N10-005 · Question #579
A pest control contractor attempts to gain access to the datacenter; however, the manager on duty notes that a pest control inspection was not on the schedule. Which of the following attacks is in…
The correct answer is B. Social engineering. An unauthorized individual using a false pretext (posing as a pest control contractor) to gain physical access to a secured facility is a social engineering attack.
Question
A pest control contractor attempts to gain access to the datacenter; however, the manager on duty notes that a pest control inspection was not on the schedule. Which of the following attacks is in progress?
Options
- APhishing
- BSocial engineering
- CMan-in-the-middle
- DSmurfing
How the community answered
(64 responses)- A2% (1)
- B88% (56)
- C5% (3)
- D6% (4)
Why each option
An unauthorized individual using a false pretext (posing as a pest control contractor) to gain physical access to a secured facility is a social engineering attack.
Phishing is a social engineering attack conducted via deceptive emails or messages, not in-person physical access attempts.
Social engineering manipulates people psychologically rather than exploiting technical vulnerabilities; impersonating a service worker to gain datacenter access is a classic social engineering tactic known as pretexting or impersonation.
A man-in-the-middle attack intercepts network communications between two parties and does not involve physical impersonation.
A Smurf attack is a network-layer DDoS attack that floods a target using ICMP broadcast amplification, unrelated to physical access.
Concept tested: Social engineering physical impersonation attack recognition
Source: https://www.comptia.org/content/guides/social-engineering-attacks
Topics
Community Discussion
No community discussion yet for this question.