CompTIA CS0-003 - CompTIA CyberSecurity Analyst CySA+ Certification Exam

The correct answer is B. In forensic analysis, the analyst wants to preserve volatile evidence and prevent the user from changing system state. If the computer is powered off, data in memory, running processes, active network connections, and other volatile artifacts may be lost. If the user continues interacting with the computer, they may unintentionally overwrite or alter evidence.

Exact supporting extract: the Sybex CySA+ Study Guide states that forensic evidence acquisition may require “making live memory images to ensure that information is not lost when a system is powered off.” It also explains that order of volatility measures how easy data is to lose and that data in memory or caches is highly volatile.

The Secbay CySA+ guide also states that allowing a computer to enter hibernation or sleep mode can change memory properties and result in loss of forensic evidence. It further explains that failing to follow order of volatility will likely result in evidence being lost.

Why the other options are incorrect:

A is incorrect because the main reason is evidence preservation, not preventing misuse.

C is incorrect because the analyst is not validating tool installation or patch status.

D is incorrect because legal hold is a legal preservation process, not the immediate reason to keep a live system powered on.

The first step for the security team when receiving a legal hold request is to notify the relevant departments to preserve all potentially relevant information. This ensures that no data is altered, deleted, or otherwise tampered with, which is critical for maintaining the integrity of the evidence. Preserving information includes emails, documents, and any other data that might be relevant to the legal matter. Establishing a chain of custody and backing up data are also important steps, but notifying the involved parties is the immediate priority to prevent data loss.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)track the effectiveness of a security program, providing measurable insights intovulnerability detection, patching efficiency, and risk reduction. This makes KPIs ideal for executive dashboards​.

Option B (MOU - Memorandum of Understanding)refers toagreements between parties, not performance tracking.

Option C (SLO - Service Level Objective)defines operationaltargetsbut is nota tracking metric.

Option D (SLA - Service Level Agreement)defines expectations betweenservice providers and clients, not security metrics.

Thus,A (KPI) is the correct answer, asKPIs provide actionable insights into security effectiveness​.

Researching federal laws, regulatory compliance requirements, and organizational policies to document specific reporting SLAs is the best action to address the reporting issue. Reporting SLAs are service level agreements that specify the time frame and the format for notifying the relevant authorities and the affected individuals of a data breach. Reporting SLAs may vary depending on the type and severity of the breach, the type and location of the data, the industry and jurisdiction of the organization, and the internal policies of the organization. By researching and documenting the reporting SLAs for different scenarios, the organization can ensure that it complies with the legal and ethical obligations of data breach notification, and avoid any penalties, fines, or lawsuits that may result from failing to report a breach in a timely and appropriate manner12. References: When and how to report a breach: Data breach reporting best practices, Incident and Breach Management

Implementing segmentation with ACLs is the best solution to secure the network. Segmentation is the process of dividing a network into smaller subnetworks, or segments, based on criteria such as function, location, or security level. Segmentation can help improve the network performance, scalability, and manageability, as well as enhance the network security by isolating the sensitive or critical data and systems from the rest of the network. ACLs are Access Control Lists, which are rules or policies that specify which users, devices, or applications can access a network segment or resource, and which actions they can perform. ACLs can help enforce the principle of least privilege, and prevent unauthorized or malicious access to the network segments or resources12. Configuring logging and monitoring to the SIEM, deploying MFA to cloud storage locations, and rolling out an IDS are all good security practices, but they are not the best solution to secure the network. Logging and monitoring tothe SIEM can help detect and analyze the network events and incidents, but they do not prevent them. MFA can help authenticate the users who access the cloud storage locations, but it does not protect the network from attacks or breaches. IDS can help identify and alert the network intrusions, but it does not block them34 . References: Network Segmentation: What It Is and How to Do It Right, What is an Access Control List (ACL)? | IBM, What is SIEM? | Microsoft Security, What is Multifactor Authentication (MFA)? | Duo Security, [What is an Intrusion Detection System (IDS)? | IBM]

The shell script function that could help identify possible network addresses from different source networks belonging to the same company and region is:

function y() { dig $(dig -x $1 | grep PTR | tail -n 1 | awk -F ”.in-addr” ’{print $1}’).origin.asn.cymru.com TXT +short }

This function takes an IP address as an argument and performs two DNS lookups using the dig command. The first lookup uses the -x option to perform a reverse DNS lookup and get the hostname associated with the IP address. The second lookup uses the origin.asn.cymru.com domain to get the autonomous system number (ASN) and other information related to the IP address, such as the country code, registry, or allocation date. The function then prints the IP address and the ASN information, which can help identify any network addresses that belong to the same ASN or region

The code snippet provided suggests an SQL injection vulnerability, indicated by the use of " 1=1, " which is a common SQL injection technique to bypass authentication. To mitigate this risk, validating user input is the most effective control, as it ensures that any input is properly sanitized and escapes potentially malicious characters before interacting with the database. This is a key principle from CompTIA Security+ guidelines on secure coding practices. Options A and B are unrelated to the vulnerability type here, and while access control (Option C) is generally good practice, it does not specifically prevent SQL injection.

A credentialed scan is a type of vulnerability scan that uses valid credentials to log in to the scanned systems and perform a more thorough and accurate assessment of their vulnerabilities. A credentialed scan can access more information than a non-credentialed scan, such as registry keys, patch levels, configuration settings, and installed applications. A credentialed scan can also reduce the number of false positives and false negatives, as it can verify the actual state of the system rather than relying on inference or assumptions. The other types of scans are not related to the issue of incomplete findings, as they refer to different aspects of vulnerability scanning, such as the scope, location, or frequency of the scan. An external scan is a scan that is performed from outside the network perimeter, usually from the internet. An external scan can reveal how an attacker would see the network and what vulnerabilities are exposed to the public. An external scan cannot access internal systems or resources that are behind firewalls or other security controls. A differential scan is a scan that compares the results of two scans and highlights the differences between them. A differential scan can help identify changes in the network environment, such as new vulnerabilities, patched vulnerabilities, or new devices. A differential scan does not provide a complete list of findings by itself, but rather a summary of changes. A network scan is a scan that focuses on the network layer of the OSI model and detects vulnerabilities related to network devices, protocols, services, and configurations. A network scan candiscover open ports, misconfigured firewalls, unencrypted traffic, and other network-related issues. A network scan does not provide information about the application layer or the host layer of the OSI model, such as web applications or operating systems.

Deduplication is a process that involves removing any duplicate or redundant data or information from a data set or source. Deduplication can help consolidate several threat intelligence feeds by eliminating any overlapping or repeated indicators of compromise (IoCs), alerts, reports, or recommendations. Deduplication can also help reduce the volume and complexity of threat intelligence data, as well as improve its quality, accuracy, or relevance.

C. Impossible geo-velocity: This is an event where a single user ' s account is accessed from different geographical locations within a timeframe that is impossible for normal human travel. In the log, we can see that the user " jdoe " is accessing from the United States and then within a few minutes from Russia, which is practically impossible to achieve without the use of some form of automated system or if the account credentials are being used by different individuals in different locations.

B. Push phishing: This could also be an indication of push phishing, where the user is tricked into approving a multi-factor authentication request that they did not initiate. This is less clear from the logs directly, but it could be inferred if the user is receiving MFA requests that they are not initiating and are being approved without their genuine desire to access the resources.