In Federal Agency Incident Reporting Categories, which category corresponds to Unauthorized Access?

• A. CAT 1
• B. CAT 0
• C. CAT 2
• D. CAT 3

Answer: (A)

Unauthorized access means someone entered the system or accessed information without permission. In the Federal Agency Incident Reporting Categories, this kind of intrusion is categorized at the CAT 1 level because it reflects an actual breach of access controls and requires incident response, even if it hasn’t yet caused widespread damage or data loss. This level captures the occurrence of an unauthorized entry and the need to report and address it, without assuming the more severe consequences that would push the incident into higher categories. The other categories are reserved for no incident or non-events (CAT 0) or for more severe outcomes like significant data loss, exfiltration, or destructive impact (higher categories). So unauthorized access aligns with the CAT 1 category.