CompTIA A+ Core 2 (220-1102) Practice Tests

Explanation

Customer Social Security numbers and financial records, protected health information subject to HIPAA, and proprietary trade secrets must never be entered into a public AI system. Public AI tools process data on shared third-party cloud infrastructure where the organization has limited control over how data is stored, processed, or potentially used for model training. Social Security numbers and financial records are regulated under PCI DSS and privacy laws. Protected health information is regulated under HIPAA, and violations can result in significant fines. Trade secrets and intellectual property lose their legal protection once disclosed to a public system. General product specifications already available on the company website are public information and pose no risk. Publicly available industry news articles are already in the public domain. Company holiday schedules and office locations are non-sensitive operational information.

Explanation

SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) is an XML-based protocol designed for exchanging authentication data between an identity provider and multiple service providers, enabling single sign-on across web-based applications including those hosted by third-party cloud providers. It works across both Windows and non-Windows environments. Kerberos is primarily used within Windows Active Directory domains and does not natively extend well to third-party cloud web applications. RADIUS is primarily used for network access authentication such as Wi-Fi and VPN, not web application SSO. TACACS+ is used for device administration authentication on network equipment like routers and switches.

Explanation

QR code phishing, also known as quishing, uses malicious QR codes to redirect victims to fraudulent websites designed to harvest credentials or deliver malware. In this scenario, the attacker placed physical QR codes in a trusted location to trick employees into visiting a fake login page, which is the defining characteristic of a quishing attack. This attack vector is particularly dangerous because QR codes bypass traditional email security gateways and users often scan them with personal mobile devices that lack corporate security controls. An evil twin attack creates a fake Wi-Fi access point that mimics a legitimate wireless network to intercept traffic, which does not involve QR codes. Shoulder surfing involves physically observing someone entering credentials or viewing sensitive information on their screen. An on-path attack intercepts and potentially alters communication between two parties in transit over a network, which is fundamentally different from using QR codes to redirect users to a phishing site.

Explanation

A double-conversion (online) UPS provides zero transfer time because the connected equipment continuously runs on power that is regenerated through an AC-to-DC and DC-to-AC conversion process. The inverter is always active and the battery is always in the power path, so when utility power fails there is no switching delay whatsoever. A standby (offline) UPS monitors utility power and switches to battery only when an outage is detected, resulting in a brief transfer time typically ranging from 5 to 12 milliseconds during which equipment may experience a momentary power interruption. A line-interactive UPS includes an autotransformer for automatic voltage regulation and has a faster transfer time of approximately 2 to 4 milliseconds, but it still has a brief switchover gap that could affect sensitive real-time applications. A surge protector with battery backup is not a recognized UPS topology and would not provide the continuous, zero-interruption power delivery required for mission-critical transaction processing servers.

Explanation

Incremental backups back up only the data that has changed since the last backup of any type, resulting in the fastest backup times and smallest storage requirements for each daily backup. This is ideal when the backup window is limited. The trade-off is that restoring requires the last full backup plus every incremental backup in sequence, making restoration slower, which the scenario states is acceptable. Full backups every night would provide the fastest restoration but consume the most time and storage, exceeding the limited backup window. Differential backups back up all changes since the last full backup, growing larger each day and taking progressively longer throughout the week. Synthetic full backups are created by merging the existing full backup with incrementals on the backup server, which requires significant server-side processing and storage comparable to full backups.