212-89 Malware Incidents Practice Question
You are analyzing a malware sample using Cuckoo Sandbox. The report shows the malware is attempting to modify the 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run' registry key. What is the intent of this activity?
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
✓
Establishing system persistence
Modifying this registry key is a classic technique for establishing persistence, ensuring the malware executes automatically upon system startup.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Injecting code into explorer.exe
Why it's wrong here
Code injection usually involves VirtualAllocEx and WriteProcessMemory APIs.
- ✗
Escalating user privileges
Why it's wrong here
Privilege escalation typically involves exploiting kernel vulnerabilities or misconfigured services.
- ✓
Establishing system persistence
Why this is correct
This registry key is the standard Windows autorun location for persistence.
- ✗
Disabling the Windows Firewall
Why it's wrong here
Firewall settings are typically altered in the 'Policies' or 'Firewall' registry hives.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every 212-89 question from scratch — 206 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official EC-Council exam blueprint
This 212-89 practice question is part of Courseiva's free EC-Council 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 212-89 exam.