The security operations center (SOC) team has been alerted about malicious traffic on the corporate...

The correct answer is D — Packet capture.

According to WGU Cybersecurity Architecture and Engineering (KFO1 / D488) content, packet captures (PCAP files) allow analysts to inspect individual network packets to understand traffic patterns, detect anomalies, and investigate attacks like DDoS. A packet capture provides complete network session data, enabling in-depth analysis of traffic behavior at the packet level.

Web server access logs (A) only capture web activity. Syslog messages (B) primarily record system events but not raw traffic data. Operating system event logs (C) focus on system-level actions, not network flows.

Reference Extract from Study Guide:

"Packet captures record the full network traffic and are essential for investigating network-based attacks such as DDoS incidents by analyzing traffic flows, protocols, and payloads."

— WGU Cybersecurity Architecture and Engineering (KFO1 / D488), Network Security Monitoring Concepts

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