CompTIA CASP+ Practice Test

What type of security control would be essential for protecting against data exposure during a system upgrade?

1. Multi-factor authentication

2. Security monitoring

3. Data encryption

4. Change management procedures

The correct answer is: Data encryption

Data encryption is essential for protecting against data exposure during a system upgrade because it transforms sensitive information into a format that is unreadable to unauthorized users. During system upgrades, data is often transferred, modified, or temporarily stored, which can increase the risk of exposure to threats. If data is encrypted, even if an unauthorized entity gains access to the data, they would not be able to interpret it without the appropriate decryption keys. This adds a critical layer of security, ensuring that sensitive data remains confidential throughout the upgrade process. While other controls, such as multi-factor authentication, security monitoring, and change management procedures, are important in broader security practices, they do not directly address the specific risk of data exposure during the actual handling and processing of data inherent in system upgrades. Multi-factor authentication mainly focuses on verifying user identities, while security monitoring involves observing and analyzing activities for potential threats, and change management is about overseeing modifications to systems. However, encryption specifically safeguards the data itself against unauthorized access, making it the most relevant choice in this scenario.