Isaca CISA Practice Test 37
Question 360
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A shared IT helpdesk closes incidents quickly by marking unresolved requests as user error. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend a jurisdiction-specific obligation register and tested control mapping for the service.
- Recommend causal improvement actions and independent validation of high-risk releases.
- Recommend contractual service, notification, assurance and exit requirements before acceptance.
- Recommend closure quality controls and independent customer outcome metrics.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Recommend closure quality controls and independent customer outcome metrics. The relevant control principle is: Quality measures can be gamed if closure accuracy and user outcomes are not assessed. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Reopened incident and false-closure rates are tracked and reduced.
Incorrect Answers
A:Recommend a jurisdiction-specific obligation register and tested control mapping for the service. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A multinational cloud project assumes a control compliant in one country automatically satisfies every jurisdiction in which data is processed. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend closure quality controls and independent customer outcome metrics. The governing distinction is: Quality measures can be gamed if closure accuracy and user outcomes are not assessed.
B:Recommend causal improvement actions and independent validation of high-risk releases. 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 recommendation is: Recommend closure quality controls and independent customer outcome metrics. The governing distinction is: Quality measures can be gamed if closure accuracy and user outcomes are not assessed.
C:Recommend contractual service, notification, assurance and exit requirements before acceptance. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A SaaS provider promises 99.9% uptime in a brochure but the signed agreement contains no measurable recovery commitment. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend closure quality controls and independent customer outcome metrics. The governing distinction is: Quality measures can be gamed if closure accuracy and user outcomes are not assessed.
Question 361
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A new enterprise resource planning program frequently expands requirements without cost, risk or schedule review. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend integrated change control with documented scope and acceptance decisions.
- Recommend a cross-party program dashboard with escalated critical-path delays.
- Recommend business-led end-to-end acceptance and mandatory issue closure or risk approval.
- Recommend risk-based release gates and accountable authorization in the pipeline.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Recommend integrated change control with documented scope and acceptance decisions. The relevant control principle is: Project change governance should assess baseline implications before approving scope changes. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Approved changes reconcile to updated delivery plans and traceable decisions.
Incorrect Answers
B:Recommend a cross-party program dashboard with escalated critical-path delays. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A program steering committee receives status reports from one vendor but has no visibility into independent testing delays. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend integrated change control with documented scope and acceptance decisions. The governing distinction is: Project change governance should assess baseline implications before approving scope changes.
C:Recommend business-led end-to-end acceptance and mandatory issue closure or risk approval. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A payroll release passes developer unit tests but has never completed end-to-end statutory deduction testing. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend integrated change control with documented scope and acceptance decisions. The governing distinction is: Project change governance should assess baseline implications before approving scope changes.
D: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 integrated change control with documented scope and acceptance decisions. The governing distinction is: Project change governance should assess baseline implications before approving scope changes.
Question 362
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: A network router is upgraded without identifying the legacy protocol needed by an older warehouse controller. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Compare discovery scans, inventory records, host ownership and vendor support status.
- Map live transactions through compute, middleware, database, network and shared dependencies.
- Reconcile asset tags, chain-of-custody receipts, data classification and destruction records.
- Inspect route tables, protocol dependencies, vendor support and test evidence.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Inspect route tables, protocol dependencies, vendor support and test evidence. The governing principle is: Infrastructure component changes require compatibility and interface impact assessment.
Incorrect Answers
A:Compare discovery scans, inventory records, host ownership and vendor support status. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An IT inventory lists hundreds of production servers without owners or support end dates. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect route tables, protocol dependencies, vendor support and test evidence. The governing distinction is: Infrastructure component changes require compatibility and interface impact assessment.
B:Map live transactions through compute, middleware, database, network and shared dependencies. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A payment service uses a load balancer, two application servers and one database but its diagram lists only the web servers as critical. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect route tables, protocol dependencies, vendor support and test evidence. The governing distinction is: Infrastructure component changes require compatibility and interface impact assessment.
C:Reconcile asset tags, chain-of-custody receipts, data classification and destruction records. 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 audit step is: Inspect route tables, protocol dependencies, vendor support and test evidence. The governing distinction is: Infrastructure component changes require compatibility and interface impact assessment.
Question 363
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A mobile-banking project reaches launch without an accountable sponsor for unresolved regulatory requirements. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend sponsor ownership and documented decision gates for regulatory and security issues.
- Recommend controlled cutover sequencing, idempotency and monitoring for duplicate events.
- Recommend risk-based release gates and accountable authorization in the pipeline.
- Recommend a cross-party program dashboard with escalated critical-path delays.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Recommend sponsor ownership and documented decision gates for regulatory and security issues. The relevant control principle is: Project governance requires clear business ownership and formal acceptance of material risk. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Launch authorization shows accountable acceptance of all material residual issues.
Incorrect Answers
B:Recommend controlled cutover sequencing, idempotency and monitoring for duplicate events. 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 recommendation is: Recommend sponsor ownership and documented decision gates for regulatory and security issues. The governing distinction is: Project governance requires clear business ownership and formal acceptance of material risk.
C: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 sponsor ownership and documented decision gates for regulatory and security issues. The governing distinction is: Project governance requires clear business ownership and formal acceptance of material risk.
D:Recommend a cross-party program dashboard with escalated critical-path delays. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A program steering committee receives status reports from one vendor but has no visibility into independent testing delays. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend sponsor ownership and documented decision gates for regulatory and security issues. The governing distinction is: Project governance requires clear business ownership and formal acceptance of material risk.
Question 364
Management reports that this issue has been corrected: An IT inventory lists hundreds of production servers without owners or support end dates. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?
- A site-loss simulation processes representative payments through the recovery location.
- Each retired device reconciles to approved erasure or destruction evidence and authorized release.
- Unowned and unsupported assets are identified and assigned timely disposition.
- Full valid descriptions survive transfer and oversized payloads generate tracked exceptions.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Unowned and unsupported assets are identified and assigned timely disposition. It addresses it asset management. Underlying audit concern: Effective inventory management supports accountable maintenance, security and lifecycle decisions.
Incorrect Answers
A:A site-loss simulation processes representative payments through the recovery location. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A recovery site has servers but no validated link to the payment network after a facility loss. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Unowned and unsupported assets are identified and assigned timely disposition. The governing distinction is: Effective inventory management supports accountable maintenance, security and lifecycle decisions.
B:Each retired device reconciles to approved erasure or destruction evidence and authorized release. 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 verification is: Unowned and unsupported assets are identified and assigned timely disposition. The governing distinction is: Effective inventory management supports accountable maintenance, security and lifecycle decisions.
D:Full valid descriptions survive transfer and oversized payloads generate tracked exceptions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An inventory API responds successfully while silently truncating long product descriptions during integration. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Unowned and unsupported assets are identified and assigned timely disposition. The governing distinction is: Effective inventory management supports accountable maintenance, security and lifecycle decisions.
Question 365
Management reports that this issue has been corrected: A production release changes database permissions manually after the reviewed deployment package was approved. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?
- The steering committee sees verified readiness, risk and dependency status before decisions.
- The project closure record includes validated benefits, outstanding risks and lessons implemented.
- Production permissions match reviewed baselines and exceptions have documented approval.
- The patch is traceable, interfaces pass smoke tests and rollback can be executed safely.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Production permissions match reviewed baselines and exceptions have documented approval. It addresses implementation configuration and release management. Underlying audit concern: Configuration changes must remain controlled, traceable and aligned with approved baselines.
Incorrect Answers
A:The steering committee sees verified readiness, risk and dependency status before decisions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A program steering committee receives status reports from one vendor but has no visibility into independent testing delays. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Production permissions match reviewed baselines and exceptions have documented approval. The governing distinction is: Configuration changes must remain controlled, traceable and aligned with approved baselines.
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: Production permissions match reviewed baselines and exceptions have documented approval. The governing distinction is: Configuration changes must remain controlled, traceable and aligned with approved baselines.
D:The patch is traceable, interfaces pass smoke tests and rollback can be executed safely. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An emergency patch goes live without a rollback plan or verification of required interfaces. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Production permissions match reviewed baselines and exceptions have documented approval. The governing distinction is: Configuration changes must remain controlled, traceable and aligned with approved baselines.
Question 366
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: Database transaction logs fill the only disk volume and cause a payment service outage. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Inspect job exit codes, dependency configuration, completion records and reconciliation totals.
- Compare schema revisions, approvals, query plans and affected reconciliation reports.
- Trace event timestamps, source authority, synchronization paths and mismatched records.
- Inspect log growth, alert thresholds, backups and space utilization trends.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Inspect log growth, alert thresholds, backups and space utilization trends. The governing principle is: Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity.
Incorrect Answers
A:Inspect job exit codes, dependency configuration, completion records and reconciliation totals. 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 audit step is: Inspect log growth, alert thresholds, backups and space utilization trends. The governing distinction is: Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity.
B:Compare schema revisions, approvals, query plans and affected reconciliation reports. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A DBA changes production schema directly, causing an analytics extract to return wrong totals. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect log growth, alert thresholds, backups and space utilization trends. The governing distinction is: Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity.
C:Trace event timestamps, source authority, synchronization paths and mismatched records. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Two systems independently update the same customer address, producing unpredictable last-write results. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect log growth, alert thresholds, backups and space utilization trends. The governing distinction is: Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity.
Question 367
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: Auditors receive conflicting statements from administrators about whether an encryption setting was enabled during the test period. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Review time-stamped configuration history, effective encryption status and relevant system logs.
- Inspect account-change workflow, approver segregation and exception follow-up records.
- Compare evidence, management comments and the proposed report changes with reporting standards.
- Inspect extraction provenance, timestamps, privileges used and original system records.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Review time-stamped configuration history, effective encryption status and relevant system logs. The governing principle is: Inquiry alone is weaker than independently corroborated technical evidence.
Incorrect Answers
B:Inspect account-change workflow, approver segregation and exception follow-up records. 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 audit step is: Review time-stamped configuration history, effective encryption status and relevant system logs. The governing distinction is: Inquiry alone is weaker than independently corroborated technical evidence.
C:Compare evidence, management comments and the proposed report changes with reporting standards. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A chief information officer asks the audit lead to remove a supported high-risk finding before it reaches the audit committee. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Review time-stamped configuration history, effective encryption status and relevant system logs. The governing distinction is: Inquiry alone is weaker than independently corroborated technical evidence.
D:Inspect extraction provenance, timestamps, privileges used and original system records. 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 audit step is: Review time-stamped configuration history, effective encryption status and relevant system logs. The governing distinction is: Inquiry alone is weaker than independently corroborated technical evidence.
Question 368
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: Two data centers have separate buildings but share one telecom carrier and underground duct. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Disaster recovery design must cover external connectivity and noncompute dependencies.
- Resilience planning must include external and supporting infrastructure dependencies.
- Operational resilience requires evaluation of common-mode dependencies.
- Effective inventory management supports accountable maintenance, security and lifecycle decisions.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Operational resilience requires evaluation of common-mode dependencies. The corresponding audit procedure is: Map physical carrier routes, provider concentration and failure history.
Incorrect Answers
A:Disaster recovery design must cover external connectivity and noncompute dependencies. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A recovery site has servers but no validated link to the payment network after a facility loss. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Operational resilience requires evaluation of common-mode dependencies. The governing distinction is: Operational resilience requires evaluation of common-mode dependencies.
B:Resilience planning must include external and supporting infrastructure dependencies. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A supplier dependency map omits a critical cloud DNS service used by every customer-facing application. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Operational resilience requires evaluation of common-mode dependencies. The governing distinction is: Operational resilience requires evaluation of common-mode dependencies.
D:Effective inventory management supports accountable maintenance, security and lifecycle decisions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An IT inventory lists hundreds of production servers without owners or support end dates. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Operational resilience requires evaluation of common-mode dependencies. The governing distinction is: Operational resilience requires evaluation of common-mode dependencies.
Question 369
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: A company continues paying software maintenance for applications deleted during a consolidation. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Compare procurement records, license contracts, application scans and disposal approvals.
- Reconcile asset tags, chain-of-custody receipts, data classification and destruction records.
- Inspect intertier dependencies, RTO/RPO, test scripts and business sign-off criteria.
- Inspect ticket retention configuration, attachment lifecycle and regulatory obligations.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Compare procurement records, license contracts, application scans and disposal approvals. The governing principle is: Software asset records must reconcile acquisitions, deployment, retirement and entitlements.
Incorrect Answers
B:Reconcile asset tags, chain-of-custody receipts, data classification and destruction records. 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 audit step is: Compare procurement records, license contracts, application scans and disposal approvals. The governing distinction is: Software asset records must reconcile acquisitions, deployment, retirement and entitlements.
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: Compare procurement records, license contracts, application scans and disposal approvals. The governing distinction is: Software asset records must reconcile acquisitions, deployment, retirement and entitlements.
D:Inspect ticket retention configuration, attachment lifecycle and regulatory obligations. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A service desk deletes incident attachments when tickets are closed, preventing later regulatory review. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Compare procurement records, license contracts, application scans and disposal approvals. The governing distinction is: Software asset records must reconcile acquisitions, deployment, retirement and entitlements.
Question 370
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A SOC receives repeated login alerts but does not correlate them with high-value account privilege changes. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Threat monitoring should assess indicator freshness, context and false-positive effects.
- Incident lessons learned should improve preventive, detective and response controls.
- Security testing must have approved scope, safe methods and accountable rules of engagement.
- Security monitoring should correlate relevant signals into actionable risk scenarios.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Security monitoring should correlate relevant signals into actionable risk scenarios. The corresponding audit procedure is: Review identity telemetry, privilege events, alert correlation and analyst disposition.
Incorrect Answers
A:Threat monitoring should assess indicator freshness, context and false-positive effects. 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 principle is: Security monitoring should correlate relevant signals into actionable risk scenarios. The governing distinction is: Security monitoring should correlate relevant signals into actionable risk scenarios.
B:Incident lessons learned should improve preventive, detective and response controls. 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 principle is: Security monitoring should correlate relevant signals into actionable risk scenarios. The governing distinction is: Security monitoring should correlate relevant signals into actionable risk scenarios.
C:Security testing must have approved scope, safe methods and accountable rules of engagement. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A penetration test exercises production authentication without authorization or a recovery plan. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Security monitoring should correlate relevant signals into actionable risk scenarios. The governing distinction is: Security monitoring should correlate relevant signals into actionable risk scenarios.