Question 170
A team decides to remove obsolete public APIs that no client uses, rather than add alarms to every endpoint. Which attack-surface mitigation is being applied?
Explanation
Correct Answer
Removing an unnecessary listener eliminates exploit paths that monitoring would only observe. For this case, rather than add alarms to every endpoint. The classification is driven by the entry path and observable behavior in the scenario; a familiar attack label does not by itself prove the actor’s identity or every later impact. The competing choice “Keep the endpoint publicly accessible with a different marketing name” addresses a different mechanism: renaming does not remove reachability or vulnerable code. That difference is material to the requested decision.
Incorrect Answers
Renaming does not remove reachability or vulnerable code. A security mitigation must reduce the specifically demonstrated path of compromise; detection and recovery play different roles from blocking and remediation. Here the decisive fact is rather than add alarms to every endpoint. “Decommission unused services and close their ingress routes” matches that requirement because removing an unnecessary listener eliminates exploit paths that monitoring would only observe.
More reports cannot eliminate unneeded running services. Telemetry provides evidence and may trigger a response; it does not automatically deny a transaction or remediate its cause. In the reported situation, rather than add alarms to every endpoint. The effective mechanism is “Decommission unused services and close their ingress routes”: removing an unnecessary listener eliminates exploit paths that monitoring would only observe.
A secret backdoor creates a new access path rather than reducing exposure. Access entitlements govern which specific operations a principal may perform; granting broad roles can expand the damage of credential compromise. Here the decisive fact is rather than add alarms to every endpoint. “Decommission unused services and close their ingress routes” matches that requirement because removing an unnecessary listener eliminates exploit paths that monitoring would only observe.






CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) Practice Tests