment process.

Consulting with stakeholders is crucial for ensuring that the cloud security strategy aligns with the overall business objectives and needs. Stakeholders — such as business leaders, IT teams, legal, and compliance officers — bring unique perspectives on what the cloud strategy needs to accomplish, from security to compliance, scalability, and performance. By involving stakeholders, organizations can ensure that the security strategy supports business goals, addresses various concerns, and is comprehensive.

Simplifying the cloud platform selection process is a potential benefit but not the primary reason for consulting stakeholders. Selecting the right cloud platform is part of the broader strategy. Reducing the overall cost of cloud services is not necessarily the outcome of involving stakeholders, although cost considerations may be part of the discussion. Ensuring compliance with technical standards only is too narrow; stakeholders help ensure compliance with both technical and business requirements.

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

A Service Registry lists approved services, making it easy for teams to find and integrate compliant services. Reference: [CCSK Knowledge Guide, Domain 3 - Risk and Compliance Tools]

Using IAM roles/identities provided by cloud providers instead of static secrets (like passwords or API keys) significantly reduces the risk of credential leakage. IAM roles enable dynamic and temporary credentials, meaning that they are automatically rotated and do not need to be manually stored or managed. This eliminates the need for hardcoding sensitive credentials into code or configuration files, which can often lead to accidental exposure or misuse if not properly secured.

Lowering storage costs is not a direct benefit of using IAM roles over static secrets. Facilitating data encryption is important for security, but IAM roles are not specifically focused on data encryption. Improving system performance is not a primary benefit of using IAM roles over static secrets. The main advantage is security-related, specifically the reduction in credential leakage risks.

Infrastructure as Code (IaC)allows organizations toautomate cloud infrastructure managementusingcode-based templatesinstead of manual configuration.

Key Benefits of IaC:

Version Control & Automation

IaC uses version control systems (e.g., Git) to track changes in infrastructure.

Developers can quickly deploy infrastructure updates, reducing human errors.

Ensuresconsistent, repeatable deploymentsacross environments.

Rapid & Scalable Deployments

EnablesCI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment)pipelines.

Automates infrastructure provisioning, reducingdeployment time from hours to minutes.

Works withTerraform, AWS CloudFormation, Ansible, and Kubernetes manifests.

Security & Compliance Enhancements

Policies as Code (PaC) & Security as Code (SaC) enforce security best practices.

Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)scans IaC for misconfigurations.

Reducesshadow IT risksby enforcingpre-approved infrastructure templates.

Prevents Configuration Drift

RegularIaC re-application (desired state enforcement)ensuresconsistent infrastructure settings.

Eliminatesmanual misconfigurations that lead to security vulnerabilities.

This is extensively covered in:

CCSK v5 - Security Guidance v4.0, Domain 6 (Management Plane and Business Continuity)

Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM) - Infrastructure and Configuration Management Controls​.

Correct Option: A. Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs)

VLANs are widely used in cloud and traditional environments to provide logical separation of network traffic. In a multi-tenant cloud environment, VLANs help ensure that one customer's network traffic is isolated from another’s, providing a key layer of segmentation and security.

From CSA Security Guidance v4.0 – Domain 7: Infrastructure Security:

“To isolate tenants in multi-tenant environments, cloud providers often rely on mechanisms such as VLANs, VXLANs, or other software-defined networking technologies. VLANs ensure that different customer environments remain logically separated even though they share the same physical infrastructure.”

— Domain 7: Infrastructure Security, CSA Security Guidance v4.0

Why the Other Options Are Incorrect:

B. Resource pooling➤ Refers to shared infrastructure in the cloud. It enables multi-tenancy but does not enforce separation between tenants.

C. Software-defined networking (SDN)➤ SDN provides flexibility and programmability in networking. While it can support separation, VLANs are the actual mechanism used for enforcing it.

D. Elasticity➤ Elasticity refers to scaling resources up/down based on demand. It has nothing to do with tenant isolation or network separation.