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Cisco 200-901 Exam - Topic 1 Question 117 Discussion

Refer to the exhibit.A developer is part of a team that is working on an open-source project in which source code is hosted in a public GitHub repository. While the application was built, security concerns were addressed by encrypting the credentials on the server. After a few months, the developer realized that a hacker managed to gain access to the account. The exhibit contains part of the source code for the login process. Why was the attacker able to access the developer's account?
A) The encoded credentials were available in the source code.
B) The application was not encrypting the communication with the server.
C) The credentials were encrypted in the source code.
D) An SSL certificate was used instead of the TLS protocol to authenticate.

Cisco 200-901 Exam - Topic 1 Question 117 Discussion

Actual exam question for Cisco's 200-901 exam
Question #: 117
Topic #: 1
[All 200-901 Questions]

Refer to the exhibit.

A developer is part of a team that is working on an open-source project in which source code is hosted in a public GitHub repository. While the application was built, security concerns were addressed by encrypting the credentials on the server. After a few months, the developer realized that a hacker managed to gain access to the account. The exhibit contains part of the source code for the login process. Why was the attacker able to access the developer's account?

Show Suggested Answer Hide Answer
Suggested Answer: A

The exhibit shows that the credentials are base64 encoded and included in the source code. Base64 encoding is not a secure method of protecting credentials as it can be easily decoded. Therefore, an attacker who gains access to the source code can decode the credentials and gain unauthorized access to the account. Proper security practices should involve storing credentials securely, such as using environment variables or secure vaults, and not hardcoding them in the source code.


OWASP - Storing Passwords Securely

Cisco DevNet Associate Certification Guide

by Nelida at Jul 19, 2026, 05:30 AM

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Keneth
2 days ago
I feel like B could also be a problem. If communication isn't encrypted, that's a big risk.
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Johnetta
7 days ago
I think A is the right answer. Encoded credentials can be easily decoded.
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Coral
12 days ago
I’m surprised they used SSL instead of TLS!
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Deangelo
17 days ago
I think the communication wasn't encrypted properly either.
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Dean
23 days ago
Wait, how did they not see that coming?
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Misty
28 days ago
Totally agree, that's a major security flaw!
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Lavonne
1 month ago
The encoded credentials were in the source code.
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Elroy
1 month ago
I vaguely recall something about SSL and TLS differences. Maybe using SSL instead of TLS could have allowed the attacker to exploit the connection?
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Sol
1 month ago
I feel like we covered a similar question about communication security. If the app wasn't using HTTPS, that could also be a problem, right?
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Kallie
2 months ago
I’m not entirely sure, but I think if the credentials were just encoded and not properly encrypted, that could lead to vulnerabilities.
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Shawnta
2 months ago
I remember discussing how encoded credentials can still be exposed in public repositories. I think that's a big risk.
upvoted 0 times
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