Isaca CISA Practice Test 1
Question 1
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A security team isolates a suspicious server without informing its critical care business owner, interrupting clinical operations. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend post-incident root-cause actions with accountable verification deadlines.
- Recommend scoped privileged access and auditable controls on VM export and snapshots.
- Recommend a risk-based coordinated containment protocol with defined emergency powers.
- Recommend coverage and ingestion-gap alarms alongside threat detections.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Recommend a risk-based coordinated containment protocol with defined emergency powers. The relevant control principle is: Containment decisions must consider urgency, safety, business impact and authorized coordination. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Exercises demonstrate timely threat isolation while maintaining essential care pathways.
Incorrect Answers
A:Recommend post-incident root-cause actions with accountable verification deadlines. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: After a malware outbreak is closed, identical infections recur because no root-cause or control improvement work is assigned. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend a risk-based coordinated containment protocol with defined emergency powers. The governing distinction is: Containment decisions must consider urgency, safety, business impact and authorized coordination.
B:Recommend scoped privileged access and auditable controls on VM export and snapshots. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A virtualization administrator can snapshot and download regulated production virtual machines without oversight. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend a risk-based coordinated containment protocol with defined emergency powers. The governing distinction is: Containment decisions must consider urgency, safety, business impact and authorized coordination.
D:Recommend coverage and ingestion-gap alarms alongside threat detections. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An endpoint dashboard displays every system as healthy even though remote devices have stopped forwarding telemetry. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend a risk-based coordinated containment protocol with defined emergency powers. The governing distinction is: Containment decisions must consider urgency, safety, business impact and authorized coordination.
Question 2
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: An application uses TLS for client sessions but disables certificate validation when connecting to its payment processor. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Encryption at rest does not control authorized-account misuse or data access in processing.
- Break-glass access must be controlled, logged, tested and periodically reauthorized.
- Encryption without authenticating the peer can permit interception or impersonation.
- Overbroad classification can undermine effective enforcement and incident response.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Encryption without authenticating the peer can permit interception or impersonation. The corresponding audit procedure is: Review TLS settings, trust validation, connection endpoints and exception records.
Incorrect Answers
A:Encryption at rest does not control authorized-account misuse or data access in processing. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A database encrypts storage disks but application administrators can export plaintext sensitive records without monitoring. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Encryption without authenticating the peer can permit interception or impersonation. The governing distinction is: Encryption without authenticating the peer can permit interception or impersonation.
B:Break-glass access must be controlled, logged, tested and periodically reauthorized. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Emergency administrator accounts are exempt from monitoring and are never tested until an outage. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Encryption without authenticating the peer can permit interception or impersonation. The governing distinction is: Encryption without authenticating the peer can permit interception or impersonation.
D:Overbroad classification can undermine effective enforcement and incident response. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A research team labels every file confidential, generating excessive DLP false positives and routine overrides. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Encryption without authenticating the peer can permit interception or impersonation. The governing distinction is: Encryption without authenticating the peer can permit interception or impersonation.
Question 3
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A vendor's audit log is editable by the same administrator whose changes are under investigation. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Obtain a reproducible system-generated extract and corroborate key entries independently.
- Correct the query's grain and validate exceptions against original records.
- Rebuild the population including historical departures before selecting test items.
- Corroborate privileged actions using independently controlled log sources and custody records.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Corroborate privileged actions using independently controlled log sources and custody records. The relevant control principle is: Evidence integrity and independence are weakened when subjects can alter the only record. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Relevant events match across trusted sources and retention controls prevent undetected alteration.
Incorrect Answers
A:Obtain a reproducible system-generated extract and corroborate key entries independently. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A system owner provides a screenshot of an access list without a timestamp or source-system identification. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Corroborate privileged actions using independently controlled log sources and custody records. The governing distinction is: Evidence integrity and independence are weakened when subjects can alter the only record.
B:Correct the query's grain and validate exceptions against original records. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An audit query joins employee and privilege tables but mistakenly duplicates rows for users with multiple roles. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Corroborate privileged actions using independently controlled log sources and custody records. The governing distinction is: Evidence integrity and independence are weakened when subjects can alter the only record.
C:Rebuild the population including historical departures before selecting test items. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A database access audit receives a file containing only current active users although it must assess leavers over the last quarter. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Corroborate privileged actions using independently controlled log sources and custody records. The governing distinction is: Evidence integrity and independence are weakened when subjects can alter the only record.
Question 4
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: Security staff begin forensic analysis directly on a live original log file and overwrite timestamps. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend promptly preserving appropriately scoped logs and cloud snapshots with custody records.
- Recommend compliant device controls and prompt token invalidation or managed wipe.
- Recommend restricted protected signing operations and independent key management oversight.
- Recommend protected original preservation and analysis on validated working copies.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Recommend protected original preservation and analysis on validated working copies. The relevant control principle is: Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use. A meaningful follow-up should establish: The untouched original and analyzed copy have recorded provenance and integrity checks.
Incorrect Answers
A:Recommend promptly preserving appropriately scoped logs and cloud snapshots with custody records. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A cloud incident investigator exports only the latest activity logs, omitting records from the suspected initial compromise. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend protected original preservation and analysis on validated working copies. The governing distinction is: Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use.
B:Recommend compliant device controls and prompt token invalidation or managed wipe. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A lost employee phone still accesses confidential mail because device compliance and remote wipe were never enabled. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend protected original preservation and analysis on validated working copies. The governing distinction is: Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use.
C:Recommend restricted protected signing operations and independent key management oversight. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A certificate authority's signing key is available to several administrators without dual control. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend protected original preservation and analysis on validated working copies. The governing distinction is: Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use.
Question 5
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: Multiple business units publish different values for the same customer account status without a nominated data steward. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Classification should reflect data sensitivity, business purpose and governing requirements.
- Quality management should evaluate defects, process capability and business outcomes across the lifecycle.
- Data governance requires clear ownership, quality rules and authorized source definitions.
- Sourcing decisions should assess total risk and contractual fitness, not price alone.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Data governance requires clear ownership, quality rules and authorized source definitions. The corresponding audit procedure is: Reconcile discrepancies, lineage, quality metrics and stewardship assignments.
Incorrect Answers
A:Classification should reflect data sensitivity, business purpose and governing requirements. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A finance spreadsheet contains confidential salary data but is labeled public in the enterprise catalog. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Data governance requires clear ownership, quality rules and authorized source definitions. The governing distinction is: Data governance requires clear ownership, quality rules and authorized source definitions.
B:Quality management should evaluate defects, process capability and business outcomes across the lifecycle. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A software delivery group claims quality because unit tests pass, but repeated severe production incidents persist. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Data governance requires clear ownership, quality rules and authorized source definitions. The governing distinction is: Data governance requires clear ownership, quality rules and authorized source definitions.
D:Sourcing decisions should assess total risk and contractual fitness, not price alone. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Procurement selects the lowest-cost cloud vendor while ignoring prior security incidents and regulatory audit rights. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Data governance requires clear ownership, quality rules and authorized source definitions. The governing distinction is: Data governance requires clear ownership, quality rules and authorized source definitions.
Question 6
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: A database access audit receives a file containing only current active users although it must assess leavers over the last quarter. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Recalculate the deviation rate, sample size, population and observed exceptions.
- Reconcile event volume, source heartbeat, ingestion timestamps and excluded records.
- Inspect the engagement charter, agreed objectives, evidence plan and promised deliverables.
- Reconcile HR departures and access history against the access extract's coverage dates.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Reconcile HR departures and access history against the access extract's coverage dates. The governing principle is: Sampling from an incomplete population invalidates the intended terminated-user control test.
Incorrect Answers
A:Recalculate the deviation rate, sample size, population and observed exceptions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A sample of authorized changes contains failures, yet the auditor extrapolates a zero-percent exception rate. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Reconcile HR departures and access history against the access extract's coverage dates. The governing distinction is: Sampling from an incomplete population invalidates the intended terminated-user control test.
B:Reconcile event volume, source heartbeat, ingestion timestamps and excluded records. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A continuous monitoring dashboard reports zero failed access attempts because its collection job stopped three days ago. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Reconcile HR departures and access history against the access extract's coverage dates. The governing distinction is: Sampling from an incomplete population invalidates the intended terminated-user control test.
C:Inspect the engagement charter, agreed objectives, evidence plan and promised deliverables. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Management calls a readiness workshop a completed audit even though no testing or assurance opinion was planned. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Reconcile HR departures and access history against the access extract's coverage dates. The governing distinction is: Sampling from an incomplete population invalidates the intended terminated-user control test.
Question 7
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A new security control requires two operators to approve destructive data deletion, but both approvals can use one shared account. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Audit evidence collection must preserve confidentiality and authorized custody as well as usefulness.
- A detective control must include timely response and accountability to reduce exposure.
- Dual authorization is ineffective if the supposed approvers are not independently attributable.
- Remediation after the audit period does not retroactively prove the control operated during that period.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Dual authorization is ineffective if the supposed approvers are not independently attributable. The corresponding audit procedure is: Inspect identity binding, approval logs and whether one person can trigger both approvals.
Incorrect Answers
A:Audit evidence collection must preserve confidentiality and authorized custody as well as usefulness. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An auditor exports personally identifiable records to an unsecured laptop for analytics testing. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Dual authorization is ineffective if the supposed approvers are not independently attributable. The governing distinction is: Dual authorization is ineffective if the supposed approvers are not independently attributable.
B:A detective control must include timely response and accountability to reduce exposure. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A monitoring alert is generated for suspicious transfers, but no owner is assigned to investigate or close it. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Dual authorization is ineffective if the supposed approvers are not independently attributable. The governing distinction is: Dual authorization is ineffective if the supposed approvers are not independently attributable.
D:Remediation after the audit period does not retroactively prove the control operated during that period. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An auditee disputes an audit exception by supplying a later control fix, then asks to erase the historical finding. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Dual authorization is ineffective if the supposed approvers are not independently attributable. The governing distinction is: Dual authorization is ineffective if the supposed approvers are not independently attributable.
Question 8
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A sample of authorized changes contains failures, yet the auditor extrapolates a zero-percent exception rate. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Sample conclusions must reflect observed deviations and appropriate uncertainty.
- Audit project plans must match specialist resources to scope, dependencies and deadlines.
- Detective review does not automatically replace an effective preventive authorization control.
- A nonrepresentative selection can lead to unsupported conclusions about the entire population.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Sample conclusions must reflect observed deviations and appropriate uncertainty. The corresponding audit procedure is: Recalculate the deviation rate, sample size, population and observed exceptions.
Incorrect Answers
B:Audit project plans must match specialist resources to scope, dependencies and deadlines. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A compliance audit is due in four weeks but its only database specialist is assigned to an unrelated engagement. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Sample conclusions must reflect observed deviations and appropriate uncertainty. The governing distinction is: Sample conclusions must reflect observed deviations and appropriate uncertainty.
C:Detective review does not automatically replace an effective preventive authorization control. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A payroll system uses post-payment anomaly reports but has no approval requirement for changing bank accounts. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Sample conclusions must reflect observed deviations and appropriate uncertainty. The governing distinction is: Sample conclusions must reflect observed deviations and appropriate uncertainty.
D:A nonrepresentative selection can lead to unsupported conclusions about the entire population. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An auditor samples only Monday transactions to conclude that weekend payments were controlled effectively. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Sample conclusions must reflect observed deviations and appropriate uncertainty. The governing distinction is: Sample conclusions must reflect observed deviations and appropriate uncertainty.
Question 9
Management reports that this issue has been corrected: An urgent firewall change is deployed without a ticket and later cannot be attributed to an approver. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?
- Production inventory confirms patch coverage or properly governed mitigation.
- A recovery test completes reconciled business transactions within required limits.
- Every emergency deployment links to an accountable approver and completed review.
- A measured peak-like exercise meets agreed recovery times and identifies capacity shortfalls.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Every emergency deployment links to an accountable approver and completed review. It addresses it change, configuration, and patch management. Underlying audit concern: Emergency changes need accelerated but documented authorization and retrospective review.
Incorrect Answers
A:Production inventory confirms patch coverage or properly governed mitigation. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A security patch is applied on test servers but production remains vulnerable for months without risk approval. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Every emergency deployment links to an accountable approver and completed review. The governing distinction is: Emergency changes need accelerated but documented authorization and retrospective review.
B:A recovery test completes reconciled business transactions within required limits. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A disaster recovery runbook lists server boot order but omits database integrity and application acceptance tests. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Every emergency deployment links to an accountable approver and completed review. The governing distinction is: Emergency changes need accelerated but documented authorization and retrospective review.
D:A measured peak-like exercise meets agreed recovery times and identifies capacity shortfalls. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A company rehearses DR annually on a clean weekend but its live recovery window overlaps payroll peaks and storage contention. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Every emergency deployment links to an accountable approver and completed review. The governing distinction is: Emergency changes need accelerated but documented authorization and retrospective review.
Question 10
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: A certificate authority's signing key is available to several administrators without dual control. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Map shared-responsibility controls and review customer policies, logs and service settings.
- Inspect HSM controls, key ceremony logs, assigned roles and administrative sessions.
- Inspect trust-store settings, CRL/OCSP reachability, cache behavior and certificate status.
- Trace approved application flows, firewall rules and actual connection logs.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Inspect HSM controls, key ceremony logs, assigned roles and administrative sessions. The governing principle is: CA private keys require strong custody and accountable access due to their trust impact.
Incorrect Answers
A:Map shared-responsibility controls and review customer policies, logs and service settings. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A cloud provider's assurance report covers physical facilities but the customer's tenant encryption and IAM are untested. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect HSM controls, key ceremony logs, assigned roles and administrative sessions. The governing distinction is: CA private keys require strong custody and accountable access due to their trust impact.
C:Inspect trust-store settings, CRL/OCSP reachability, cache behavior and certificate status. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A revoked supplier certificate remains trusted by an application because revocation checks are disabled. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect HSM controls, key ceremony logs, assigned roles and administrative sessions. The governing distinction is: CA private keys require strong custody and accountable access due to their trust impact.
D:Trace approved application flows, firewall rules and actual connection logs. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A production network permits unrestricted traffic from user workstations to a sensitive payment database. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect HSM controls, key ceremony logs, assigned roles and administrative sessions. The governing distinction is: CA private keys require strong custody and accountable access due to their trust impact.