To create a report that helps understand the utilization of cloud resources, make budget decisions, and reduce costs, the most important steps are to enable resource tagging and configure the collection of performance/utilization logs. Resource tagging helps in categorizing and tracking costs by associating tags with resources, while performance/utilization logs are essential for analyzing resource usage over time. References: CompTIA Cloud+ Study Guide (Exam CV0-004) - Chapter on Cloud Management

CompTIA Cloud+ (CV0-004) security objectives emphasize that traditional perimeter defenses alone are no longer sufficient because modern attacks frequently bypass the border via stolen credentials, phishing, misconfigurations, lateral movement, and compromised endpoints. When an organization already has strong next-generation firewall (NGFW) and IPS controls but still experiences breaches, the best strategic improvement is to adopt a Zero Trust approach that assumes no implicit trust based on network location. Zero Trust shifts enforcement to identity, device posture, least privilege, and continuous verification, limiting blast radius even when attackers get inside. This includes strong IAM policies, conditional access, micro-segmentation, and tighter authorization decisions for each request.

Option A (CIS benchmarking) and option B (port scanning/closure) are useful hardening steps, but they are incremental and still largely perimeter-centric. Option D (adding a WAF) improves protection for web applications, yet it remains another border control and won’t address identity-based compromises across internal and cloud services. Therefore, moving to identity-centric Zero Trust is the most effective way to reduce recurring incidents.