LSAT 152 – Section 4 – Question 20

LSAT 152 - Section 4 - Question 20

November 2018

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Question
QuickView		 Type Tags Answer
Choices		 Curve Question
Difficulty		 Psg/Game/S
Difficulty		 Explanation
PT152 S4 Q20
+LR
Must be true +MBT
A
28%
160
B
2%
158
C
58%
164
D
11%
156
E
1%
158
145
158
171
 +Harder 147.181 +SubsectionMedium

Coming up with secure passwords for confidential computer files is difficult. Users prefer passwords that are easy to remember, such as birth dates or relatives’ names. Unfortunately, these are the easiest to guess for an outsider who wants to gain access to valuable information. Random configurations of letters and numbers are the hardest to guess, but these are also the easiest for legitimate users to forget. Users who forget their passwords use up the system administrator’s time; furthermore, passwords that are very difficult to remember are generally written down by users, and hence pose the greatest security threat of all.

Summary
Creating secure passwords for confidential computer files is difficult. Users prefer passwords that are easy to remember. Unfortunately, these passwords are the easiest to guess for an outsider. Random configurations of letters and numbers are the hardest for an outsider to guess, but also the easiest for a legitimate user to forget. Furthermore, passwords that are very difficult to remember are generally written down, and hence pose the greatest security threat of all.

Notable Valid Inferences
Passwords that are easy for an outsider to guess have less of a security threat than passwords that are very difficult to remember.

A
Computer users should not write down their passwords even if the passwords are hard to remember.
Could be false. The stimulus does not state a value judgement about what users should not do. We know that written passwords pose the greatest security threat, but it is possible there are other reasons to write passwords that outweigh these risks.
B
It is expensive to have system administrators constantly resetting forgetful users’ passwords.
Could be false. The stimulus tells us that users who forget their passwords use up the administrator’s time, but we don’t have any information about how much this costs. It is possible that a system administrator’s time is not expensive.
C
Passwords that are very easy to guess pose less of a security threat than passwords that are very difficult to remember.
Must be true. The stimulus tells us that very difficult passwords to remember are usually written down, a practice that poses the greatest security threat. If this practice poses the greatest threat, then the threat associated with passwords that are easy to guess is less.
D
Passwords that are random configurations of letters and numbers are the least likely to result in security breaches.
Could be false. The stimulus tells us that these passwords are the easiest for legitimate users to forget. If they are the hardest to remember, then they may usually be written down and therefore pose the greatest security threat.
E
The easier a password is to remember, the more secure the computer account.
Could be false. The stimulus does not describe a correlation between security risk and the ease of remembering a password. It is possible that there is a point where the security level maximizes even though the password could change to become easier to remember.

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LSAT PrepTest 152 Explanations

Section 1 - Logical Reasoning

Section 2 - Logical Reasoning

Section 3 - Reading Comprehension

Section 4 - Logical Reasoning

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