What is the role of anti-virus software in maintaining a Vulnerability Management Program?

• A. To regularly update and protect systems from known vulnerabilities.
• B. To monitor network performance.
• C. To enforce password policies.
• D. To log all user activity.

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is that antivirus software helps reduce risk from known vulnerabilities by staying current with threat definitions and blocking malware that tries to exploit those weaknesses. When antivirus definitions are regularly updated, the program can recognize and stop already-known malware strains that target weaknesses in the system or applications. This keeps systems safer while patches and other mitigations are being applied, because it prevents the malware from succeeding even if a vulnerability exists.

In practice, antivirus acts as a protective layer that prevents exploitation of vulnerabilities by malicious code, complements patch management, and provides quarantine and remediation of infected files. It’s not primarily about monitoring network performance, enforcing password policies, or logging all user activity, which are handled by other controls and tools.