In order to keep the competitive edge gained by our extensive research

Question

In order to keep the competitive edge gained by our extensive research and innovative methods, information security must remain a high priority for our company. The information stored on our networks including everything from research data, to training materials, to company memos - could potentially be very valuable to competitors and foreign governments alike. All employees must work to protect company information, not only through passwords and data encryption, but also through the physical control of company assets, such as laptops.

If all of the above statements are true, which of the following statements can be most directly inferred?

A. Passwords are often inadequate forms of security, leading to the need for "physical control" over data storage objects such as laptops.

B. Employees are not allowed to discuss their research with anyone other than fellow company employees.

C. Company information carries a high monetary value, making the network attractive to hackers.

D. The company is willing to go to great expense to protect its information.

E. Employees must attend classes to learn to use the latest security software

pqhai · Accepted Answer

Hello ronr34.

I'm glad to help.

ANALYZE THE STIMULUS:

Premise 1: To keep the competitive edge, information security must remain a high priority for our company. 
Premise 2: The information stored on our networks could potentially be very valuable to competitors and foreign governments alike. 
Premise 3: All employees must work to protect company information, not only through passwords and data encryption, but also through the physical control of company assets, such as laptops.

Question: 
If all of the above statements are true, which of the following statements can be most directly  inferred ?

ANALYZE EACH ANSWER:

A) Passwords are often inadequate forms of security, leading to the need for "physical control" over data storage objects such as laptops.
 SHELL GAME but WRONG.

A has a common fallacy called “  confusing cause and effect  ”. 
 The form is: 
 A and B regularly occur together.
Conclusion: A causes B happen.

Keep in mind, this logic is wrong  because you don’t know A OR B leads to the occurring of the other. The only thing you know is A and B occur together. That’s It.

Back to the answer choice A: 
Problem here is words " leading to ". The stimulus only says employees must protect company information through  both  passwords and physical control. It means two approaches must be applied  simultaneously  That’s IT. You do  NOT know which approach is inadequate and which one leads to the occurring of the other .

If A were correct, the alternate A would be correct too. The alternate A is: "physical control" over data storage objects such as laptops is often inadequate form of security, leading to the need for passwords.

Hence, A can't be the correct answer.

B) Employees are not allowed to discuss their research with anyone other than fellow company employees.
  Correct.   Premise 1 says “To keep the competitive edge, information security must remain a high priority for our company”. We can infer that information needs to be kept internally. It means nobody outside the company should have information.

C) Company information carries a high monetary value, making the network attractive to hackers.
 Wrong.  Key word is “hackers”. The stimulus does not mention anything that the network is attractive to hackers. It only says that the network is attractive to competitors and foreign government alike.

D) The company is willing to go to great expense to protect its information.
 Wrong.  Nothing about “great expense”. We can’t infer that.

E) Employees must attend classes to learn to use the latest security software
 Wrong.  Nothing about “attend classes”. We can’t infer that.

Hope it helps.

TAKEAWAY:   
 Always be aware of the form  "confusing cause and effect" . If you do not have enough information, do not assume A always leads to B.

ConnectTheDots · Answer

In order to keep the competitive edge gained by our extensive research and innovative methods, information security must remain a high priority for our company. The information stored on our networks including everything from research data, to training materials, to company memos - could potentially be very valuable to competitors and foreign governments alike. All employees must work to protect company information, not only through passwords and data encryption, but also through the physical control of company assets, such as laptops.

If all of the above statements are true, which of the following statements can be most directly inferred?

A. Passwords are often inadequate forms of security, leading to the need for "physical control" over data storage objects such as laptops.

B. Employees are not allowed to discuss their research with anyone other than fellow company employees.

C. Company information carries a high monetary value, making the network attractive to hackers.

D. The company is willing to go to great expense to protect its information.

E. Employees must attend classes to learn to use the latest security software.

Official Explanation:

Situation: A company prioritizes information security in order to protect its ability to compete.

Reasoning: What inference can be drawn from this information? The theme running through the entire passage is the importance of maintaining secrecy. The first and second sentences contain reasons for secrecy, and the third an insistence that employees use a variety of means to maintain it. The correct answer, then, will be an extension of the argument for secrecy.

Passwords and physical control are both methods recommended for maintaining secrecy, but one is not prioritized over the other in the passage.

This sentence is a logical extension of the company's policies about information security. Not discussing research with anyone other than company employees is another method of maintaining secrecy.

Though the passage mentions the value of company information, it does not specify that the value is monetary, nor is the passage specific about fears of attracting hackers.

The passage does not discuss real or potential costs for maintaining information security.

The passage concentrates on the importance of information security, rather than the training of employees to maintain it.

The correct answer is B.

carcass · Answer

In order to keep the competitive edge gained by our extensive research and innovative methods, information security must remain a high priority for our company. The information stored on our networks including everything from research data, to training materials, to company memos - could potentially be very valuable to competitors and foreign governments alike. All employees must work to protect company information, not only through passwords and data encryption, but also through the physical control of company assets, such as laptops.

If all of the above statements are true, which of the following statements can be most directly inferred?

A Passwords are often inadequate forms of security, leading to the need for "physical control" over data storage objects such as laptops.

not discussed

B Employees are not allowed to discuss their research with anyone other than fellow company employees.

the information must be keeped inside the company

C Company information carries a high monetary value, making the network attractive to hackers.

same as A

D The company is willing to go to great expense to protect its information.

sama as A
 
E Employees must attend classes to learn to use the latest security software

same as A

B wins

mba1382 · Answer

Hi Carcass,

I have a doubt regarding this question. I was stuck between option B & C mainly for the below mentioned reasons.

B  says that  ' Employees are not allowed to discuss their research with anyone other than fellow company employees'  but the passage only states that  'All employees must work to protect company information, not only through passwords and data encryption, but also through the physical control of company assets, such as laptops'  . What I understood from this is that company information is valuable and each employee must protect that information strictly by any means. Do we infer from this that that an employee X can discuss the confidential information that is known to him only and may be to some top Mgmt but employee X can still discuss this info with employee Y who is also a fellow employee. Now what if Employee X may not be allowed to discuss this confidential info with employee Y?

While  C  says that  'Company information carries a high monetary value, making the network attractive to hackers' . Now the passage says that  'The information stored on our networks including everything from research data, to training materials, to company memos - could potentially be  very valuable to competitors and foreign governments alike ' . Now if we can infer from option B that employees are allowed to discuss the company info with fellow employees, then from option C why can't we infer that the valuable info of the company makes the network attractive to hackers (who might help competitors and foreign governments)

Please help me understand the above confusion. Thanks.

carcass · Answer

what you have pointed out are good issues BUT in CR questions is better to not go too much outside the "field"

On one hand is important to make the argument real, as you are in that situation; on the other hand your job is not to bring too much information from the outside. A sort of balance approach

This is true in particular in CR must be true question, where you must pick the right choice only relying on the strict information provided by the passage.

Hre the gist of the argument is this: the information must be keeped inside the company; we could also say this: no matter what happens: we have to protect them.

B says just this: we can share info only among the company's employee at most

C instead says: our information are valuable and could be a target by a hacker (maybe Neo from matrix) but is not the real point. The hackers come from the outside, instead our problem is to keep all kind of info inside our company.

B keep inside ---> no outside

C from outside to inside to thieve information.

As you can see what comes up suddenly is a huge difference

what you did is not wrong in a broad sense but the cons are: it takes too much time during the exam. You have to go to the core of the question, picking the right answer as fast as you can and moving on. that's it

Hope I satisfied your request

regards

ronr34 · Answer

Having trouble here.
I chose A and this is why: "not only through passwords and data encryption, but also through the physical control of company assets, such as laptops." This implies that passwords just aren't enough.
B only deals with research. What about collaborations and thing of that nature? it's too narrow for my taste....

Can anyone shed some light?

deeeuce · Answer

Hi  pqhai   ronr34

pqhai  - i like your point of view. I came up with another angle inspired by your line of thoughts. Would you mind sharing your opinion on that?

So, since information must remain inside the organization, the answer choice B states; Employees are not allowed to discuss research to anyone other than fellow colleagues.
What if they are allowed to discuss it with government stakeholders or regulating bodies while maintaining the security against competitors and the general public? There is no reason to believe that they are not allowed (especially from the text).

The answer choice A, however, refers to the mention in the passage:  Not just with  password,  but also  physical security... the correlative conjunction Not just with... but also.. gives me a sense of making an emphasis: not just x (as it is inadequate) but also Y (which make it a full proof strategy). I am wondering if that were not the case, would the passage have had the line stated differently such as:   All employees must work to protect company information with both password and data encryption and physical control.   Now stating this way, there is no way we can infer that password is inferior hence leading to .......... .

GMATNinja  : would you provide your feedback on my reasoning. Thanks...
Also including  carcass

carcass · Answer

Your analysis is correct.

Also, I have already pointed out my line of reasoning.

In CR simplify at the best. Go to the core of the problem and what the stem conveys. That's is all about.

If you read once or at most two very carefully and make a prediction ANY CR , even the hardest, could be solved in LESS than one minute.

Regards

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