Security

A company wants to track exactly which employee logged into any workstation and when, using a single centralized set of credentials rather than local accounts on each machine. The IT manager also wants failed and successful login attempts recorded in one place for auditing. Which approach best meets these requirements?

A small office wants to allow only a specific set of company laptops and printers to connect to its wireless network. The manager does not want to purchase a RADIUS server and only has about a dozen devices to manage. Which additional wireless setting can the technician configure on the SOHO router to help restrict access to only these known devices?

A company wants to strengthen logon security on shared workstations in a lab. Currently users log in with a username and password. Management asks IT to add a second authentication factor that verifies 'something you are.' Which additional authentication method should IT deploy to meet this requirement?

A technician is enabling BitLocker on the C: drive of a Windows 11 Pro laptop that has a TPM 2.0 chip. The company policy requires that if the drive is ever moved to another machine or the TPM detects tampering, the data must remain recoverable by IT but not by the end user. Where should the technician store the BitLocker recovery key to best meet this policy?

A user reports that their web browser suddenly displays constant pop-up ads, redirects searches to an unfamiliar engine, and shows a new toolbar they never installed. A full Windows Defender scan comes back clean. Which action should the technician take FIRST to resolve the issue?

A user reports that while browsing, a full-screen popup appeared claiming the computer is infected with 47 viruses and displaying a phone number to call for immediate 'Microsoft-certified' removal support. The browser will not close normally. What is the BEST first action for the technician to take?

A company is decommissioning several old servers that contain mechanical hard drives storing highly sensitive financial records. Policy requires that the drives be rendered permanently unusable and unrecoverable before disposal, but the IT team does not have time to run multi-pass software wipes on each drive. Which method BEST meets this requirement?

While hardening a new Windows 10 Pro workstation for a small accounting firm, a technician reviews the Local Users and Groups console. Company policy requires that only named, authenticated employees can access the system and that all activity be traceable to an individual. Which action should the technician take to best support this requirement?

A user on a shared Windows 10 Pro workstation wants to protect a single sensitive spreadsheet so that other standard users who log into the same PC cannot open it, even though they can browse to the folder. The drive is not encrypted with BitLocker and the company does not want to encrypt the whole volume. Which built-in Windows feature should the technician use to encrypt just that file?

A company is retiring 40 Android smartphones that will be sold to a third-party recycler. The devices contain corporate email, cached credentials, and saved documents. Management wants to ensure that no company data can be recovered by the new owners while keeping the devices fully functional for resale. Which action best meets these requirements?

After removing a ransomware infection from a workstation, you complete the standard malware remediation steps and want to reduce the chance of reinfection. The system is fully patched, has updated anti-malware, and System Restore has been re-enabled. Which additional step BEST addresses the most likely cause of the original infection?

A user's workstation is displaying pop-ups and redirecting web searches, and antivirus scans keep finding the same threat that reappears after each removal. Following the CompTIA best practice procedure for malware removal, what should the technician do immediately AFTER identifying and verifying the malware symptoms?

A data center wants to prevent unauthorized individuals from slipping in behind authorized employees during badge-in. Management requires that only one person can pass through the entry at a time, with a second door that will not open until the first has closed and locked. Which physical security control best meets this requirement?

A user reports that their company Android phone is displaying aggressive pop-up ads and the battery is draining rapidly. The technician discovers that the user installed a free game by downloading an APK file directly from a website instead of using the Google Play Store. Which of the following practices would BEST prevent this type of issue in the future?

An employee reports that their company-issued smartphone was stolen from a coffee shop. The phone contains cached corporate email, saved credentials, and sensitive customer files. The device is enrolled in the organization's mobile device management (MDM) platform. Which action should the technician take FIRST to protect the corporate data?

A company allows employees to use their personal smartphones to access corporate email and files. Management wants to ensure that if a device is lost, corporate data is protected, and that all enrolled devices meet a minimum security standard before connecting. Which solution best allows IT to enforce passcode requirements, device encryption, and selective wipe of company data across these devices?

A technician configures a folder named ProjectData on an NTFS volume (D:) with custom permissions that deny the Interns group access. A user asks the technician to relocate a file from a different folder on the same D: volume into ProjectData. After the file is moved, the technician notices the file did not adopt the ProjectData folder's permissions. What best explains this behavior?

A user is a member of the 'Sales' group. On a shared folder named Reports, the Share permission for the Sales group is set to Read. The NTFS permission for the Sales group on that same folder is set to Modify. When the user accesses the folder over the network from another computer, what is the user's effective level of access?

A help desk manager notices repeated failed login attempts against several domain user accounts, suggesting an automated password-guessing attack. Management wants to reduce the risk of these brute-force attempts succeeding while minimizing help desk password resets. Which Group Policy setting should the technician configure FIRST to directly counter the automated guessing?

An accountant receives an email that appears to be from the company CEO, urgently requesting a wire transfer of $8,000 to a new vendor before end of day. The email address looks slightly off, and the CEO normally uses the internal phone system for such requests. What is the BEST action for the accountant to take?