easyMultiple Choice
ISC2 CC Practice Question: An employee reports receiving a suspicious email…
An employee reports receiving a suspicious email with an attachment from an unknown sender. What is the first action the employee should take?
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
✓
Report the email to the security team.
Reporting the email to the security team allows professionals to analyze and respond appropriately. Deleting the email or opening the attachment can be dangerous; forwarding may spread the threat.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Open the attachment to check its content.
Why it's wrong here
Opening the attachment executes potential malware on the employee's device and may trigger the payload, which is precisely the outcome the reporting process exists to prevent. Opening attachments suits messages from verified, trusted senders whose content is expected.
- ✓
Report the email to the security team.
Why this is correct
Reporting to the security team lets specialists analyse the message, quarantine it and check other recipients, while preserving evidence. Deleting or opening the attachment risks execution and loses indicators, so reporting is the safe first action.
- ✗
Forward the email to all employees as a warning.
Why it's wrong here
Forwarding the message to all employees propagates the malicious attachment and any embedded links, multiplying exposure across the organisation. Mass forwarding suits verified internal advisories, not an unanalysed suspicious email that should go to the security team.
- ✗
Delete the email immediately.
Why it's wrong here
Deleting the email destroys the evidence needed by the security team to analyse the sender, headers and attachment, and does not confirm whether the message was opened. Deletion suits confirmed spam already reported and investigated, not an unreported suspicious message.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.