CAS-004 Security Operations Practice Question
A security analyst is performing incident response and needs to collect evidence from a live system. Which of the following should be collected first to preserve volatile data?
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
✓
Memory (RAM)
The order of volatility dictates that memory (RAM) is the most volatile and must be captured before any other evidence.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Memory (RAM)
Why this is correct
Memory is the most volatile and must be captured first.
- ✗
Network connections
Why it's wrong here
Network connections are volatile but less so than memory.
- ✗
Hard drive contents
Why it's wrong here
Hard drives are non-volatile and can be collected later.
- ✗
System logs
Why it's wrong here
Logs are typically written to disk and are less volatile.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CAS-005 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-005 exam.