Isaca CISA Practice Test 19
Question 180
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: An internal support agreement omits escalation responsibilities for incidents spanning two suppliers. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend periodic configuration item reconciliation and owner attestation.
- Recommend an integrated support model with named owners and escalation milestones.
- Recommend sustained remediation, contingency planning and governance escalation.
- Recommend failure-aware scheduling, controlled restart and exception escalation.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Recommend an integrated support model with named owners and escalation milestones. The relevant control principle is: Service-level oversight requires end-to-end responsibility and dispute or escalation paths. A meaningful follow-up should establish: A cross-vendor incident reaches an accountable resolver and meets agreed response rules.
Incorrect Answers
A:Recommend periodic configuration item reconciliation and owner attestation. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A configuration database lists a retired server as the active owner of a production application. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend an integrated support model with named owners and escalation milestones. The governing distinction is: Service-level oversight requires end-to-end responsibility and dispute or escalation paths.
C:Recommend sustained remediation, contingency planning and governance escalation. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A data processing vendor consistently misses recovery times but management pays service credits without correcting the cause. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend an integrated support model with named owners and escalation milestones. The governing distinction is: Service-level oversight requires end-to-end responsibility and dispute or escalation paths.
D:Recommend failure-aware scheduling, controlled restart and exception escalation. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A nightly settlement batch fails halfway but the scheduler marks the entire chain successful. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend an integrated support model with named owners and escalation milestones. The governing distinction is: Service-level oversight requires end-to-end responsibility and dispute or escalation paths.
Question 181
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A program steering committee receives status reports from one vendor but has no visibility into independent testing delays. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Project change governance should assess baseline implications before approving scope changes.
- Post-implementation assurance should confirm transition controls and residual exposures are closed.
- Effective oversight requires consolidated delivery reporting and objective milestone evidence.
- Application control design must validate untrusted inputs against authorized business rules.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Effective oversight requires consolidated delivery reporting and objective milestone evidence. The corresponding audit procedure is: Review test completion, integration dependencies, issue severity and reporting practices.
Incorrect Answers
A:Project change governance should assess baseline implications before approving scope changes. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A new enterprise resource planning program frequently expands requirements without cost, risk or schedule review. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Effective oversight requires consolidated delivery reporting and objective milestone evidence. The governing distinction is: Effective oversight requires consolidated delivery reporting and objective milestone evidence.
B:Post-implementation assurance should confirm transition controls and residual exposures are closed. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: After a new billing platform launches, unresolved temporary broad administrator permissions are treated as permanent. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Effective oversight requires consolidated delivery reporting and objective milestone evidence. The governing distinction is: Effective oversight requires consolidated delivery reporting and objective milestone evidence.
D:Application control design must validate untrusted inputs against authorized business rules. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A payment API relies on user-supplied transaction values without server-side validation. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Effective oversight requires consolidated delivery reporting and objective milestone evidence. The governing distinction is: Effective oversight requires consolidated delivery reporting and objective milestone evidence.
Question 182
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: A helpdesk repeatedly reopens application errors but closes each ticket without investigating a shared underlying defect. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Interview process owners, quantify disruption impacts and map dependent systems.
- Compare severity criteria, initial alerts, notification times and response records.
- Inspect intertier dependencies, RTO/RPO, test scripts and business sign-off criteria.
- Group incident trends, known error records and evidence of shared failure conditions.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Group incident trends, known error records and evidence of shared failure conditions. The governing principle is: Problem management seeks root causes and prevention of recurring incidents.
Incorrect Answers
A:Interview process owners, quantify disruption impacts and map dependent systems. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A continuity plan treats a rarely used test portal and a critical emergency dispatch system as equally urgent. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Group incident trends, known error records and evidence of shared failure conditions. The governing distinction is: Problem management seeks root causes and prevention of recurring incidents.
B:Compare severity criteria, initial alerts, notification times and response records. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A major cyber outage is escalated only after normal helpdesk response times expire. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Group incident trends, known error records and evidence of shared failure conditions. The governing distinction is: Problem management seeks root causes and prevention of recurring incidents.
C:Inspect intertier dependencies, RTO/RPO, test scripts and business sign-off criteria. 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 audit step is: Group incident trends, known error records and evidence of shared failure conditions. The governing distinction is: Problem management seeks root causes and prevention of recurring incidents.
Question 183
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: A data processing vendor consistently misses recovery times but management pays service credits without correcting the cause. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Compare severity criteria, initial alerts, notification times and response records.
- Review service boundaries, dependency maps and sample unresolved multivendor incidents.
- Inspect backup integrity, encryption keys, retention copies and last restore test.
- Analyze repeated breaches, business impact, root causes and contractual remedies.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Analyze repeated breaches, business impact, root causes and contractual remedies. The governing principle is: Service credits alone may not address underlying operational and continuity risk.
Incorrect Answers
A:Compare severity criteria, initial alerts, notification times and response records. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A major cyber outage is escalated only after normal helpdesk response times expire. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Analyze repeated breaches, business impact, root causes and contractual remedies. The governing distinction is: Service credits alone may not address underlying operational and continuity risk.
B:Review service boundaries, dependency maps and sample unresolved multivendor incidents. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An internal support agreement omits escalation responsibilities for incidents spanning two suppliers. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Analyze repeated breaches, business impact, root causes and contractual remedies. The governing distinction is: Service credits alone may not address underlying operational and continuity risk.
C:Inspect backup integrity, encryption keys, retention copies and last restore test. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An enterprise calls backups successful because jobs complete, but no recent restoration test has been performed. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Analyze repeated breaches, business impact, root causes and contractual remedies. The governing distinction is: Service credits alone may not address underlying operational and continuity risk.
Question 184
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: An auditee disputes an audit exception by supplying a later control fix, then asks to erase the historical finding. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Confirm disclosure scope, evidence credibility and notification obligations with relevant owners.
- Sample alert queues, closure timestamps, escalation rules and staff assignments.
- Separate audit-period evidence, remediation date and independent retest results.
- Inspect review notes, exception disposition, supervisor sign-offs and unresolved procedures.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Separate audit-period evidence, remediation date and independent retest results. The governing principle is: Remediation after the audit period does not retroactively prove the control operated during that period.
Incorrect Answers
A:Confirm disclosure scope, evidence credibility and notification obligations with relevant owners. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An auditor discovers an urgent uncontained data disclosure but plans to mention it only in the quarterly report. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Separate audit-period evidence, remediation date and independent retest results. The governing distinction is: Remediation after the audit period does not retroactively prove the control operated during that period.
B:Sample alert queues, closure timestamps, escalation rules and staff assignments. 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 audit step is: Separate audit-period evidence, remediation date and independent retest results. The governing distinction is: Remediation after the audit period does not retroactively prove the control operated during that period.
D:Inspect review notes, exception disposition, supervisor sign-offs and unresolved procedures. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An audit manager signs the report although a junior tester's exceptions have not received independent review. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Separate audit-period evidence, remediation date and independent retest results. The governing distinction is: Remediation after the audit period does not retroactively prove the control operated during that period.
Question 185
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: An endpoint dashboard displays every system as healthy even though remote devices have stopped forwarding telemetry. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Inspect device inventory, default credentials, reachability and patch support.
- Inspect feed timestamps, matched events, expiration rules and legitimate-traffic impact.
- Reconcile endpoint inventory, last-seen data, collection errors and alerting thresholds.
- Define incident window, available provider logs, retention limits and relevant account events.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Reconcile endpoint inventory, last-seen data, collection errors and alerting thresholds. The governing principle is: Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation.
Incorrect Answers
A:Inspect device inventory, default credentials, reachability and patch support. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Warehouse sensors retain factory passwords and are reachable from the corporate office LAN. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Reconcile endpoint inventory, last-seen data, collection errors and alerting thresholds. The governing distinction is: Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation.
B:Inspect feed timestamps, matched events, expiration rules and legitimate-traffic impact. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A threat-intelligence feed generates blocks for obsolete indicators without regular relevance review. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Reconcile endpoint inventory, last-seen data, collection errors and alerting thresholds. The governing distinction is: Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation.
D:Define incident window, available provider logs, retention limits and relevant account events. 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 audit step is: Reconcile endpoint inventory, last-seen data, collection errors and alerting thresholds. The governing distinction is: Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation.
Question 186
Management reports that this issue has been corrected: A payroll release passes developer unit tests but has never completed end-to-end statutory deduction testing. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?
- Each order appears once in the target system with reconciled business totals.
- The project closure record includes validated benefits, outstanding risks and lessons implemented.
- Representative payroll runs calculate and post deductions correctly before deployment.
- Restoration testing meets agreed data-loss and service-recovery objectives.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Representative payroll runs calculate and post deductions correctly before deployment. It addresses system readiness and implementation testing. Underlying audit concern: Production readiness needs business acceptance and control testing beyond unit coverage.
Incorrect Answers
A:Each order appears once in the target system with reconciled business totals. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An ERP cutover leaves the old interface running and duplicates orders in both systems. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Representative payroll runs calculate and post deductions correctly before deployment. The governing distinction is: Production readiness needs business acceptance and control testing beyond unit coverage.
B:The project closure record includes validated benefits, outstanding risks and lessons implemented. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A completed software project is archived without documenting incidents and change causes from the first operating month. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Representative payroll runs calculate and post deductions correctly before deployment. The governing distinction is: Production readiness needs business acceptance and control testing beyond unit coverage.
D:Restoration testing meets agreed data-loss and service-recovery objectives. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A new inventory system's disaster-recovery test is deferred because normal transaction testing passes. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Representative payroll runs calculate and post deductions correctly before deployment. The governing distinction is: Production readiness needs business acceptance and control testing beyond unit coverage.
Question 187
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A chief technology officer both accepts enterprise cyber risk and certifies the independence of the risk oversight function. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Data governance requires clear ownership, quality rules and authorized source definitions.
- Ambiguous governance rights can produce inconsistent and unowned technology decisions.
- Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles.
- Oversight needs verified performance evidence and appropriate challenge of provider claims.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles. The corresponding audit procedure is: Review risk committee charters, decision rights and reporting relationships.
Incorrect Answers
A:Data governance requires clear ownership, quality rules and authorized source definitions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Multiple business units publish different values for the same customer account status without a nominated data steward. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles. The governing distinction is: Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles.
B:Ambiguous governance rights can produce inconsistent and unowned technology decisions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Two subsidiaries have overlapping IT decision boards with conflicting authority to approve enterprise architecture exceptions. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles. The governing distinction is: Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles.
D:Oversight needs verified performance evidence and appropriate challenge of provider claims. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Management accepts monthly vendor summaries without independently checking service-level breaches. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles. The governing distinction is: Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles.
Question 188
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: An auditor samples only Monday transactions to conclude that weekend payments were controlled effectively. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Recalculate the deviation rate, sample size, population and observed exceptions.
- Compare transaction value, exposure, change velocity, recent incidents and prior assurance coverage.
- Reconcile the full transaction population by day, channel and risk characteristics.
- Inspect project participation records, audit assignments and independence declarations before fieldwork.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Reconcile the full transaction population by day, channel and risk characteristics. The governing principle is: A nonrepresentative selection can lead to unsupported conclusions about the entire population.
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 the full transaction population by day, channel and risk characteristics. The governing distinction is: A nonrepresentative selection can lead to unsupported conclusions about the entire population.
B:Compare transaction value, exposure, change velocity, recent incidents and prior assurance coverage. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: The annual audit plan gives equal effort to a low-risk intranet and a newly acquired payment processing platform. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Reconcile the full transaction population by day, channel and risk characteristics. The governing distinction is: A nonrepresentative selection can lead to unsupported conclusions about the entire population.
D:Inspect project participation records, audit assignments and independence declarations before fieldwork. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An internal auditor helped configure the privileged-access system now scheduled for an assurance review. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Reconcile the full transaction population by day, channel and risk characteristics. The governing distinction is: A nonrepresentative selection can lead to unsupported conclusions about the entire population.
Question 189
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: A firewall has a broad any-to-any allow rule placed ahead of new restrictions for a regulated application. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Trace approved application flows, firewall rules and actual connection logs.
- Review regulatory differences, baseline requirements, risk assessments and exception approvals.
- Inspect device inventory, default credentials, reachability and patch support.
- Inspect actual rule-hit logs, order, matching conditions and business justifications.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Inspect actual rule-hit logs, order, matching conditions and business justifications. The governing principle is: Policy order and scope determine the effective network control, not the existence of later rules.
Incorrect Answers
A: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 actual rule-hit logs, order, matching conditions and business justifications. The governing distinction is: Policy order and scope determine the effective network control, not the existence of later rules.
B:Review regulatory differences, baseline requirements, risk assessments and exception approvals. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A regional business copies a global security baseline but has no documented exceptions for local privacy restrictions. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect actual rule-hit logs, order, matching conditions and business justifications. The governing distinction is: Policy order and scope determine the effective network control, not the existence of later rules.
C:Inspect device inventory, default credentials, reachability and patch support. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Warehouse sensors retain factory passwords and are reachable from the corporate office LAN. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect actual rule-hit logs, order, matching conditions and business justifications. The governing distinction is: Policy order and scope determine the effective network control, not the existence of later rules.
Question 190
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: An endpoint dashboard displays every system as healthy even though remote devices have stopped forwarding telemetry. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Physical access controls must cover alternate entry points and generate reliable access evidence.
- Mobile management should enforce enrollment, encryption and revocation when devices are lost.
- Security monitoring should correlate relevant signals into actionable risk scenarios.
- Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation. The corresponding audit procedure is: Reconcile endpoint inventory, last-seen data, collection errors and alerting thresholds.
Incorrect Answers
A:Physical access controls must cover alternate entry points and generate reliable access evidence. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A server room uses badge access but an unattended emergency door allows unrecorded entry. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation. The governing distinction is: Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation.
B:Mobile management should enforce enrollment, encryption and revocation when devices are lost. 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 principle is: Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation. The governing distinction is: Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation.
C:Security monitoring should correlate relevant signals into actionable risk scenarios. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A SOC receives repeated login alerts but does not correlate them with high-value account privilege changes. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation. The governing distinction is: Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation.