Isaca CISA Practice Test 46
Question 450
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: Three departments repeatedly miss remediation dates but audit management reports closure rates without aging analysis. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Inspect identity binding, approval logs and whether one person can trigger both approvals.
- Obtain the complete critical-service inventory and independent exercise records.
- Compare past and current sampling standards, review findings and documentation quality.
- Compare commitment dates, risk rankings, actual implementation and repeat deferrals.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Compare commitment dates, risk rankings, actual implementation and repeat deferrals. The governing principle is: Quality monitoring should reveal overdue high-risk actions and escalation effectiveness.
Incorrect Answers
A:Inspect identity binding, approval logs and whether one person can trigger both approvals. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A new security control requires two operators to approve destructive data deletion, but both approvals can use one shared account. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Compare commitment dates, risk rankings, actual implementation and repeat deferrals. The governing distinction is: Quality monitoring should reveal overdue high-risk actions and escalation effectiveness.
B:Obtain the complete critical-service inventory and independent exercise records. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Management offers ten handpicked successful failover demonstrations as evidence that every critical service has tested recovery. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Compare commitment dates, risk rankings, actual implementation and repeat deferrals. The governing distinction is: Quality monitoring should reveal overdue high-risk actions and escalation effectiveness.
C:Compare past and current sampling standards, review findings and documentation quality. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An audit team changes sampling procedures each quarter without documenting why results are no longer comparable. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Compare commitment dates, risk rankings, actual implementation and repeat deferrals. The governing distinction is: Quality monitoring should reveal overdue high-risk actions and escalation effectiveness.
Question 451
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A configuration database lists a retired server as the active owner of a production application. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend periodic configuration item reconciliation and owner attestation.
- Recommend auditable emergency change controls with post-implementation oversight.
- Recommend controlled formula protection, independent review and periodic reconciliation.
- Recommend reviewed schema deployment and regression validation for dependent consumers.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Recommend periodic configuration item reconciliation and owner attestation. The relevant control principle is: Configuration accuracy is necessary for impact analysis and controlled service changes. A meaningful follow-up should establish: The configuration database identifies the actual application host and dependencies.
Incorrect Answers
B:Recommend auditable emergency change controls with post-implementation oversight. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An urgent firewall change is deployed without a ticket and later cannot be attributed to an approver. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend periodic configuration item reconciliation and owner attestation. The governing distinction is: Configuration accuracy is necessary for impact analysis and controlled service changes.
C:Recommend controlled formula protection, independent review and periodic reconciliation. 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 recommendation is: Recommend periodic configuration item reconciliation and owner attestation. The governing distinction is: Configuration accuracy is necessary for impact analysis and controlled service changes.
D:Recommend reviewed schema deployment and regression validation for dependent consumers. 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 recommendation is: Recommend periodic configuration item reconciliation and owner attestation. The governing distinction is: Configuration accuracy is necessary for impact analysis and controlled service changes.
Question 452
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: An organization receives data subject requests but cannot locate personal records spread across cloud and on-premise systems. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend a jurisdiction-specific obligation register and tested control mapping for the service.
- Recommend privacy assessment and purpose-bound collection with proportionate retention controls.
- Recommend lifecycle deletion and exception enforcement across all controlled storage locations.
- Recommend coordinated discovery, ownership and tested request fulfillment workflow.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Recommend coordinated discovery, ownership and tested request fulfillment workflow. The relevant control principle is: Privacy response effectiveness depends on a reliable data inventory and ownership. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Sample requests locate applicable systems and receive complete timely disposition.
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 coordinated discovery, ownership and tested request fulfillment workflow. The governing distinction is: Privacy response effectiveness depends on a reliable data inventory and ownership.
B:Recommend privacy assessment and purpose-bound collection with proportionate retention controls. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A marketing platform collects customer location data without a documented lawful purpose or retention period. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend coordinated discovery, ownership and tested request fulfillment workflow. The governing distinction is: Privacy response effectiveness depends on a reliable data inventory and ownership.
C:Recommend lifecycle deletion and exception enforcement across all controlled storage locations. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A cloud analytics environment retains raw regulated data after the approved business retention period. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend coordinated discovery, ownership and tested request fulfillment workflow. The governing distinction is: Privacy response effectiveness depends on a reliable data inventory and ownership.
Question 453
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A database encrypts storage disks but application administrators can export plaintext sensitive records without monitoring. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Threat monitoring should assess indicator freshness, context and false-positive effects.
- Encryption at rest does not control authorized-account misuse or data access in processing.
- Encryption without authenticating the peer can permit interception or impersonation.
- Containment decisions must consider urgency, safety, business impact and authorized coordination.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Encryption at rest does not control authorized-account misuse or data access in processing. The corresponding audit procedure is: Review key boundaries, export permissions, data access logs and classification.
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: Encryption at rest does not control authorized-account misuse or data access in processing. The governing distinction is: Encryption at rest does not control authorized-account misuse or data access in processing.
C:Encryption without authenticating the peer can permit interception or impersonation. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An application uses TLS for client sessions but disables certificate validation when connecting to its payment processor. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Encryption at rest does not control authorized-account misuse or data access in processing. The governing distinction is: Encryption at rest does not control authorized-account misuse or data access in processing.
D:Containment decisions must consider urgency, safety, business impact and authorized coordination. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A security team isolates a suspicious server without informing its critical care business owner, interrupting clinical operations. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Encryption at rest does not control authorized-account misuse or data access in processing. The governing distinction is: Encryption at rest does not control authorized-account misuse or data access in processing.
Question 454
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A research team labels every file confidential, generating excessive DLP false positives and routine overrides. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Electrical resilience depends on independence of power paths and verified failure domains.
- Overbroad classification can undermine effective enforcement and incident response.
- Exfiltration control assessment should cover relevant channels, not only email.
- Break-glass access must be controlled, logged, tested and periodically reauthorized.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Overbroad classification can undermine effective enforcement and incident response. The corresponding audit procedure is: Review classification rules, false-positive cases, override frequency and business needs.
Incorrect Answers
A:Electrical resilience depends on independence of power paths and verified failure domains. 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 principle is: Overbroad classification can undermine effective enforcement and incident response. The governing distinction is: Overbroad classification can undermine effective enforcement and incident response.
C:Exfiltration control assessment should cover relevant channels, not only email. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A DLP tool blocks confidential document attachments but ignores similar files uploaded through approved web browsers. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Overbroad classification can undermine effective enforcement and incident response. The governing distinction is: Overbroad classification can undermine effective enforcement and incident response.
D:Break-glass access must be controlled, logged, tested and periodically reauthorized. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Emergency administrator accounts are exempt from monitoring and are never tested until an outage. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Overbroad classification can undermine effective enforcement and incident response. The governing distinction is: Overbroad classification can undermine effective enforcement and incident response.
Question 455
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: An infrastructure team buys additional servers while idle compatible capacity remains unallocated in another business unit. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Critical skill dependencies should be addressed in resource and continuity planning.
- Enterprise architecture should document target capabilities and integration or rationalization decisions.
- Resource governance should use accurate inventory and allocation evidence before investment.
- A quality management system needs controlled documentation and implementation monitoring.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Resource governance should use accurate inventory and allocation evidence before investment. The corresponding audit procedure is: Review capacity utilization, workload isolation requirements and asset ownership.
Incorrect Answers
A:Critical skill dependencies should be addressed in resource and continuity planning. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A planned analytics launch relies on one database specialist who has no trained backup. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Resource governance should use accurate inventory and allocation evidence before investment. The governing distinction is: Resource governance should use accurate inventory and allocation evidence before investment.
B:Enterprise architecture should document target capabilities and integration or rationalization decisions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A new acquisition builds duplicate identity and messaging platforms without considering existing enterprise capabilities. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Resource governance should use accurate inventory and allocation evidence before investment. The governing distinction is: Resource governance should use accurate inventory and allocation evidence before investment.
D:A quality management system needs controlled documentation and implementation monitoring. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A new corporate service standard is rolled out without training, version control or effectiveness reviews. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Resource governance should use accurate inventory and allocation evidence before investment. The governing distinction is: Resource governance should use accurate inventory and allocation evidence before investment.
Question 456
Management reports that this issue has been corrected: The legal team interprets a contractual data retention clause differently from IT's automatic deletion schedule. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?
- Exception decisions show one approved authority, justification and stakeholder communication.
- A new requirement is assessed, implemented and evidenced before its effective date.
- Data samples reflect the approved retention decision without unapproved loss or overretention.
- Expired exceptions close or are explicitly renewed with current evidence and risk ownership.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Data samples reflect the approved retention decision without unapproved loss or overretention. It addresses laws, regulations, and industry standards. Underlying audit concern: Control design must reconcile binding requirements with approved retention and deletion practices.
Incorrect Answers
A:Exception decisions show one approved authority, justification and stakeholder communication. 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 verification is: Data samples reflect the approved retention decision without unapproved loss or overretention. The governing distinction is: Control design must reconcile binding requirements with approved retention and deletion practices.
B:A new requirement is assessed, implemented and evidenced before its effective date. 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 verification is: Data samples reflect the approved retention decision without unapproved loss or overretention. The governing distinction is: Control design must reconcile binding requirements with approved retention and deletion practices.
D:Expired exceptions close or are explicitly renewed with current evidence and risk ownership. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A vendor incident triggers a temporary exception but the residual risk is never reconsidered after six months. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Data samples reflect the approved retention decision without unapproved loss or overretention. The governing distinction is: Control design must reconcile binding requirements with approved retention and deletion practices.
Question 457
Management reports that this issue has been corrected: A revoked supplier certificate remains trusted by an application because revocation checks are disabled. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?
- The application rejects a known revoked test certificate while accepting valid trusted peers.
- A controlled renewal leaves the active endpoint with a valid trusted certificate.
- A backup-copy compromise does not grant unauthorized access to the decryption keys.
- A lost-device simulation prevents continued corporate access without authorization.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:The application rejects a known revoked test certificate while accepting valid trusted peers. It addresses public key infrastructure. Underlying audit concern: Certificate trust decisions should account for revocation and current validity requirements.
Incorrect Answers
B:A controlled renewal leaves the active endpoint with a valid trusted certificate. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An internal portal outage follows certificate expiration despite an automated renewal job that reported success. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: The application rejects a known revoked test certificate while accepting valid trusted peers. The governing distinction is: Certificate trust decisions should account for revocation and current validity requirements.
C:A backup-copy compromise does not grant unauthorized access to the decryption keys. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A team stores database encryption keys in the same unrestricted repository as encrypted backups. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: The application rejects a known revoked test certificate while accepting valid trusted peers. The governing distinction is: Certificate trust decisions should account for revocation and current validity requirements.
D:A lost-device simulation prevents continued corporate access without authorization. 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 verification is: The application rejects a known revoked test certificate while accepting valid trusted peers. The governing distinction is: Certificate trust decisions should account for revocation and current validity requirements.
Question 458
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: An operator can edit scheduled payroll scripts directly in production without independent approval. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend restricted promotion and controlled approved script deployment.
- Recommend failure-aware scheduling, controlled restart and exception escalation.
- Recommend an accurate component dependency inventory and risk review of single points of failure.
- Recommend recalculating service availability using approved business-relevant exclusions.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Recommend restricted promotion and controlled approved script deployment. The relevant control principle is: Job automation changes should be authorized, versioned and attributable. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Unauthorized script edits are denied and authorized revisions are traceable.
Incorrect Answers
B: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 restricted promotion and controlled approved script deployment. The governing distinction is: Job automation changes should be authorized, versioned and attributable.
C:Recommend an accurate component dependency inventory and risk review of single points of failure. 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 recommendation is: Recommend restricted promotion and controlled approved script deployment. The governing distinction is: Job automation changes should be authorized, versioned and attributable.
D:Recommend recalculating service availability using approved business-relevant exclusions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Management reports 99.99% uptime by excluding unscheduled customer-impacting outages from the metric. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend restricted promotion and controlled approved script deployment. The governing distinction is: Job automation changes should be authorized, versioned and attributable.
Question 459
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: Developers complete general security videos but continue committing cloud keys into source repositories. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Inspect code scans, leaked-secret events, training scope and remediation quality.
- Reconcile device inventory, agent heartbeat, signature status and unmanaged endpoints.
- Review exercise objectives, attack path evidence, scope rules and observed controls.
- Compare simulation outcomes, repeat behavior, reporting rates and learner groups.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Inspect code scans, leaked-secret events, training scope and remediation quality. The governing principle is: Role-specific training and technical controls should address actual high-risk behaviors.
Incorrect Answers
B:Reconcile device inventory, agent heartbeat, signature status and unmanaged endpoints. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An endpoint protection console reports agents installed but several laptops have not checked in for months. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect code scans, leaked-secret events, training scope and remediation quality. The governing distinction is: Role-specific training and technical controls should address actual high-risk behaviors.
C:Review exercise objectives, attack path evidence, scope rules and observed controls. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A red-team exercise reports success based on one simulated phishing click without demonstrating access or business impact. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect code scans, leaked-secret events, training scope and remediation quality. The governing distinction is: Role-specific training and technical controls should address actual high-risk behaviors.
D:Compare simulation outcomes, repeat behavior, reporting rates and learner groups. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Annual phishing training records show high completion but employees repeatedly submit credentials to simulated malicious sites. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect code scans, leaked-secret events, training scope and remediation quality. The governing distinction is: Role-specific training and technical controls should address actual high-risk behaviors.
Question 460
Management reports that this issue has been corrected: A red-team exercise reports success based on one simulated phishing click without demonstrating access or business impact. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?
- The report links each claimed outcome to reproducible evidence and approved scope.
- Test evidence demonstrates authorized scope and no unauthorized production disruption.
- Regional implementations satisfy both corporate security intent and applicable legal obligations.
- Simulated high-severity events reach qualified responders within defined limits.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:The report links each claimed outcome to reproducible evidence and approved scope. It addresses security testing tools and techniques. Underlying audit concern: Testing results should distinguish initial indicators from validated compromise outcomes.
Incorrect Answers
B:Test evidence demonstrates authorized scope and no unauthorized production disruption. 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 verification is: The report links each claimed outcome to reproducible evidence and approved scope. The governing distinction is: Testing results should distinguish initial indicators from validated compromise outcomes.
C:Regional implementations satisfy both corporate security intent and applicable legal obligations. 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 verification is: The report links each claimed outcome to reproducible evidence and approved scope. The governing distinction is: Testing results should distinguish initial indicators from validated compromise outcomes.
D:Simulated high-severity events reach qualified responders within defined limits. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A company implements a network intrusion detector but does not assign anyone to triage severe alerts. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: The report links each claimed outcome to reproducible evidence and approved scope. The governing distinction is: Testing results should distinguish initial indicators from validated compromise outcomes.