Which of the following should the analyst do?

A security analyst and the management team are reviewing the organizational performance of a recent phishing campaign. The user click-through rate exceeded the acceptable risk threshold, and the management team wants to reduce the impact when a user clicks on a link in a phishing message.

Which of the following should the analyst do?
A . Place posters around the office to raise awareness of common phishing activities.
B . Implement email security filters to prevent phishing emails from being delivered
C . Update the EDR policies to block automatic execution of downloaded programs.
D . Create additional training for users to recognize the signs of phishing attempts.

View Answer

Answer: C

Explanation:

An endpoint detection and response (EDR) system is a security tool that monitors and analyzes the activities and behaviors of endpoints, such as computers, laptops, mobile devices, and servers. An EDR system can detect, prevent, and respond to various types of threats, such as malware, ransomware, phishing, and advanced persistent threats (APTs). One of the features of an EDR system is to block the automatic execution of downloaded programs, which can prevent malicious code from running on the endpoint when a user clicks on a link in a phishing message. This can reduce the impact of a phishing attack and protect the endpoint from compromise. Updating the EDR policies to block automatic execution of downloaded programs is a technical control that can mitigate the risk of phishing, regardless of the user’s awareness or behavior. Therefore, this is the best answer among the given options.

The other options are not as effective as updating the EDR policies, because they rely on administrative or physical controls that may not be sufficient to prevent or stop a phishing attack. Placing posters around the office to raise awareness of common phishing activities is a physical control that can increase the user’s knowledge of phishing, but it may not change their behavior or prevent them from clicking on a link in a phishing message. Implementing email security filters to prevent phishing emails from being delivered is an administrative control that can reduce the exposure to phishing, but it may not be able to block all phishing emails, especially if they are crafted to bypass the filters. Creating additional training for users to recognize the signs of phishing attempts is an administrative control that can improve the user’s skills of phishing detection, but it may not guarantee that they will always be vigilant or cautious when receiving an email. Therefore, these options are not the best answer for this question.

References = Endpoint Detection and Response C CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 C 2.2, video at 5:30; CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 Certification Study Guide, page 163.