easyMultiple Choice
CS0-003 Practice Question: A security analyst detects unusual outbound…
A security analyst detects unusual outbound traffic from a workstation. Which immediate action should the analyst take?
⚠ Common exam trap
CompTIA often tests the distinction between containment, eradication, and recovery phases; the trap here is that candidates confuse immediate containment (disconnect) with forensic collection (memory dump) or remediation (reimage), leading them to choose a later-phase action instead of the first response step.
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
✓
Disconnect the network cable
Disconnecting the network cable immediately isolates the workstation from the network, containing potential data exfiltration or lateral movement. This is the first step in incident response containment, as it stops the suspicious outbound traffic without destroying volatile evidence like running processes or network connections.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Run a full antivirus scan
Why it's wrong here
Running a full antivirus scan is a diagnostic and detection measure rather than an active containment strategy. While it helps identify known malware signatures, it does nothing to halt active data exfiltration or command-and-control (C2) communications currently occurring over the network.
- ✗
Create a memory dump
Why it's wrong here
Acquiring a volatile memory dump is a critical step in the forensic preservation phase of incident response. However, performing this action does not stop the ongoing outbound traffic, meaning sensitive data could continue to leak while the memory capture process completes.
- ✓
Disconnect the network cable
Why this is correct
Physically disconnecting the network cable or disabling the network interface card (NIC) is the fastest way to achieve network isolation. This immediate containment action instantly severs the connection to external malicious servers, preventing further data exfiltration and stopping lateral movement within the enterprise network.
- ✗
Reimage the system
Why it's wrong here
Reimaging the workstation is a destructive remediation and recovery action that should only occur after containment and forensic evidence collection are complete. Executing this step prematurely destroys valuable volatile and non-volatile forensic evidence needed to determine the root cause of the compromise.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
SOC Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 Analyst Roles
Key term
Incident
An incident is a security event that violates an organization's policies or threatens its data, systems, or operations, requiring a structured response.
Key term
Incident response
Incident response is the structured approach an organization uses to identify, contain, and recover from cybersecurity incidents like data breaches or ransomware attacks.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CS0-004 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 CS0-004 exam.