Quick Answer
The answer is an organizational policy violation. This is correct because the employee’s action directly breaches the company’s internal security policy mandating VPN use for all remote access, which is a governance rule established within the organization’s risk management framework. Unlike regulatory violations that involve breaking external laws or industry mandates, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between internal policy violations and legal or regulatory infractions on the CompTIA SecurityX CAS-004 exam. A common trap is confusing a policy violation with a regulatory one, but remember that regulatory violations typically involve compliance with laws like GDPR or HIPAA, while organizational policy violations stem from company-specific rules. For a quick memory tip, think “internal rules = policy; external laws = regulatory.”
This CAS-004 practice question tests your understanding of governance, risk and compliance. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company's security policy requires that all remote access be conducted via VPN. An employee uses a personal device without VPN to access company email. Which type of policy violation is this?
Legal violation
Why wrong: Not illegal per se
Standards violation
Why wrong: Standards are not policies
Regulatory compliance violation
Why wrong: No specific regulation mentioned
Organizational policy violation
Directly contravenes company policy
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Organizational policy violation
Option D is correct because the employee's action directly violates the company's internal security policy requiring VPN for all remote access. This is a policy violation, not a legal or regulatory one, as the company has established a mandatory rule that the employee failed to follow. The use of a personal device without VPN to access company email is a clear breach of organizational policy, which is a governance issue within the company's risk management framework.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Legal violation
Why it's wrong here
Not illegal per se
Standards violation
Why it's wrong here
Standards are not policies
Regulatory compliance violation
Why it's wrong here
No specific regulation mentioned
Organizational policy violation
Why this is correct
Directly contravenes company policy
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'organizational policy violation' with 'regulatory compliance violation,' mistakenly thinking that any security breach automatically involves a regulatory mandate, when in fact the question explicitly describes a breach of internal policy.
Detailed technical explanation
VPNs typically use protocols like IPsec (IKEv2) or TLS (OpenVPN) to encrypt traffic and enforce split-tunneling policies. Without a VPN, the employee's email traffic is transmitted in cleartext over the internet, exposing credentials and data to man-in-the-middle attacks. In a real-world scenario, a company might use Network Policy Server (NPS) or RADIUS to enforce VPN-only access, and a device without VPN could trigger an alert in the SIEM, leading to incident response.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A practitioner preparing for the CAS-004 exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
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FAQ
Governance, Risk and Compliance — This question tests Governance, Risk and Compliance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Organizational policy violation — Option D is correct because the employee's action directly violates the company's internal security policy requiring VPN for all remote access. This is a policy violation, not a legal or regulatory one, as the company has established a mandatory rule that the employee failed to follow. The use of a personal device without VPN to access company email is a clear breach of organizational policy, which is a governance issue within the company's risk management framework.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This CAS-004 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 CAS-004 exam.
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