Which type of control is designed to stop attacks before they succeed?

• A. Preventive Controls
• B. Detective Controls
• C. Corrective Controls
• D. Compensating Controls

Answer: (A)

Preventive controls are designed to stop attacks before they succeed by blocking or mitigating the conditions attackers rely on. They act proactively to prevent incidents, with examples like strong authentication and access controls, patching, secure configurations, input validation, encryption, firewalls, and intrusion prevention systems. By stopping the intrusion or exploitation at the outset, they reduce the chance of a breach occurring. Detective controls monitor and alert after events have happened, so they don’t prevent the attack from succeeding. Corrective controls come into play after a breach to restore operations and reduce impact. Compensating controls provide alternative safeguards when the primary preventive measures aren’t feasible. Therefore, the type of control aimed at stopping attacks before they succeed is preventive controls.