CompTIA Security+ (SY0-501) — Question 119

A computer on a company network was infected with a zero-day exploit after an employee accidently opened an email that contained malicious content. The employee recognized the email as malicious and was attempting to delete it, but accidently opened it.
Which of the following should be done to prevent this scenario from occurring again in the future?

Answer options

• A. Install host-based firewalls on all computers that have an email client installed
• B. Set the email program default to open messages in plain text
• C. Install end-point protection on all computers that access web email
• D. Create new email spam filters to delete all messages from that sender

Correct answer: B

Explanation

Option B is correct because setting the email program to open messages in plain text reduces the risk of executing harmful scripts or content embedded in emails. The other options, while helpful for security, do not specifically address the issue of preventing zero-day exploits from being activated when an email is opened.