Drag a concept onto its matching description — or click a concept then click the description.
Concepts
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Preventive
Detective
Recovery
Administrative
Technical
mediumMatching
CS0-003 Match each security control to its category. Practice Question
Match each security control to its category.
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
✓
Firewall: Preventive
Security controls are categorized by function: preventive (e.g., firewalls), detective (e.g., IDS), and corrective (e.g., backup). Common confusions arise from misassigning preventive and detective roles.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Firewall: Preventive
Why this is correct
A firewall is a preventive control because it actively blocks unauthorized traffic before it reaches protected systems, enforcing rule-based access decisions at the network boundary rather than merely observing or reacting to traffic that has already passed through; this proactive blocking function is the defining trait of the preventive category.
- ✓
Intrusion Detection System (IDS): Detective
Why this is correct
An IDS is classified as detective because it passively monitors traffic or host activity for signatures or anomalies and generates alerts, but it takes no action to stop the traffic itself; that reactive, after-the-fact identification role, as opposed to blocking, is what places it in the detective category.
- ✓
Backup and Recovery: Corrective
Why this is correct
Backup and recovery processes are corrective controls because they do not prevent an incident or even detect one; they restore systems and data to a known-good state after damage has already occurred, correcting the impact of ransomware, hardware failure, or accidental deletion rather than stopping the initial event.
- ✗
Firewall: Detective
Why it's wrong here
This pairing is incorrect because a firewall's core function is active traffic filtering and blocking based on rule sets, which is the hallmark of a preventive control; labeling it detective ignores that it stops unauthorized packets in real time rather than merely logging or alerting on them after the fact.
- ✗
Intrusion Detection System (IDS): Preventive
Why it's wrong here
This pairing is incorrect because an IDS, by design, only observes and alerts on suspicious activity; it has no inline mechanism to block or drop malicious traffic, a capability that belongs to an IPS, so classifying it as preventive misattributes an active-blocking function it does not perform.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
SOC Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 Analyst Roles
Key term
Security
Security in IT is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, damage, or theft.
Key term
Security control
A security control is a safeguard or countermeasure designed to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information systems and data.
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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.