220-1102 Security Practice Question
A technician receives an email at work that appears to come from the company's payroll department. The email states that the recipient must verify their direct deposit information by clicking a link and logging in with their corporate credentials. The technician notices the sender's email address is 'payroll@cornpany.com' instead of 'payroll@company.com'. What is the BEST first action for the technician to take?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates think 'just checking' the link is harmless, but CompTIA emphasizes that any interaction with a suspected phishing email—including clicking—can compromise security, and the correct procedure is always to report it to the appropriate team without interacting.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Forward the email to the company's security team for investigation
The email exhibits classic signs of a phishing attack: a spoofed sender domain ('cornpany.com' vs. 'company.com') and a request to verify credentials via a link. The best first action is to report it to the security team, who can analyze the threat, block the domain, and warn other users. Clicking the link or simply deleting the email without reporting could expose the technician or others to credential theft or malware.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Click the link to see if the website looks legitimate
Why it's wrong here
Clicking the link is dangerous. Even if the technician does not enter credentials, the act of clicking can trigger malware downloads or confirm the email address to the attacker. Security best practices prohibit clicking on links in suspected phishing emails.
- ✓
Forward the email to the company's security team for investigation
Why this is correct
Forwarding the suspicious email to the security team preserves the original headers, embedded links, and sender metadata that are critical for forensic analysis. The security team can quarantine the message, update email filter rules, and trace the campaign, thereby protecting all users from the same indicator of compromise. This aligns with organizational incident response procedures where the technician acts as a first responder without exposing themselves or the network to the threat.
- ✗
Delete the email and ignore it
Why it's wrong here
Deleting the email removes the only local copy of the phishing attempt, destroying forensic evidence that the security team could use to identify the phishing kit, malicious domain, or payload. It also leaves the sender able to target other employees because the incident is never reported, so no defensive measures like blocklists or mailflow rules are triggered. The technician should preserve the message and notify the security team, not simply discard it.
- ✗
Reply to the email asking for clarification
Why it's wrong here
Replying to a phishing email confirms that the recipient's email address is monitored and active, which increases the likelihood of more targeted spear-phishing or other socially engineered attacks. The attacker may use a reply to elicit technical details, bypass MFA, or build rapport for future pretexting, and the response itself may be hidden by malicious rules that auto-delete or mark the conversation as read. Instead of engaging, the technician should forward the original email to the security team without altering it.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
MFA Types for Users
Key term
Malware
Malware is any software intentionally designed to cause damage, disrupt operations, steal data, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems.
Key term
Security
Security in IT is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, damage, or theft.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1102 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1102 exam.