Which describes a benefit of application whitelisting?

Application whitelisting is a security practice that allows only approved applications to run on a system while blocking all others. This approach is particularly beneficial because it creates a controlled environment where only known and verified software can be executed. By limiting execution to only those applications that are explicitly allowed, organizations can significantly reduce the risk of malicious software executing on their systems. This proactive measure helps protect against exploits and malware that often utilize unauthorized applications to gain access to a network. Furthermore, it streamlines security management by minimizing the potential attack surface, making it easier for security teams to monitor and manage the applications in use.

The other choices, while they touch on various aspects of application and system security, do not capture the core benefit of application whitelisting in the same way. Continuous testing of all applications is more associated with practices like dynamic analysis or ongoing vulnerability assessments rather than whitelisting itself. Reducing the need for anti-virus software can be a potential outcome of effective whitelisting, but it is not the primary benefit; rather, whitelisting complements traditional security measures. Lastly, automatic updates of applications are generally managed separately from whitelisting and do not directly relate to the concept of limiting execution to only known "good" applications.