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SSCP Practice Question: After containing a malware outbreak, the incident…
After containing a malware outbreak, the incident response team needs to ensure the malware is completely removed from all systems. Which phase of the incident response process is this?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse eradication with recovery, as candidates often think 'removing malware' is part of getting systems back online, but recovery only begins after the threat is fully eradicated to avoid restoring infected data.
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
✓
Eradication
The eradication phase is specifically focused on removing the root cause of the incident, such as deleting malware files, registry keys, and disabling malicious services from all affected systems. After containment (which stops the spread), eradication ensures the threat is completely eliminated before recovery begins. This aligns with the NIST SP 800-61 incident response lifecycle, where eradication follows containment and precedes recovery.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Post-Incident
Why it's wrong here
Post-incident involves lessons learned and reporting.
- ✓
Eradication
Why this is correct
Eradication involves removing malware and closing vulnerabilities.
- ✗
Detection
Why it's wrong here
Detection is identifying the incident, not removing it.
- ✗
Recovery
Why it's wrong here
Recovery is restoring operations after eradication.
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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.