A. Air gap

Answer DescriptionExplanation: To provide employees with computers that do not have access to the internet and prevent information leaks to an online forum, implementing an air gap would be the best solution. An air gap physically isolates the computer or network from any outside connections, including the internet, ensuring that data cannot be transferred to or from the system.
Air gap: A security measure that isolates a computer or network from the internet or other networks, preventing any form of electronic communication with external systems. Jump server: A secure server used to access and manage devices in a different security zone, but it does not provide isolation from the internet.
Logical segmentation: Segregates networks using software or network configurations, but it does not guarantee complete isolation from the internet. Virtualization: Creates virtual instances of systems, which can be isolated, but does not inherently prevent internet access without additional configurations.
Reference: CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 Exam Objectives, Domain 2.5 - Explain the purpose of mitigation techniques used to secure the enterprise (Air gap).

B. Scheduled downtime

Answer DescriptionExplanation: Scheduled downtime is a planned period of time when a system or service is unavailable for maintenance, updates, upgrades, or other changes. Scheduled downtime gives administrators a set period to perform changes to an operational system without disrupting the normal business operations or affecting the availability of the system or service. Scheduled downtime also allows administrators to inform the users and stakeholders about the expected duration and impact of the changes. References: CompTIA Security+ Study Guide: Exam SY0-701, 9th Edition, Chapter 12: Security Operations and Administration, page 579 1

C. Virtualization

Answer DescriptionExplanation: To reduce the number of individual operating systems while decommissioning physical servers, the company should use containerization. Containerization allows multiple applications to run in isolated environments on a single operating system, significantly reducing the overhead compared to running multiple virtual machines, each with its own OS. Containerization: Uses containers to run multiple isolated applications on a single OS kernel, reducing the need for multiple OS instances and improving resource utilization. Microservices: An architectural style that structures an application as a collection of loosely coupled services, which does not necessarily reduce the number of operating systems. Virtualization: Allows multiple virtual machines to run on a single physical server, but each VM requires its own OS, not reducing the number of OS instances. Infrastructure as code: Manages and provisions computing infrastructure through machine-readable configuration files, but it does not directly impact the number of operating systems.

B. Add a smishing exercise to the annual company training.
C. Issue a general email warning to the company.

Answer DescriptionExplanation: This situation is an example of smishing, which is a type of phishing that uses text messages (SMS) to entice individuals into providing personal or sensitive information to cybercriminals. The best responses to this situation are to add a smishing exercise to the annual company training and to issue a general email warning to the company. A smishing exercise can help raise awareness and educate employees on how to recognize and avoid smishing attacks. An email warning can alert employees to the fraudulent text message and remind them to verify the identity and legitimacy of any requests for information or money. References = What Is Phishing | Cybersecurity | CompTIA, Phishing – SY0-601 CompTIA Security+ : 1.1 - Professor Messer IT Certification Training Courses

A. Preparation

Answer DescriptionExplanation: Preparation is the phase in the incident response process when a security analyst reviews roles and responsibilities, as well as the policies and procedures for handling incidents. Preparation also involves gathering and maintaining the necessary tools, resources, and contacts for responding to incidents. Preparation can help a security analyst to be ready and proactive when an incident occurs, as well as to reduce the impact and duration of the incident. Some of the activities that a security analyst performs during the preparation phase are: Defining the roles and responsibilities of the incident response team members, such as the incident manager, the incident coordinator, the technical lead, the communications lead, and the legal advisor. Establishing the incident response plan, which outlines the objectives, scope, authority, and procedures for responding to incidents, as well as the escalation and reporting mechanisms. Developing the incident response policy, which defines the types and categories of incidents, the severity levels, the notification and reporting requirements, and the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders. Creating the incident response playbook, which provides the step-by-step guidance and checklists for handling specific types of incidents, such as denial-of- service, ransomware, phishing, or data breach. Acquiring and testing the incident response tools, such as network and host-based scanners, malware analysis tools, forensic tools, backup and recovery tools, and communication and collaboration tools. Identifying and securing the incident response resources, such as the incident response team, the incident response location, the evidence storage, and the external support. Building and maintaining the incident response contacts, such as the internal and external stakeholders, the law enforcement agencies, the regulatory bodies, and the media.

B. UPS

Answer DescriptionExplanation: A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) would most likely mitigate the impact of an extended power outage on a company's environment. A UPS provides backup power and ensures that systems continue to run during short-term power outages, giving enough time to perform an orderly shutdown or switch to a longer-term power solution like a generator. Hot site: A fully operational offsite data center that can be used if the primary site becomes unavailable. It’s more suitable for disaster recovery rather than mitigating short-term power outages. UPS: Provides immediate backup power, protecting against data loss and hardware damage during power interruptions. Snapshots: Used for data backup and recovery, not for power outage mitigation. SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response): A platform for automating security operations, not related to power outage mitigation. Reference: CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 Exam Objectives, Domain 3.4 - Importance of resilience and recovery in security architecture (Power: Generators, UPS).

A. <script>alert ("Warning!") ,-</script>

Answer DescriptionExplanation: This example of a script injection attack would be best mitigated by input sanitization. Input sanitization involves cleaning or filtering user inputs to ensure that they do not contain harmful data, such as malicious scripts. This prevents attackers from executing script-based attacks (e.g., Cross-Site Scripting or XSS). Nmap command is unrelated to input sanitization, as it is a network scanning tool. Email phishing attempts require different mitigations, such as user training. Browser warnings about insecure connections involve encryption protocols, not input validation

A. It is a false positive.

Answer DescriptionExplanation: A false positive is a result that indicates a vulnerability or a problem when there is none. In this case, the vulnerability scanning report shows that the telnet service on port 23 is open and uses an insecure network protocol. However, the security analyst performs a test using nmap and a script that checks for telnet encryption support. The result shows that the telnet server supports encryption, which means that the data transmitted between the client and the server can be protected from eavesdropping. Therefore, the reported vulnerability is a false positive and does not reflect the actual security posture of the server. The security analyst should verify the encryption settings of the telnet server and client and ensure that they are configured properly3. References: 3: Telnet Protocol - Can You Encrypt Telnet?