easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
SSCP Practice Question: A small business wants to identify…
A small business wants to identify vulnerabilities in its network. Which type of scan should they perform first to get an overview?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse 'vulnerability scan' (a deep assessment of known weaknesses) with 'host discovery' (a lightweight enumeration of live systems), leading them to select Option A as the first step instead of the correct ping sweep.
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
✓
Ping sweep.
A ping sweep (ICMP Echo Request) is the correct first step because it quickly identifies which hosts are alive on the network, providing a baseline of active IP addresses. This overview allows the business to scope the subsequent vulnerability scan to only live targets, reducing noise and scan time. Without a ping sweep, a full port or vulnerability scan would waste resources scanning dead or unresponsive hosts.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Vulnerability scan.
Why it's wrong here
Vulnerability scans are best performed after identifying live hosts and services.
- ✗
Stealth scan.
Why it's wrong here
Stealth scans are for avoiding detection, not for general overview.
- ✗
Full port scan.
Why it's wrong here
A full port scan probes all 65,535 TCP and UDP ports, generating excessive traffic that risks crashing the small business’s limited network devices and triggering intrusion detection alerts before an overview is obtained. It is tempting because it provides exhaustive visibility into every open service, which would be correct for a mature organisation performing a detailed penetration test after initial reconnaissance. The correct first step is a ping sweep or port scan of common ports to map live hosts without overwhelming the network.
- ✓
Ping sweep.
Why this is correct
A ping sweep quickly identifies which IP addresses are active, providing a starting point.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SSCP 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 SSCP exam.