220-1102 Security Practice Question
A user receives an email that appears to be from the company's HR department, asking the user to click a link and enter their login credentials to view a new benefits document. The technician notices the sender's domain is 'hr@cornpany.com' (with 'rn' instead of 'm'). The user did not click the link. According to best practices, what should the technician do FIRST?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to think replying to verify the sender is a safe first step, but in phishing scenarios, any direct interaction with the attacker (including reply) is dangerous and violates incident response protocols.
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
✓
B. Report the email to the IT security team as a phishing attempt.
The email exhibits classic phishing indicators: a spoofed sender domain ('cornpany.com' instead of 'company.com') and a request for login credentials via a link. According to security best practices, the first action should be to report the suspicious email to the IT security team so they can analyze the threat, block the sender, and alert other users. Replying to the email could confirm the address is active or expose the user to further social engineering, and ignoring it leaves the threat unaddressed.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
A. Reply to the email to verify the sender's identity.
Why it's wrong here
Replying to a suspected phishing email is dangerous because it verifies to the attacker that the mailbox is live and actively monitored, making it a more valuable target for subsequent spear-phishing or credential-stuffing campaigns. Moreover, the displayed sender address can be spoofed, so the reply actually reaches the attacker's server, potentially disclosing the user's internal name, phone number, or other confidential information that could be used in a social engineering attack.
- ✓
B. Report the email to the IT security team as a phishing attempt.
Why this is correct
Reporting to the IT security team is the correct triage action because it converts a potential incident into an actionable intelligence artifact. The security team can extract the original message headers, malicious URLs, and payload hashes to block the attack at the email gateway, quarantine other copies in user mailboxes, and update filters for evolving variants. This centralized response also enables outbound alerts to all employees and supports playbook-based incident response.
- ✗
C. Block the sender's email address on the user's mailbox.
Why it's wrong here
Blocking the sender's address on the user's mailbox provides only a point-solution that is easily defeated by phishing infrastructure, since attackers frequently alter the display name, rotate through generationally spoofed domains, or use newly registered lookalike domains. This action also silos the threat locally—other users remain exposed to the same or similar lures, and the absence of centralized visibility means the organization cannot trace the campaign's scope or contain subsequent intrusions.
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D. Instruct the user to delete the email and ignore it.
Why it's wrong here
Instructing the user to delete and ignore the email destroys digital forensic evidence before it can be analyzed, such as email headers that reveal the true routing path, sender IP, or authentication results like SPF/DKIM/DMARC. It also leaves other employees unprotected, as the security team never learns of the phishing attempt and thus cannot deploy antivirus signatures, block malicious domains, or coordinate notification; the same campaign will continue to target the organization undetected.
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Social Engineering for A+
Key term
Alert
An alert is a notification that something unusual or potentially harmful has happened in a computer system or network.
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.