CompTIA SY0-701 - CompTIA Security+ Exam 2026

The correct answer is A. Implement regular account reviews.

This scenario describes privilege creep, which occurs when users accumulate permissions over time as they change roles, departments, or responsibilities. Regular account reviews help ensure users have only the access required for their current job duties.

This supports the principle of least privilege, which is a key CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 identity and access management concept.

Why the other options are incorrect:

B. Provide privileged user account training

Training is useful, but it does not remove unnecessary privileges.

C. Require a jump box for privileged account use

A jump box can control administrative access to sensitive systems, but it does not solve the issue of users retaining excessive privileges.

D. Apply more restrictive security baselines

Security baselines harden systems and configurations, but they do not directly review or remove unnecessary user permissions.

Therefore, the best answer is regular account reviews.

Detailed Explanation:

Baseline enforcement ensures that all systems adhere to predefined security configurations, such as approved OS versions and patch levels, improving compliance and reducing vulnerabilities. Reference: CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 Study Guide, Domain 4: Security Operations, Section: " System Baselines and Monitoring " ​​.

An insider threat is a type of attack that originates from someone who has legitimate access to an organization’s network, systems, or data. In this case, the domain user who encrypted the files on the database server is an example of an insider threat, as they abused their access privileges to cause harm to the organization. Insider threats can be motivated by various factors, such as financial gain, revenge, espionage, or sabotage.

Password spraying is a type of attack where an attacker tries a small number of commonly used passwords across a large number of accounts. The event logs showing failed login attempts for many user accounts from the same IP address are indicative of a password spraying attack, where the attacker is attempting to gain access by guessing common passwords.

References = CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 study materials, particularly in the domain of identity and access management and common attack vectors like password spraying​​.

The correct answer is B. Port mirroring.

Port mirroring, also known as SPAN, copies network traffic from one or more switch ports or VLANs to another port where a monitoring tool, packet analyzer, IDS, or SIEM-related sensor can inspect the traffic. This is the most appropriate method when the goal is to collect network traffic directly from a switch to gain visibility into network activity.

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. Syslog

Syslog collects log messages from systems, applications, and network devices. It is useful for SIEM log ingestion, but it does not capture full network traffic from a switch.

C. Port forwarding

Port forwarding redirects traffic from one port or IP address to another, commonly used for NAT or remote access. It is not used to monitor switch traffic.

D. Load balancer logs

Load balancer logs provide information about traffic passing through a load balancer, but they do not provide broad switch-level network visibility.

Therefore, the best answer is port mirroring.

The correct answer is C. ARO.

ARO stands for Annualized Rate of Occurrence. It estimates how often a specific event is expected to occur in one year. When deciding whether to keep or remove insurance coverage for a specific type of incident, such as ransomware, an organization may evaluate how likely that event is to occur annually.

This aligns with CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 risk management concepts, especially quantitative risk analysis and risk treatment decisions.

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. MTTR

Mean Time to Repair measures the average time required to restore a system or service after failure. It does not estimate how often ransomware will occur.

B. RTO

Recovery Time Objective defines the maximum acceptable time to restore a system or business process after an outage. It is important for business continuity but does not measure event frequency.

D. MTBF

Mean Time Between Failures measures the expected time between failures for a system or component. It is not typically used to evaluate ransomware insurance coverage.

Therefore, the most likely analysis element is ARO.

The best answer is D. Update the SPF record to include all authorized sending sources.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is used to identify which mail servers and third-party services are authorized to send email on behalf of a domain. In this scenario, the company uses multiple providers for marketing, internal, and support emails. If all of those sending sources are not properly listed in the domain’s SPF record, receiving mail servers may treat some valid messages as suspicious or spam.

Updating the SPF record to include all legitimate sending providers helps recipient systems validate that the email came from an approved source. This directly addresses the problem of legitimate emails being flagged.

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. Disable DKIM to avoid signature conflicts.This is incorrect because DKIM helps validate message authenticity by using digital signatures. Disabling it would weaken email validation rather than improve it.

B. Implement DMARC with a " reject " policy to enforce sender validation.DMARC is important, but a reject policy can cause legitimate messages to fail if SPF and DKIM are not configured correctly first. DMARC builds on SPF and DKIM; it does not replace the need to authorize all sending sources.

C. Replace the domain ' s MX record with the marketing provider ' s services.MX records control where incoming email is received, not which systems are authorized to send email. This would not solve the validation issue for outbound messages.

From a Security+ perspective, this question focuses on email security controls and proper configuration of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. The most direct fix for multiple legitimate senders is to ensure the SPF record includes every authorized provider.

Hashing is the correct mechanism for ensuring that a software release has not been modified prior to reaching the end user. Hashing provides integrity verification by generating a fixed-length digest (such as SHA-256) from the original software package. When users download the software, they can compute the hash locally and compare it to the hash value published by the vendor. If the values match, the software has not been altered; if they differ, tampering or corruption has occurred.

CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 emphasizes hashing as a core cryptographic control used to verify integrity for files, updates, patches, and software distributions. Hashing is extremely sensitive to change—altering even a single bit in the file results in a completely different hash value.

Encryption (B) protects confidentiality, not integrity. Tokenization (A) replaces sensitive data with tokens and is unrelated to software integrity. Obfuscation (D) makes code harder to read but does not guarantee it has not been modified.

Therefore, hashing is the most appropriate and reliable method to ensure software integrity before release.

A Secure Web Gateway (SWG) protects users by filtering unwanted software/malware from user-initiated web traffic and enforcing corporate and regulatory policy compliance. This technology allows the company to secure remote users ' data and web traffic without relying on a VPN, making it ideal for organizations supporting remote work.

References = CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 study materials, particularly in the domain of network security and remote access technologies​​.

The lessons learned phase of an incident response process involves reviewing the incident and generating reports. This phase helps identify what went well, what needs improvement, and what changes should be made to prevent future incidents. Documentation and reporting are essential parts of this phase to ensure that the findings are recorded and used for future planning.

Recovery focuses on restoring services and normal operations.

Preparation involves creating plans and policies for potential incidents, not reporting.

Containment deals with isolating and mitigating the effects of the incident, not generating reports​​.

The correct answer is D. NetFlow.

NetFlow records network traffic metadata, such as source IP address, destination IP address, source port, destination port, protocol, timestamps, and traffic volume. This makes it especially useful for detecting port scan activity, because port scans often show a pattern of one system attempting connections to many ports or many hosts in a short period of time.

This aligns with CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 security operations topics related to log analysis, network monitoring, and detection of suspicious traffic patterns.

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. Firewall

Firewall logs can detect some port scan activity, especially if the firewall blocks and logs connection attempts. However, NetFlow is generally better for identifying scan patterns across network traffic because it provides broader flow visibility.

B. Proxy

Proxy logs are mainly useful for web traffic analysis, URL filtering, and HTTP/HTTPS activity. They are not the best source for detecting port scans across many ports.

C. Endpoint

Endpoint logs may show local connection attempts or suspicious activity on a host, but they do not provide the same network-wide visibility as NetFlow.

Therefore, the best log source for detecting port scan activity is NetFlow.

To identify the exactcommand or input usedduring a SQL injection attack, theapplication log (B)is the most relevant. It records inputs, errors, and processing activities within the application layer.

UnderDomain 2.1, CompTIA emphasizes reviewingapplication logsto detect indicators of malicious activity, includingweb application attackslike SQL injection.

Disabling access is an automation use case that would best enhance the security posture of an organization by rapidly updating permissions when employees leave a company. Disabling access is the process of revoking or suspending the access rights of a user account, such as login credentials, email, VPN, cloud services, etc. Disabling access can prevent unauthorized or malicious use of the account by former employees or attackers who may have compromised the account. Disabling access can also reduce the attack surface and the risk of data breaches or leaks. Disabling access can be automated by using scripts, tools, or workflows that can trigger the action based on predefined events, such as employee termination, resignation, or transfer. Automation can ensure that the access is disabled in a timely, consistent, and efficient manner, without relying on manual intervention or human error.

The first step in creating an anomaly detection process is building a baseline of normal behavior within the system. This baseline serves as a reference point to identify deviations or anomalies that could indicate a security incident. By understanding what normal activity looks like, security teams can more effectively detect and respond to suspicious behavior.

References =

CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 Course Content: Domain 04 Security Operations​.

CompTIA Security+ SY0-601 Study Guide: Chapter on Monitoring and Baselines​.

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

OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) involves collecting publicly available information, including data breaches, leaked credentials, and other exposed company data found online or on the dark web. OSINT tools can discover if a company’s information has been compromised publicly.

SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) monitors internal logs and events but does not collect external breach info. CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) is a database of known software vulnerabilities, not breach data. CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) rates vulnerabilities ' severity.

OSINT is a key technique in the Threats and Vulnerabilities domain for external threat intelligence gathering【6:Chapter 2†CompTIA Security+ Study Guide】.