Security Blue Team Level 1 Question and
Answer [2026] | UPDATED ACTUAL
Exam | A+ Verified
• Credential Harvesters -✓✓ most common phishing emails
targeting human weaknesses to attempt to retrieve valid credentials
email will tell the recipient to click a button or URL, where they will typically be
presented with a real-looking login portal
• Social Engineering -✓✓ the practice of exploiting a human as opposed to a system
malicious actors can convince employees that they are someone they know, or even
someone in a higher position that has more power than them
• Smishing -✓✓ kind of phishing attack, where the attack vector is through a text
message or SMS
best way to defend is user security awareness training and education
• Vishing -✓✓ kind of phishing attack, where the attack vector is through a phone call
best way to defend is user security awareness training and education
• Whaling -✓✓ highly-targeted phishing attack that looks to target individuals within
management positions in an organization
best way to defend is implementing DLP, marking external emails, train individuals to
detect phishing emails
• Malicious Attachments -✓✓ malicious actors will send you Microsoft Office documents
to bypass email scanners and to seem less suspicious
include malicious macros, series of command and instructions, that download malware
to the system
• Hosted Malware -✓✓ method of hosting malware on websites and convincing users to
click on a hyperlink, download a file, and then run it
actor can create a malicious domain or compromise a legitimate site then host the
malware
, • Spam Emails -✓✓ messages that are unsolicited, unwanted, or unexpected but are not
necessarily malicious in nature
should not be confused with malicious spam emails
• False Positives -✓✓ messages that have not been sent by a malicious actor and are
instead legitimate emails that have been incorrectly reported as malicious
• Spear Phishing -✓✓ when a malicious actor spends time before the phishing attack to
gather information about their specific target
makes it more convincing, increases the chances of the recipient clicking on the email
and entering their credentials, or opening an attachment
• Impersonation -✓✓ used by malicious actors to trick their target into thinking they are
someone they know
makes them more likely to open and interact with a phishing email
• Typosquatting -✓✓ the act of impersonating a brand or domain name by misspelling it,
such as missing letters or including additional ones
• Homographs -✓✓ this attack exploits the fact that many different characters look
exactly alike
the problem is with how the characters are encoded using Unicode
virtually impossible for users to spot
• Sender Spoofing -✓✓ the process of making the sending address in an email look the
same as a legitimate email to make the recipients believe it is coming from a genuine
sender
• URL Shorteners -✓✓ a tactic for disguising malicious URLs, short versions that simply
redirect to the full URL
ex. bit.ly/2vyvczQ
• Business Email Compromise (BEC) -✓✓ A type of phishing attack where a threat actor
impersonates a known source to obtain financial advantage
• Email Artifacts -✓✓ - Sending Email Address
- Subject Line
- Recipient Email Address
Answer [2026] | UPDATED ACTUAL
Exam | A+ Verified
• Credential Harvesters -✓✓ most common phishing emails
targeting human weaknesses to attempt to retrieve valid credentials
email will tell the recipient to click a button or URL, where they will typically be
presented with a real-looking login portal
• Social Engineering -✓✓ the practice of exploiting a human as opposed to a system
malicious actors can convince employees that they are someone they know, or even
someone in a higher position that has more power than them
• Smishing -✓✓ kind of phishing attack, where the attack vector is through a text
message or SMS
best way to defend is user security awareness training and education
• Vishing -✓✓ kind of phishing attack, where the attack vector is through a phone call
best way to defend is user security awareness training and education
• Whaling -✓✓ highly-targeted phishing attack that looks to target individuals within
management positions in an organization
best way to defend is implementing DLP, marking external emails, train individuals to
detect phishing emails
• Malicious Attachments -✓✓ malicious actors will send you Microsoft Office documents
to bypass email scanners and to seem less suspicious
include malicious macros, series of command and instructions, that download malware
to the system
• Hosted Malware -✓✓ method of hosting malware on websites and convincing users to
click on a hyperlink, download a file, and then run it
actor can create a malicious domain or compromise a legitimate site then host the
malware
, • Spam Emails -✓✓ messages that are unsolicited, unwanted, or unexpected but are not
necessarily malicious in nature
should not be confused with malicious spam emails
• False Positives -✓✓ messages that have not been sent by a malicious actor and are
instead legitimate emails that have been incorrectly reported as malicious
• Spear Phishing -✓✓ when a malicious actor spends time before the phishing attack to
gather information about their specific target
makes it more convincing, increases the chances of the recipient clicking on the email
and entering their credentials, or opening an attachment
• Impersonation -✓✓ used by malicious actors to trick their target into thinking they are
someone they know
makes them more likely to open and interact with a phishing email
• Typosquatting -✓✓ the act of impersonating a brand or domain name by misspelling it,
such as missing letters or including additional ones
• Homographs -✓✓ this attack exploits the fact that many different characters look
exactly alike
the problem is with how the characters are encoded using Unicode
virtually impossible for users to spot
• Sender Spoofing -✓✓ the process of making the sending address in an email look the
same as a legitimate email to make the recipients believe it is coming from a genuine
sender
• URL Shorteners -✓✓ a tactic for disguising malicious URLs, short versions that simply
redirect to the full URL
ex. bit.ly/2vyvczQ
• Business Email Compromise (BEC) -✓✓ A type of phishing attack where a threat actor
impersonates a known source to obtain financial advantage
• Email Artifacts -✓✓ - Sending Email Address
- Subject Line
- Recipient Email Address
