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Isaca CISA Practice Test 2

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?

  1. Map shared-responsibility controls and review customer policies, logs and service settings.
  2. Inspect HSM controls, key ceremony logs, assigned roles and administrative sessions.
  3. Inspect trust-store settings, CRL/OCSP reachability, cache behavior and certificate status.
  4. 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.

Question 11

Management reports that this issue has been corrected: A fire-suppression system passes annual inspections but a rack's temperature sensors have never alarmed under test. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?

  1. An unauthorized password-only login to privileged remote access is rejected.
  2. A tabletop triggers authorized decisions and compliant notices within required timeframes.
  3. A controlled upstream power loss leaves essential services within continuity targets.
  4. Controlled threshold simulations generate timely alerts and documented response.

Explanation

Correct Answer

D:

Controlled threshold simulations generate timely alerts and documented response. It addresses physical and environmental controls. Underlying audit concern: Environmental protection requires functioning detection, alerting and appropriate response.

Incorrect Answers

A:

An unauthorized password-only login to privileged remote access is rejected. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A remote-access gateway accepts a password alone for high-impact production administrators. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Controlled threshold simulations generate timely alerts and documented response. The governing distinction is: Environmental protection requires functioning detection, alerting and appropriate response.

B:

A tabletop triggers authorized decisions and compliant notices within required timeframes. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An organization discovers a reportable personal-data breach but no one knows who can authorize external notification. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Controlled threshold simulations generate timely alerts and documented response. The governing distinction is: Environmental protection requires functioning detection, alerting and appropriate response.

C:

A controlled upstream power loss leaves essential services within continuity targets. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A data center's redundant power feeds terminate at the same upstream distribution panel. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Controlled threshold simulations generate timely alerts and documented response. The governing distinction is: Environmental protection requires functioning detection, alerting and appropriate response.

Question 12

An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A redundant web cluster shares one DNS resolver and becomes inaccessible when that resolver fails. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?

  1. Availability analysis must include upstream shared dependencies, not just redundant hosts.
  2. Service credits alone may not address underlying operational and continuity risk.
  3. Capacity planning must account for peak demand, growth and degraded operation.
  4. Database least privilege should restrict access by actual application function.

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Availability analysis must include upstream shared dependencies, not just redundant hosts. The corresponding audit procedure is: Map DNS architecture, cache behavior, alternate paths and outage records.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Service credits alone may not address underlying operational and continuity risk. 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 principle is: Availability analysis must include upstream shared dependencies, not just redundant hosts. The governing distinction is: Availability analysis must include upstream shared dependencies, not just redundant hosts.

C:

Capacity planning must account for peak demand, growth and degraded operation. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A transaction platform runs at high average CPU and has no measured headroom for seasonal spikes. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Availability analysis must include upstream shared dependencies, not just redundant hosts. The governing distinction is: Availability analysis must include upstream shared dependencies, not just redundant hosts.

D:

Database least privilege should restrict access by actual application function. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A production database account has unrestricted privileges for a read-only reporting integration. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Availability analysis must include upstream shared dependencies, not just redundant hosts. The governing distinction is: Availability analysis must include upstream shared dependencies, not just redundant hosts.

Question 13

Management reports that this issue has been corrected: A program steering committee receives status reports from one vendor but has no visibility into independent testing delays. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?

  1. Production access samples match steady-state roles and exception closure is evidenced.
  2. Launch authorization shows accountable acceptance of all material residual issues.
  3. A migrated encrypted sample is accessible to authorized users and remains protected.
  4. The steering committee sees verified readiness, risk and dependency status before decisions.

Explanation

Correct Answer

D:

The steering committee sees verified readiness, risk and dependency status before decisions. It addresses project governance and management. Underlying audit concern: Effective oversight requires consolidated delivery reporting and objective milestone evidence.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Production access samples match steady-state roles and exception closure is evidenced. 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 verification is: The steering committee sees verified readiness, risk and dependency status before decisions. The governing distinction is: Effective oversight requires consolidated delivery reporting and objective milestone evidence.

B:

Launch authorization shows accountable acceptance of all material residual issues. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A mobile-banking project reaches launch without an accountable sponsor for unresolved regulatory requirements. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: The steering committee sees verified readiness, risk and dependency status before decisions. The governing distinction is: Effective oversight requires consolidated delivery reporting and objective milestone evidence.

C:

A migrated encrypted sample is accessible to authorized users and remains protected. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A cloud move assumes existing encryption keys will work in the target without import or custody testing. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: The steering committee sees verified readiness, risk and dependency status before decisions. The governing distinction is: Effective oversight requires consolidated delivery reporting and objective milestone evidence.

Question 14

An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A financial application retains operational logs for only a week although investigation rules require six months. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?

  1. Recommend restricted log changes and independent alerts on collection interruption.
  2. Recommend protected retention and tested retrieval matching the authorized period.
  3. Recommend application-consistent backup and recovery sequencing for the database.
  4. Recommend an EUC registry, approved connectors and security review before production use.

Explanation

Correct Answer

B:

Recommend protected retention and tested retrieval matching the authorized period. The relevant control principle is: Log retention should align with business, legal, incident and privacy requirements. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Required historical events can be retrieved with intact timestamps and provenance.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Recommend restricted log changes and independent alerts on collection interruption. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Security logs are forwarded to a central platform but administrators can disable forwarding without generating an alert. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend protected retention and tested retrieval matching the authorized period. The governing distinction is: Log retention should align with business, legal, incident and privacy requirements.

C:

Recommend application-consistent backup and recovery sequencing for the database. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A company copies database files nightly while transactions remain active, producing inconsistent backups. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend protected retention and tested retrieval matching the authorized period. The governing distinction is: Log retention should align with business, legal, incident and privacy requirements.

D:

Recommend an EUC registry, approved connectors and security review before production use. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A department builds a low-code workflow that sends customer data to an unknown external connector. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend protected retention and tested retrieval matching the authorized period. The governing distinction is: Log retention should align with business, legal, incident and privacy requirements.

Question 15

An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: An automation business case counts staff savings but omits new licenses, monitoring and transition costs. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?

  1. Recommend a full business case including operational costs and sensitivity analysis.
  2. Recommend risk-based release gates and accountable authorization in the pipeline.
  3. Recommend a representative integration proof of concept before final procurement approval.
  4. Recommend controlled key migration testing and secure escrow or recovery planning.

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Recommend a full business case including operational costs and sensitivity analysis. The relevant control principle is: Investment feasibility should evaluate total costs, benefits, risks and measurable assumptions. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Post-approval benefits can be compared with documented realistic financial assumptions.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Recommend risk-based release gates and accountable authorization in the pipeline. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A DevOps team deploys from automated pipelines with no independent approval for sensitive production promotions. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend a full business case including operational costs and sensitivity analysis. The governing distinction is: Investment feasibility should evaluate total costs, benefits, risks and measurable assumptions.

C:

Recommend a representative integration proof of concept before final procurement approval. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A vendor's product demonstration uses sanitized sample data while the production workload needs complex legacy mappings. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend a full business case including operational costs and sensitivity analysis. The governing distinction is: Investment feasibility should evaluate total costs, benefits, risks and measurable assumptions.

D:

Recommend controlled key migration testing and secure escrow or recovery planning. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A cloud move assumes existing encryption keys will work in the target without import or custody testing. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend a full business case including operational costs and sensitivity analysis. The governing distinction is: Investment feasibility should evaluate total costs, benefits, risks and measurable assumptions.

Question 16

Management reports that this issue has been corrected: Security logs are forwarded to a central platform but administrators can disable forwarding without generating an alert. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?

  1. Restoration passes transactional integrity and reconciliation tests.
  2. Controlled cross-system events correlate in a coherent chronology without modifying originals.
  3. A qualified alternate restores service without bypassing authorization or audit trails.
  4. A controlled forwarding outage triggers timely alerting with identifiable ownership.

Explanation

Correct Answer

D:

A controlled forwarding outage triggers timely alerting with identifiable ownership. It addresses operational log management. Underlying audit concern: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Restoration passes transactional integrity and reconciliation tests. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A company copies database files nightly while transactions remain active, producing inconsistent backups. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: A controlled forwarding outage triggers timely alerting with identifiable ownership. The governing distinction is: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps.

B:

Controlled cross-system events correlate in a coherent chronology without modifying originals. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Multiple servers use unsynchronized clocks so a transaction appears to complete before it begins. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: A controlled forwarding outage triggers timely alerting with identifiable ownership. The governing distinction is: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps.

C:

A qualified alternate restores service without bypassing authorization or audit trails. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A highly available application uses only one privileged administrator who is unavailable during a holiday. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: A controlled forwarding outage triggers timely alerting with identifiable ownership. The governing distinction is: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps.

Question 17

An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A continuity plan lists the chief executive as the only emergency decision authority with no alternate. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?

  1. Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.
  2. Data protection must account for application consistency and in-flight transactions.
  3. Continuity plans must integrate people, facilities, technology and business processes.
  4. BCP governance requires delegation and clear command arrangements under disruption.

Explanation

Correct Answer

D:

BCP governance requires delegation and clear command arrangements under disruption. The corresponding audit procedure is: Examine invocation criteria, contact trees, authority matrix and availability assumptions.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A spreadsheet with editable formulas calculates regulatory capital but has no validation or change history. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: BCP governance requires delegation and clear command arrangements under disruption. The governing distinction is: BCP governance requires delegation and clear command arrangements under disruption.

B:

Data protection must account for application consistency and in-flight transactions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A company copies database files nightly while transactions remain active, producing inconsistent backups. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: BCP governance requires delegation and clear command arrangements under disruption. The governing distinction is: BCP governance requires delegation and clear command arrangements under disruption.

C:

Continuity plans must integrate people, facilities, technology and business processes. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A call center continuity binder lists alternate desks but employees cannot access the customer service application from that location. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: BCP governance requires delegation and clear command arrangements under disruption. The governing distinction is: BCP governance requires delegation and clear command arrangements under disruption.

Question 18

An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A certificate authority's signing key is available to several administrators without dual control. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?

  1. Recommend restricted protected signing operations and independent key management oversight.
  2. Recommend governed indicator lifecycle and context-based tuning.
  3. Recommend protected original preservation and analysis on validated working copies.
  4. Recommend appropriate revocation validation and monitored failure handling.

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Recommend restricted protected signing operations and independent key management oversight. The relevant control principle is: CA private keys require strong custody and accountable access due to their trust impact. A meaningful follow-up should establish: An unauthorized administrator cannot export or use the CA signing key.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Recommend governed indicator lifecycle and context-based tuning. 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 recommendation is: Recommend restricted protected signing operations and independent key management oversight. The governing distinction is: CA private keys require strong custody and accountable access due to their trust impact.

C:

Recommend protected original preservation and analysis on validated working copies. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Security staff begin forensic analysis directly on a live original log file and overwrite timestamps. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend restricted protected signing operations and independent key management oversight. The governing distinction is: CA private keys require strong custody and accountable access due to their trust impact.

D:

Recommend appropriate revocation validation and monitored failure handling. 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 recommendation is: Recommend restricted protected signing operations and independent key management oversight. The governing distinction is: CA private keys require strong custody and accountable access due to their trust impact.

Question 19

An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A marketing platform collects customer location data without a documented lawful purpose or retention period. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?

  1. Recommend risk-weighted supplier evaluation with documented approval of material exceptions.
  2. Recommend restricted or masked disclosure and revised processor access conditions.
  3. Recommend assigned regulatory monitoring and change approval for affected compliance procedures.
  4. Recommend privacy assessment and purpose-bound collection with proportionate retention controls.

Explanation

Correct Answer

D:

Recommend privacy assessment and purpose-bound collection with proportionate retention controls. The relevant control principle is: Privacy governance should enforce purpose limitation, data minimization and accountable use. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Records demonstrate approved legal basis, limited fields and enforced deletion schedules.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Recommend risk-weighted supplier evaluation with documented approval of material exceptions. 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 recommendation is: Recommend privacy assessment and purpose-bound collection with proportionate retention controls. The governing distinction is: Privacy governance should enforce purpose limitation, data minimization and accountable use.

B:

Recommend restricted or masked disclosure and revised processor access conditions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A service provider requests full identity documents when a masked identifier would satisfy a support task. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend privacy assessment and purpose-bound collection with proportionate retention controls. The governing distinction is: Privacy governance should enforce purpose limitation, data minimization and accountable use.

C:

Recommend assigned regulatory monitoring and change approval for affected compliance procedures. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A bank's compliance register still lists a superseded regulatory reporting deadline after a rule change. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend privacy assessment and purpose-bound collection with proportionate retention controls. The governing distinction is: Privacy governance should enforce purpose limitation, data minimization and accountable use.

Question 20

An IS auditor evaluates this situation: Security logs are forwarded to a central platform but administrators can disable forwarding without generating an alert. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?

  1. Job automation changes should be authorized, versioned and attributable.
  2. Log retention should align with business, legal, incident and privacy requirements.
  3. Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps.
  4. Asset lifecycle management must control custody and data disposition at retirement.

Explanation

Correct Answer

C:

Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps. The corresponding audit procedure is: Check logging privileges, forwarding configuration, heartbeat and gap detection.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Job automation changes should be authorized, versioned and attributable. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An operator can edit scheduled payroll scripts directly in production without independent approval. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps. The governing distinction is: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps.

B:

Log retention should align with business, legal, incident and privacy requirements. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A financial application retains operational logs for only a week although investigation rules require six months. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps. The governing distinction is: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps.

D:

Asset lifecycle management must control custody and data disposition at retirement. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A retail chain replaces laptops but leaves decommissioned drives untracked with a disposal contractor. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps. The governing distinction is: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps.

Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) Practice Tests