What is the primary purpose of applying vendor-supplied security patches?

• A. Protect system components and software from known vulnerabilities
• B. Improve system aesthetics
• C. Expand feature sets
• D. Increase hardware requirements

Answer: (A)

Security patches exist to fix weaknesses in software and components so they can’t be easily exploited by attackers. Applying them reduces the chance of breaches by closing known vulnerabilities that could be used to gain unauthorized access, steal data, or disrupt services. That makes protecting system components and software from known vulnerabilities the primary purpose of vendor-supplied patches.

Other options aren’t the main goal: patches aren’t released to improve aesthetics or necessarily add features (though they may include those changes), and they aren’t intended to increase hardware requirements. Their core purpose is security remediation to reduce risk.