Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH v12) — Question 150

Recently, the employees of a company have been receiving emails that seem to be from their colleagues, but with suspicious attachments. When opened, these attachments appear to install malware on their systems. The IT department suspects that this is a targeted malware attack. Which of the following measures would be the most effective in preventing such attacks?

Answer options

• A. Disabling Autorun functionality on all drives
• B. Avoiding the use of outdated web browsers and email software
• C. Regularly scan systems for any new files and examine them
• D. Applying the latest patches and updating software programs

Correct answer: D

Explanation

The correct answer is D because applying the latest patches and updates ensures that known vulnerabilities in software are fixed, making it harder for attackers to exploit them. While disabling Autorun (A) and avoiding outdated software (B) are good practices, and regular scanning (C) can help detect issues, they do not directly address the root cause of vulnerabilities that patches can fix.