Question

Difficulty: EasyStatement and Conclusions or Inferences

Read the following statement and conclusion carefully.

Statement: 'The 2026 National Cybersecurity Directive mandates that all government departments must conduct external security audits annually to minimize the risk of data breaches.'
Conclusion: 'Government departments that comply with this directive and conduct the annual audits will be completely immune to data breaches.'

Based strictly on the provided statement, this conclusion is logically valid.

Answer: Answer

Answer

The conclusion is logically invalid because minimizing a risk is not equivalent to achieving complete immunity.
The correct evaluation is false because the conclusion uses absolute language ('completely immune') that cannot be derived from the statement. A policy designed to 'minimize the risk' does not guarantee absolute prevention of data breaches.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the core premise of the given statement.
The statement declares that annual external audits are required to 'minimize the risk' of data breaches in government departments.
Identifying the exact scope and terminology used in the premise is the first step in logical deduction.
2
Examine the specific claim made in the conclusion.
The conclusion asserts that departments conducting these audits will be 'completely immune' to data breaches.
To evaluate a conclusion, one must understand the exact degree of certainty or outcome it proposes.
3
Compare the premise's scope against the conclusion's claim.
The premise speaks of risk reduction ('minimize'), while the conclusion claims absolute prevention ('completely immune'). Therefore, the conclusion overreaches.
A valid logical conclusion cannot claim a stronger, more absolute outcome than what is supported by the premise.

Key Concept

Statement and Conclusions or Inferences
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