SSCP Incident Response and Recovery Practice Question
An organization has experienced a ransomware attack. After containing the incident, the response team plans to restore systems from backups. Which step is most critical before restoring production systems?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates choose Option A (verify backup integrity) because it sounds thorough, but they miss that the most critical step is to eliminate the root cause of the infection to prevent immediate reinfection after restoration.
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
✓
Patch the exploited vulnerability and ensure the backup is free of malware.
Restoring from backups while the original vulnerability remains unpatched would allow the ransomware to reinfect the systems immediately. Additionally, if the backup itself contains malware (e.g., the ransomware encrypted the backup repository), restoring it would reintroduce the infection. Patching the exploited vulnerability and verifying the backup is clean ensures a safe restoration point, breaking the attack chain.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Verify the integrity of backup data by restoring to an isolated test environment.
Why it's wrong here
While verification is good, the most critical step is to eradicate the root cause and patch the vulnerability.
- ✗
Notify law enforcement immediately.
Why it's wrong here
Notification may be required but is not the most critical step for restoration.
- ✓
Patch the exploited vulnerability and ensure the backup is free of malware.
Why this is correct
Correct. Eradication and patching prevent recurrence.
- ✗
Disconnect all systems from the network.
Why it's wrong here
Containment should already be done; the focus is on recovery.
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This SSCP question is part of Courseiva's 971-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.