Isaca CISA Practice Test 32
Question 310
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: After a new billing platform launches, unresolved temporary broad administrator permissions are treated as permanent. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Compare approved business case, operational metrics, costs and observed user experience.
- Compare original baseline, requested variations, impact estimates and approval records.
- Review privileged access, temporary exceptions, deployment checklist and risk acceptance.
- Examine backlog prioritization, definition of done, security tests and sprint acceptance.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Review privileged access, temporary exceptions, deployment checklist and risk acceptance. The governing principle is: Post-implementation assurance should confirm transition controls and residual exposures are closed.
Incorrect Answers
A:Compare approved business case, operational metrics, costs and observed user experience. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A new HR system meets its technical go-live date but fails the promised reduction in onboarding time. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Review privileged access, temporary exceptions, deployment checklist and risk acceptance. The governing distinction is: Post-implementation assurance should confirm transition controls and residual exposures are closed.
B:Compare original baseline, requested variations, impact estimates and approval records. 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 audit step is: Review privileged access, temporary exceptions, deployment checklist and risk acceptance. The governing distinction is: Post-implementation assurance should confirm transition controls and residual exposures are closed.
D:Examine backlog prioritization, definition of done, security tests and sprint acceptance. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An agile team delivers features every sprint but security stories are never included in the product backlog. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Review privileged access, temporary exceptions, deployment checklist and risk acceptance. The governing distinction is: Post-implementation assurance should confirm transition controls and residual exposures are closed.
Question 311
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: An agile team delivers features every sprint but security stories are never included in the product backlog. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Recalculate lifetime costs, benefit timing, support effort and discount assumptions.
- Review key ownership, import support, encrypted data types and restoration requirements.
- Examine backlog prioritization, definition of done, security tests and sprint acceptance.
- Inspect pipeline roles, protected branches, approvals and immutable deployment logs.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Examine backlog prioritization, definition of done, security tests and sprint acceptance. The governing principle is: An iterative development method still requires risks and controls within its delivery process.
Incorrect Answers
A:Recalculate lifetime costs, benefit timing, support effort and discount assumptions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An automation business case counts staff savings but omits new licenses, monitoring and transition costs. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Examine backlog prioritization, definition of done, security tests and sprint acceptance. The governing distinction is: An iterative development method still requires risks and controls within its delivery process.
B:Review key ownership, import support, encrypted data types and restoration requirements. 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 audit step is: Examine backlog prioritization, definition of done, security tests and sprint acceptance. The governing distinction is: An iterative development method still requires risks and controls within its delivery process.
D:Inspect pipeline roles, protected branches, approvals and immutable deployment logs. 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 audit step is: Examine backlog prioritization, definition of done, security tests and sprint acceptance. The governing distinction is: An iterative development method still requires risks and controls within its delivery process.
Question 312
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: An enterprise calls backups successful because jobs complete, but no recent restoration test has been performed. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Severe incidents require priority-based classification and timely escalation paths.
- Backup resilience needs separation and protected immutable or offline recovery copies.
- Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery.
- Continuity communication should address external dependencies and affected stakeholders.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery. The corresponding audit procedure is: Inspect backup integrity, encryption keys, retention copies and last restore test.
Incorrect Answers
A:Severe incidents require priority-based classification and timely escalation paths. 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 principle is: Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery. The governing distinction is: Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery.
B:Backup resilience needs separation and protected immutable or offline recovery copies. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An attacker encrypts production files and online backups because both use the same compromised admin identity. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery. The governing distinction is: Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery.
D:Continuity communication should address external dependencies and affected stakeholders. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A regional outage exercise reveals that business partners were never included in the communications tree. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery. The governing distinction is: Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery.
Question 313
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: An enterprise calls backups successful because jobs complete, but no recent restoration test has been performed. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Map payment partners, identity, network, staff and data needed for the service.
- Inspect backup integrity, encryption keys, retention copies and last restore test.
- Inspect backup privilege boundaries, deletion rights and ransomware recovery design.
- Compare severity criteria, initial alerts, notification times and response records.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Inspect backup integrity, encryption keys, retention copies and last restore test. The governing principle is: Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery.
Incorrect Answers
A:Map payment partners, identity, network, staff and data needed for the service. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A business owner specifies a one-hour RTO but has never identified which external dependencies must also be restored. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect backup integrity, encryption keys, retention copies and last restore test. The governing distinction is: Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery.
C:Inspect backup privilege boundaries, deletion rights and ransomware recovery design. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An attacker encrypts production files and online backups because both use the same compromised admin identity. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect backup integrity, encryption keys, retention copies and last restore test. The governing distinction is: Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery.
D: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: Inspect backup integrity, encryption keys, retention copies and last restore test. The governing distinction is: Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery.
Question 314
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: An internal portal outage follows certificate expiration despite an automated renewal job that reported success. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend post-renewal service validation and alerting before expiry thresholds.
- Recommend appropriate revocation validation and monitored failure handling.
- Recommend developer-focused secure coding education with secret detection controls.
- Recommend an approved localization and compensating-control process with centralized oversight.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Recommend post-renewal service validation and alerting before expiry thresholds. The relevant control principle is: PKI monitoring should validate deployed certificates and trust paths, not just job status. A meaningful follow-up should establish: A controlled renewal leaves the active endpoint with a valid trusted certificate.
Incorrect Answers
B: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 post-renewal service validation and alerting before expiry thresholds. The governing distinction is: PKI monitoring should validate deployed certificates and trust paths, not just job status.
C:Recommend developer-focused secure coding education with secret detection controls. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Developers complete general security videos but continue committing cloud keys into source repositories. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend post-renewal service validation and alerting before expiry thresholds. The governing distinction is: PKI monitoring should validate deployed certificates and trust paths, not just job status.
D:Recommend an approved localization and compensating-control process with centralized oversight. 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 recommendation is: Recommend post-renewal service validation and alerting before expiry thresholds. The governing distinction is: PKI monitoring should validate deployed certificates and trust paths, not just job status.
Question 315
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A DLP tool blocks confidential document attachments but ignores similar files uploaded through approved web browsers. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend controlled validation and risk-ranked remediation rather than blind closure.
- Recommend least-privilege template controls and automated exposure monitoring.
- Recommend accurate content classification and accountable exception tuning.
- Recommend consistent risk-based DLP controls across authorized transfer channels.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Recommend consistent risk-based DLP controls across authorized transfer channels. The relevant control principle is: Exfiltration control assessment should cover relevant channels, not only email. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Controlled sensitive-data tests trigger correct actions over both mail and web channels.
Incorrect Answers
A:Recommend controlled validation and risk-ranked remediation rather than blind closure. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A vulnerability scanner reports a critical web flaw but the service is behind a compensating control and no validation occurs. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend consistent risk-based DLP controls across authorized transfer channels. The governing distinction is: Exfiltration control assessment should cover relevant channels, not only email.
B:Recommend least-privilege template controls and automated exposure monitoring. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A cloud storage bucket used for personnel data becomes publicly readable after a template change. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend consistent risk-based DLP controls across authorized transfer channels. The governing distinction is: Exfiltration control assessment should cover relevant channels, not only email.
C:Recommend accurate content classification and accountable exception tuning. 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 recommendation is: Recommend consistent risk-based DLP controls across authorized transfer channels. The governing distinction is: Exfiltration control assessment should cover relevant channels, not only email.
Question 316
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A continuity plan treats a rarely used test portal and a critical emergency dispatch system as equally urgent. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Unsanctioned services can bypass enterprise security, retention and legal controls.
- Business impact analysis should prioritize services using documented impact over time.
- Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery.
- RPO should be derived from business impact and transactional tolerance, not backup convenience.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Business impact analysis should prioritize services using documented impact over time. The corresponding audit procedure is: Interview process owners, quantify disruption impacts and map dependent systems.
Incorrect Answers
A:Unsanctioned services can bypass enterprise security, retention and legal controls. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A sales team stores client contracts in an unapproved personal file-sharing account for convenience. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Business impact analysis should prioritize services using documented impact over time. The governing distinction is: Business impact analysis should prioritize services using documented impact over time.
C:Backup completion does not prove data restorability or usable business recovery. 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 principle is: Business impact analysis should prioritize services using documented impact over time. The governing distinction is: Business impact analysis should prioritize services using documented impact over time.
D:RPO should be derived from business impact and transactional tolerance, not backup convenience. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A sales system's backup schedule is chosen before the business determines acceptable data loss. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Business impact analysis should prioritize services using documented impact over time. The governing distinction is: Business impact analysis should prioritize services using documented impact over time.
Question 317
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: Warehouse sensors retain factory passwords and are reachable from the corporate office LAN. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Inspect reviewer role, HR roster, role descriptions and sample revocation outcomes.
- Map significant threats, governing policy, external requirements and checklist control objectives.
- Review MDM coverage, token expiry, remote-wipe procedures and mailbox sessions.
- Inspect device inventory, default credentials, reachability and patch support.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Inspect device inventory, default credentials, reachability and patch support. The governing principle is: IoT assets require inventory, secure identity and segmentation proportionate to exposure.
Incorrect Answers
A:Inspect reviewer role, HR roster, role descriptions and sample revocation outcomes. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A quarterly access certification is completed by a system administrator who cannot identify the employees' current business responsibilities. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect device inventory, default credentials, reachability and patch support. The governing distinction is: IoT assets require inventory, secure identity and segmentation proportionate to exposure.
B:Map significant threats, governing policy, external requirements and checklist control objectives. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A technology subsidiary adopts a security checklist that cannot be traced to its enterprise risk appetite or legal obligations. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect device inventory, default credentials, reachability and patch support. The governing distinction is: IoT assets require inventory, secure identity and segmentation proportionate to exposure.
C:Review MDM coverage, token expiry, remote-wipe procedures and mailbox sessions. 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 audit step is: Inspect device inventory, default credentials, reachability and patch support. The governing distinction is: IoT assets require inventory, secure identity and segmentation proportionate to exposure.
Question 318
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: Different departments adopt incompatible master-data formats for the same customer identifier. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Compare transaction success, synthetic tests, infrastructure metrics and outage records.
- Inspect target architecture, proposed exception scope and affected trust boundaries.
- Trace data schemas, interface mappings, downstream consumers and quality defects.
- Review capacity utilization, workload isolation requirements and asset ownership.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Trace data schemas, interface mappings, downstream consumers and quality defects. The governing principle is: Enterprise architecture must account for interoperability, information definitions and data flow consistency.
Incorrect Answers
A:Compare transaction success, synthetic tests, infrastructure metrics and outage records. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: The IT dashboard shows 100 percent server uptime while customers report failed checkout transactions. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Trace data schemas, interface mappings, downstream consumers and quality defects. The governing distinction is: Enterprise architecture must account for interoperability, information definitions and data flow consistency.
B:Inspect target architecture, proposed exception scope and affected trust boundaries. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A cloud architecture exception bypasses the organization's target zero-trust network segmentation without review. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Trace data schemas, interface mappings, downstream consumers and quality defects. The governing distinction is: Enterprise architecture must account for interoperability, information definitions and data flow consistency.
D:Review capacity utilization, workload isolation requirements and asset ownership. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An infrastructure team buys additional servers while idle compatible capacity remains unallocated in another business unit. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Trace data schemas, interface mappings, downstream consumers and quality defects. The governing distinction is: Enterprise architecture must account for interoperability, information definitions and data flow consistency.
Question 319
Management reports that this issue has been corrected: A new HR system meets its technical go-live date but fails the promised reduction in onboarding time. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?
- Follow-up metrics demonstrate whether the approved onboarding outcome is achieved.
- Peak-load tests meet approved service thresholds with sufficient operating headroom.
- Production access samples match steady-state roles and exception closure is evidenced.
- Sample and aggregate source-to-target totals agree or documented exceptions are resolved.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Follow-up metrics demonstrate whether the approved onboarding outcome is achieved. It addresses post-implementation review. Underlying audit concern: Post-implementation review should assess realized business outcomes as well as delivery.
Incorrect Answers
B:Peak-load tests meet approved service thresholds with sufficient operating headroom. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A cloud platform is declared ready despite failed high-load tests and no capacity remediation plan. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Follow-up metrics demonstrate whether the approved onboarding outcome is achieved. The governing distinction is: Post-implementation review should assess realized business outcomes as well as delivery.
C: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: Follow-up metrics demonstrate whether the approved onboarding outcome is achieved. The governing distinction is: Post-implementation review should assess realized business outcomes as well as delivery.
D:Sample and aggregate source-to-target totals agree or documented exceptions are resolved. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A data migration design encrypts transfers but does not detect missing or duplicated customer records. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Follow-up metrics demonstrate whether the approved onboarding outcome is achieved. The governing distinction is: Post-implementation review should assess realized business outcomes as well as delivery.
Question 320
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: An IT strategy document lists new tools but has no targets for customer availability or service costs. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend objective-linked strategic goals, budgets and measurable service outcomes.
- Recommend assigned regulatory monitoring and change approval for affected compliance procedures.
- Recommend balanced KPI and KRI reporting with explicit unresolved risk.
- Clarify accountable architecture decision rights and a formal escalation path.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Recommend objective-linked strategic goals, budgets and measurable service outcomes. The relevant control principle is: Technology strategy should translate enterprise value objectives into measurable performance outcomes. A meaningful follow-up should establish: IT performance reports demonstrate progress toward business-approved goals.
Incorrect Answers
B: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 objective-linked strategic goals, budgets and measurable service outcomes. The governing distinction is: Technology strategy should translate enterprise value objectives into measurable performance outcomes.
C:Recommend balanced KPI and KRI reporting with explicit unresolved risk. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A change program reports all projects green by budget but ignores delayed security deliverables. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend objective-linked strategic goals, budgets and measurable service outcomes. The governing distinction is: Technology strategy should translate enterprise value objectives into measurable performance outcomes.
D:Clarify accountable architecture decision rights and a formal escalation path. 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 recommendation is: Recommend objective-linked strategic goals, budgets and measurable service outcomes. The governing distinction is: Technology strategy should translate enterprise value objectives into measurable performance outcomes.