ISC2 CC Network Security Practice Question
An attacker captures network traffic using Wireshark and reads unencrypted emails. Which security goal is most directly compromised?
⚠ Common exam trap
CC often tests whether candidates can distinguish confidentiality (secrecy/reading) from integrity (modification) and non-repudiation (proof of origin) — eavesdropping is always a confidentiality violation, not integrity.
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
✓
Confidentiality
Confidentiality ensures that data is only readable by authorized parties. When an attacker captures unencrypted email traffic in Wireshark and reads the contents, the confidentiality of the email is directly compromised because the data was exposed in plaintext to an unauthorized party.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Integrity
Why it's wrong here
Integrity concerns unauthorised modification of data, whereas the attacker only read unencrypted emails in transit; nothing was altered. Integrity controls such as hashing or checksums would be the focus if tampering, not eavesdropping, had occurred.
- ✗
Availability
Why it's wrong here
Availability concerns ensuring systems and data remain accessible to authorised users; the attacker's passive capture did not disrupt or deny access. Availability would be the goal at stake in a denial-of-service attack, not silent interception of unencrypted email.
- ✗
Non-repudiation
Why it's wrong here
Non-repudiation proves a party performed an action, typically via digital signatures or audit trails; reading traffic neither forges nor denies a sender's action. It would be the compromised goal if an attacker impersonated a sender or a party denied sending a message.
- ✓
Confidentiality
Why this is correct
Unencrypted email content is readable by anyone capturing the traffic, so unauthorised parties gain access to information they should not see. Confidentiality is the goal protecting data from disclosure, making it the property directly breached; integrity and availability remain intact.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Network Security Components and Controls
Key term
Wireshark
Wireshark is a free, open-source network protocol analyzer that captures and inspects data packets traveling over a computer network in real time.
Key term
Confidentiality
Confidentiality means keeping sensitive information secret and accessible only to authorized people or systems.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official ISC2 exam blueprint
This CC practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 CC exam.