Security+
CompTIA Security+ SY0-801 / All lessons / Domain 4.0: Security Operations
4Domain 4.0: Security Operations
Security+ topic 4.2

Asset Management

You cannot protect what you do not know you have. Asset management tracks hardware, software and data from purchase to disposal. Every asset gets an owner and a classification, and an inventory is kept up to date with automated discovery. When equipment is retired, data must be destroyed properly through sanitization (overwriting or wiping), destruction (shredding, degaussing, or incineration), and a certificate of destruction for proof. Data retention rules say how long records must be kept before they can be destroyed.

Asset Management vocabulary

  • Asset inventory: An up-to-date list of the organization's hardware, software, and data.
  • Sanitization: Removing data from media so it cannot be recovered, such as by overwriting.
  • Degaussing: Using a strong magnet to erase data on magnetic media.
  • Certificate of destruction: A document from a vendor proving that media was destroyed.

Exam-style practice questions

Try each one, then open the answer. To save your progress, take this quiz in the interactive course.

1. A company is donating old laptops. Which of the following should it do first to protect its data?

  1. (A) Delete the user folders
  2. (B) Sanitize the drives so the data cannot be recovered
  3. (C) Reinstall the web browser
  4. (D) Change the desktop wallpaper
Show answer

(B) Sanitize the drives so the data cannot be recovered Deleting files leaves data recoverable; sanitization removes it.

2. A vendor shreds a company's old hard drives. Which of the following should the company get to prove the work was done?

  1. (A) A certificate of destruction
  2. (B) A service-level agreement
  3. (C) A risk register
  4. (D) A CVE number
Show answer

(A) A certificate of destruction A certificate of destruction documents proper disposal.

3. Which of the following is the main reason to keep an accurate asset inventory?

  1. (A) You cannot protect devices you do not know about
  2. (B) It makes the network faster
  3. (C) It replaces the need for patching
  4. (D) It encrypts data automatically
Show answer

(A) You cannot protect devices you do not know about Unknown assets are unpatched and unmonitored.

4. Which of the following erases data on magnetic media using a strong magnetic field?

  1. (A) Degaussing
  2. (B) Overwriting
  3. (C) Tokenizing
  4. (D) Hashing
Show answer

(A) Degaussing Degaussing destroys data on magnetic media.

Open 4.2 in the interactive course