The Essential Eight

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. The Essential Eight is a set of baseline security strategies from which source?

A The Australian government

B A social media company

2. How many strategies are in the Essential Eight?

A Eight

B Five

3. Which Essential Eight strategy fixes known flaws in software and operating systems?

A Patching

B Backups

4. Which Essential Eight strategy asks for a second proof of identity, like a code sent to your phone?

A Application control

B Multi-factor authentication (MFA)

5. Your files are locked by ransomware, but you have a recent copy stored safely offline. Which strategy saves you?

A Application control

B Regular backups

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1Essential Eight		Abackup_data()
2Application control		BBackups kept on the same computer can be lost or encrypted in the same attack. They should be stored separately.
3Essential Eight strategy: install security updates quickly so known weaknesses are fixed		CEight baseline security strategies from the Australian government that reduce the risk of cyber security incidents
4Essential Eight strategy: keep copies of important data so it can be restored after an attack		DThe Essential Eight is eight strategies used together, not one. Using only MFA leaves other gaps open.
5essential_eight = ["MFA"] # only one strategy is needed		EAn Essential Eight strategy that only lets approved programs run, which blocks unknown or malicious software
6backups = "stored on the same computer"		Fpatch_applications()

Definitions

Essential Eight

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

essentialEight = _

if update: _____(system)

if passwordOk ___ mfaOk: login()

backup = copy(files) if ransomware: restore(______)

if app ___ in approved: block(app)

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A essential_eight = 6

B controls = ["patching", "MFA"]

C print(len(controls))

Question 2

A days_since_release = 20

B if days_since_release < 14:

C print("Patch now")

Question 3

A password_ok = True

B code_ok = True

C if password_ok or code_ok:

D print("Access granted")

Question 4

A backups = ["Mon", "Tue"

B for day in backups:

C print("Saved copy:", day)

Question 5

A e8 = {"patching": True}

B e8("backups") = True

C print(len(e8))

Answer Key

The Essential Eight

Section A: Quick Questions

A — The Australian government

A — Eight

A — Patching

B — Multi-factor authentication (MFA)

B — Regular backups

Section B: Match the Pairs

Essential Eight → Eight baseline security strategies from the Australian government that reduce the risk of cyber security incidents

Application control → An Essential Eight strategy that only lets approved programs run, which blocks unknown or malicious software

Essential Eight strategy: install security updates quickly so known weaknesses are fixed → patch_applications()

Essential Eight strategy: keep copies of important data so it can be restored after an attack → backup_data()

essential_eight = ["MFA"] # only one strategy is needed → The Essential Eight is eight strategies used together, not one. Using only MFA leaves other gaps open.

backups = "stored on the same computer" → Backups kept on the same computer can be lost or encrypted in the same attack. They should be stored separately.

Section C: Definitions

Essential Eight — Eight baseline security strategies from the Australian government, like patching, MFA, backups and application control, that cut the risk of cyber incidents.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

essentialEight = 8

if update:
    patch(system)

if passwordOk and mfaOk:
    login()

backup = copy(files)
if ransomware:
    restore(backup)

if app not in approved:
    block(app)

Section E: Spot the Error

A — The Essential Eight has eight strategies, not six, so the value should be 8.

B — Patching is overdue when the update has been out for MORE than 14 days, so the test should use > not <.

C — Multi-factor authentication needs BOTH factors to pass, so the condition must use and, not or.

A — The list is missing its closing square bracket. It should end with ].

B — Round brackets try to call e8 like a function, which is invalid. Adding a dictionary key needs square brackets: e8["backups"] = True.