CompTIA CASP+ Practice Test

Which aspect presents the greatest risk to confidentiality in a cloud computing environment with unknown hardware?

1. Data being intercepted during transmission

2. Data being scraped from the hardware platforms

3. Data retention policies of the vendor

4. Data access policies by users

The correct answer is: Data being scraped from the hardware platforms

In the context of a cloud computing environment, the aspect that poses the greatest risk to confidentiality is the potential for data to be scraped from the hardware platforms. This scenario refers to the vulnerability where unauthorized access could occur directly to the physical servers and storage infrastructure that host the cloud services. In environments where the specific hardware is unknown, there can be significant uncertainty regarding the security measures implemented, the level of isolation between different clients' data, and the effectiveness of hardware-based controls. If attackers can gain physical or logical access to these platforms, they may exploit vulnerabilities to extract sensitive data directly from the hardware itself, leading to substantial confidentiality breaches. In contrast, while data interception during transmission and data access policies by users are serious concerns, they are generally managed through encryption and the enforcement of strict access controls. Similarly, data retention policies establish guidelines for how long data is kept and when it might be deleted, but these policies primarily address the lifecycle and governance of data rather than its immediate security in terms of hardware vulnerabilities. Thus, the risks from hardware scraping fundamentally threaten the very foundation of data confidentiality in a cloud infrastructure with unknown ownership and security conditions.