Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science

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Enhance your readiness for the AP Computer Science exam with insightful quizzes. Deepen your understanding and master key concepts as you prepare for a successful test experience!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

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What is the primary purpose of a firewall?

To control access to the Internet.
To encrypt data transmission.
To limit incoming and outgoing connections.
To resolve domain names.

The correct answer is: To limit incoming and outgoing connections.

The primary purpose of a firewall is to control and limit incoming and outgoing connections. Firewalls act as a barrier between a trusted internal network and untrusted external networks, monitoring and filtering traffic based on predetermined security rules. By doing so, they help prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network, thus enhancing security by only allowing permissible connections while blocking potentially harmful traffic. In the context of the other choices, while controlling access to the Internet might seem related, it is too broad since firewalls specifically manage connections rather than overall access policies. The encryption of data transmission is a function associated with securing communications but is not a feature of firewalls. Resolving domain names pertains to DNS and is unrelated to the functions of a firewall. Hence, the correct choice accurately reflects the operational focus of firewalls in network security and traffic management.