nerdexam
CompTIA

SY0-501 · Question #167

Joe, a technician, is working remotely with his company provided laptop at the coffee shop near his home. Joe is concerned that another patron of the coffee shop may be trying to access his laptop…

The correct answer is B. Host-based firewall. Joe is concerned about unauthorized network access to his laptop from another patron on an untrusted public network. A host-based firewall is the appropriate control to prevent direct network access attempts.

Submitted by suresh_in· Mar 4, 2026Security architecture

Question

Joe, a technician, is working remotely with his company provided laptop at the coffee shop near his home. Joe is concerned that another patron of the coffee shop may be trying to access his laptop. Which of the following is an appropriate control to use to prevent the other patron from accessing Joe's laptop directly?

Options

  • Afull-disk encryption
  • BHost-based firewall
  • CCurrent antivirus definitions
  • DLatest OS updates

How the community answered

(42 responses)
  • A
    5% (2)
  • B
    83% (35)
  • C
    10% (4)
  • D
    2% (1)

Why each option

Joe is concerned about unauthorized network access to his laptop from another patron on an untrusted public network. A host-based firewall is the appropriate control to prevent direct network access attempts.

Afull-disk encryption

Full-disk encryption protects data at rest by encrypting the entire storage drive, not against network access attempts while the laptop is powered on and in use.

BHost-based firewallCorrect

A host-based firewall operates on the laptop itself, controlling incoming and outgoing network traffic, and can be configured to block unsolicited connection attempts from other devices on the same untrusted network, thereby preventing direct access.

CCurrent antivirus definitions

Current antivirus definitions primarily protect against malicious software (malware) and viruses, not against unauthorized network connection attempts from another user.

DLatest OS updates

Latest OS updates patch known vulnerabilities and improve system stability, which is essential for security, but a firewall is the specific control designed to actively block unwanted network connections.

Concept tested: Host-based firewall for network access control

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/operating-system-security/network-security/windows-firewall/windows-defender-firewall-with-advanced-security-overview

Topics

#host-based firewall#endpoint security#remote work#wireless security

Community Discussion

No community discussion yet for this question.

Full SY0-501 Practice