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Difficulty: MediumCause and Effect Reasoning

Read the two statements given below and answer the question that follows:

Statement I: Regional commercial banks reported a significant drop in successful credential-harvesting cyberattacks over the last quarter.
Statement II: The central banking authority mandated multi-factor biometric authentication for all digital transactions six months ago.

Which of the following options best describes the logical relationship between Statement I and Statement II?

  1. A
    Statement I is the cause and Statement II is its effect.
  2. Statement II is the cause and Statement I is its effect.Answer
  3. C
    Both Statement I and Statement II are independent causes.
  4. D
    Both Statement I and Statement II are effects of independent causes.
  5. E
    Both Statement I and Statement II are effects of some common cause.

Answer

Statement II is the cause and Statement I is its effect.
The enforcement of biometric multi-factor authentication (Statement II) six months prior created the necessary technical barrier to prevent unauthorized access, directly resulting in a marked drop in successful credential-harvesting cyberattacks (Statement I) during the recent quarter. Thus, Statement II is the cause and Statement I is its effect.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the events and their timelines in both statements.
Statement II describes a regulatory intervention (mandating biometric multi-factor authentication) enacted six months ago. Statement I describes a operational outcome (reduction in successful cyberattacks) measured over the last quarter.
Establishing temporal order is essential: a cause must precede or coincide with its effect.
2
Evaluate the direct logical connectivity between the policy and the outcome.
Multi-factor biometric authentication directly mitigates credential-harvesting vulnerabilities, leading to fewer successful cyberattacks.
A valid cause provides a sufficient mechanism to explain the occurrence of the effect.
3
Determine the overall relationship.
Statement II acts as the primary cause, and Statement I is the direct logical outcome (effect) of that cause.
The regulatory security measure directly brought about the decline in unauthorized access attempts.

Key Concept

Cause and Effect Reasoning
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Topics

Cause and Effect Reasoning

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