A recent audit has revealed weaknesses in the process of deploying new servers and network devices. Which of the following practices could be used to increase the security posture during deployment?…

A honeypot is a deception-based detection tool used after deployment to attract attackers, not a hardening measure applied during the deployment process.

Disabling unnecessary services removes unused network-facing processes that could be exploited, directly reducing the attack surface of a newly deployed device. This is a standard hardening step that eliminates vulnerabilities in services that are running but not required.

Default passwords are publicly documented by vendors and are the first credentials an attacker will try; changing them immediately upon deployment prevents trivial unauthorized access. This is a foundational security baseline requirement for any new device.

An application firewall is a perimeter or host-level control deployed as part of the network architecture, not a direct hardening step performed on the new device itself during deployment.

Penetration testing is an assessment activity conducted to find existing vulnerabilities and is not a hardening practice applied during the deployment phase.