CompTIA CySA+ (CS0-001) — Question 116

A recent audit included a vulnerability scan that found critical patches released 60 days prior were not applied to servers in the environment. The infrastructure team was able to isolate the issue and determined it was due to a service being disabled on the server running the automated patch management application.
Which of the following would be the MOST efficient way to avoid similar audit findings in the future?

Answer options

• A. Implement a manual patch management application package to regain greater control over the process.
• B. Create a patch management policy that requires all servers to be patched within 30 days of patch release.
• C. Implement service monitoring to validate that tools are functioning properly.
• D. Set services on the patch management server to automatically run on start-up.

Correct answer: D

Explanation

The correct answer is D because setting services to automatically run on start-up ensures that the patch management application is always operational, preventing lapses in applying critical updates. Options A and B do not directly address the root cause of the issue, while C, although helpful, does not guarantee that the service will run when needed.