This CS0-003 practice question tests your understanding of security operations. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.
An analyst needs to identify which process on a Windows system is making outbound connections to the internet. Which tool should be used?
netstat -an
Why wrong: Shows connections without process mapping.
Task Manager
Why wrong: Shows basic network usage per process but not detailed.
Resource Monitor
Displays network activity per process.
Performance Monitor
Why wrong: Used for performance data, not process-to-connection mapping.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Resource Monitor
Resource Monitor (resmon.exe) provides a real-time view of network activity, including which processes are making outbound TCP and UDP connections, along with the remote addresses and ports. Unlike netstat, it directly associates network connections with specific process names and allows filtering by process, making it the most efficient tool for identifying the exact process responsible for outbound internet traffic.
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.
netstat -an
Why it's wrong here
Shows connections without process mapping.
Task Manager
Why it's wrong here
Shows basic network usage per process but not detailed.
Resource Monitor
Why this is correct
Displays network activity per process.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Performance Monitor
Why it's wrong here
Used for performance data, not process-to-connection mapping.
Common exam traps
CompTIA often tests the distinction between tools that show aggregate network usage (Task Manager) versus those that show per-connection process mapping (Resource Monitor), leading candidates to choose Task Manager because they associate it with network activity without realizing it lacks connection-level detail.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
Shows connections without process mapping.
Detailed technical explanation
Resource Monitor uses the Windows Event Tracing (ETW) infrastructure to capture real-time network events, allowing it to map each TCP/UDP connection to its owning process via the Windows Filtering Platform (WFP). This is more granular than netstat, which queries the TCP/IP stack's connection table and requires elevation or additional flags to resolve PIDs to process names. In a real-world incident response scenario, an analyst might use Resource Monitor to quickly spot a suspicious process (e.g., svchost.exe running from a non-standard path) making repeated connections to an unknown IP on port 443.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
What to study next
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FAQ
Security Operations — This question tests Security Operations — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Resource Monitor — Resource Monitor (resmon.exe) provides a real-time view of network activity, including which processes are making outbound TCP and UDP connections, along with the remote addresses and ports. Unlike netstat, it directly associates network connections with specific process names and allows filtering by process, making it the most efficient tool for identifying the exact process responsible for outbound internet traffic.
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 30, 2026
This CS0-003 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 CS0-003 exam.
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