Isaca CISA Practice Test 70
Question 690
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: Database transaction logs fill the only disk volume and cause a payment service outage. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity.
- Reliable log correlation depends on consistent time and original event provenance.
- Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.
- Database least privilege should restrict access by actual application function.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity. The corresponding audit procedure is: Inspect log growth, alert thresholds, backups and space utilization trends.
Incorrect Answers
B:Reliable log correlation depends on consistent time and original event provenance. 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 principle is: Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity. The governing distinction is: Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity.
C: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: Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity. The governing distinction is: Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity.
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: Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity. The governing distinction is: Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity.
Question 691
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A customer service portal allows employees to export unrestricted copies of all customer identity documents. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use.
- Data loss controls should be tied to classification, legitimate purpose and authorized exfiltration paths.
- PKI monitoring should validate deployed certificates and trust paths, not just job status.
- Exfiltration control assessment should cover relevant channels, not only email.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Data loss controls should be tied to classification, legitimate purpose and authorized exfiltration paths. The corresponding audit procedure is: Inspect export permissions, access volumes, file labels and DLP policy coverage.
Incorrect Answers
A:Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use. 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 principle is: Data loss controls should be tied to classification, legitimate purpose and authorized exfiltration paths. The governing distinction is: Data loss controls should be tied to classification, legitimate purpose and authorized exfiltration paths.
C:PKI monitoring should validate deployed certificates and trust paths, not just job status. 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 principle is: Data loss controls should be tied to classification, legitimate purpose and authorized exfiltration paths. The governing distinction is: Data loss controls should be tied to classification, legitimate purpose and authorized exfiltration paths.
D: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: Data loss controls should be tied to classification, legitimate purpose and authorized exfiltration paths. The governing distinction is: Data loss controls should be tied to classification, legitimate purpose and authorized exfiltration paths.
Question 692
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A compliance audit is due in four weeks but its only database specialist is assigned to an unrelated engagement. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Communicate the verified urgent exposure immediately to authorized management and audit leadership.
- Revise staffing and milestones or formally escalate a defensible scope or schedule change.
- Obtain documented authorization for the scope adjustment and rebaseline the plan.
- Report the historical exception with clear current remediation status and corroborated response.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Revise staffing and milestones or formally escalate a defensible scope or schedule change. The relevant control principle is: Audit project plans must match specialist resources to scope, dependencies and deadlines. A meaningful follow-up should establish: The engagement plan assigns qualified reviewers to every critical test before sign-off.
Incorrect Answers
A:Communicate the verified urgent exposure immediately to authorized management and audit leadership. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An auditor discovers an urgent uncontained data disclosure but plans to mention it only in the quarterly report. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Revise staffing and milestones or formally escalate a defensible scope or schedule change. The governing distinction is: Audit project plans must match specialist resources to scope, dependencies and deadlines.
C:Obtain documented authorization for the scope adjustment and rebaseline the plan. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Fieldwork expands to a new subsidiary without updating the approved engagement scope or communicating budget impact. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Revise staffing and milestones or formally escalate a defensible scope or schedule change. The governing distinction is: Audit project plans must match specialist resources to scope, dependencies and deadlines.
D:Report the historical exception with clear current remediation status and corroborated response. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An auditee disputes an audit exception by supplying a later control fix, then asks to erase the historical finding. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Revise staffing and milestones or formally escalate a defensible scope or schedule change. The governing distinction is: Audit project plans must match specialist resources to scope, dependencies and deadlines.
Question 693
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: Security staff begin forensic analysis directly on a live original log file and overwrite timestamps. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Forensic collection scope should preserve a complete relevant timeline within lawful boundaries.
- Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use.
- Policy order and scope determine the effective network control, not the existence of later rules.
- Testing results should distinguish initial indicators from validated compromise outcomes.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use. The corresponding audit procedure is: Inspect original storage, collection method, metadata changes and available copies.
Incorrect Answers
A:Forensic collection scope should preserve a complete relevant timeline within lawful boundaries. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A cloud incident investigator exports only the latest activity logs, omitting records from the suspected initial compromise. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use. The governing distinction is: Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use.
C:Policy order and scope determine the effective network control, not the existence of later rules. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A firewall has a broad any-to-any allow rule placed ahead of new restrictions for a regulated application. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use. The governing distinction is: Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use.
D:Testing results should distinguish initial indicators from validated compromise outcomes. 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 principle is: Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use. The governing distinction is: Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use.
Question 694
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A code review tool shows no vulnerabilities after analysts exclude the main authentication module from scanning. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend business-owner attestation with technical evidence and timely deprovisioning.
- Recommend restoring critical module coverage and validating findings with manual review.
- Recommend controlled validation and risk-ranked remediation rather than blind closure.
- Recommend post-incident root-cause actions with accountable verification deadlines.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Recommend restoring critical module coverage and validating findings with manual review. The relevant control principle is: Assessment conclusions depend on complete and relevant testing coverage. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Authentication source changes are within the scanned and independently reviewed scope.
Incorrect Answers
A:Recommend business-owner attestation with technical evidence and timely deprovisioning. 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 recommendation is: Recommend restoring critical module coverage and validating findings with manual review. The governing distinction is: Assessment conclusions depend on complete and relevant testing coverage.
C: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 restoring critical module coverage and validating findings with manual review. The governing distinction is: Assessment conclusions depend on complete and relevant testing coverage.
D:Recommend post-incident root-cause actions with accountable verification deadlines. 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 recommendation is: Recommend restoring critical module coverage and validating findings with manual review. The governing distinction is: Assessment conclusions depend on complete and relevant testing coverage.
Question 695
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: A service desk deletes incident attachments when tickets are closed, preventing later regulatory review. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Inspect ticket retention configuration, attachment lifecycle and regulatory obligations.
- Inspect job exit codes, dependency configuration, completion records and reconciliation totals.
- Review nonfinancial impacts, dependency chains and stakeholder severity scales.
- Group incident trends, known error records and evidence of shared failure conditions.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Inspect ticket retention configuration, attachment lifecycle and regulatory obligations. The governing principle is: Incident evidence retention should match legal, audit and operational requirements.
Incorrect Answers
B: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 ticket retention configuration, attachment lifecycle and regulatory obligations. The governing distinction is: Incident evidence retention should match legal, audit and operational requirements.
C:Review nonfinancial impacts, dependency chains and stakeholder severity scales. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Continuity leadership bases recovery priorities on annual revenue only and ignores safety-critical low-volume services. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect ticket retention configuration, attachment lifecycle and regulatory obligations. The governing distinction is: Incident evidence retention should match legal, audit and operational requirements.
D:Group incident trends, known error records and evidence of shared failure conditions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A helpdesk repeatedly reopens application errors but closes each ticket without investigating a shared underlying defect. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect ticket retention configuration, attachment lifecycle and regulatory obligations. The governing distinction is: Incident evidence retention should match legal, audit and operational requirements.
Question 696
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: Two subsidiaries have overlapping IT decision boards with conflicting authority to approve enterprise architecture exceptions. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Compliance obligations vary by location, data activity, contract and regulatory scope.
- Quality management should evaluate defects, process capability and business outcomes across the lifecycle.
- Ambiguous governance rights can produce inconsistent and unowned technology decisions.
- Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Ambiguous governance rights can produce inconsistent and unowned technology decisions. The corresponding audit procedure is: Review committee charters, delegation matrices and a sample of disputed approvals.
Incorrect Answers
A:Compliance obligations vary by location, data activity, contract and regulatory scope. 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 principle is: Ambiguous governance rights can produce inconsistent and unowned technology decisions. The governing distinction is: Ambiguous governance rights can produce inconsistent and unowned technology decisions.
B:Quality management should evaluate defects, process capability and business outcomes across the lifecycle. 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 principle is: Ambiguous governance rights can produce inconsistent and unowned technology decisions. The governing distinction is: Ambiguous governance rights can produce inconsistent and unowned technology decisions.
D:Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A chief technology officer both accepts enterprise cyber risk and certifies the independence of the risk oversight function. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Ambiguous governance rights can produce inconsistent and unowned technology decisions. The governing distinction is: Ambiguous governance rights can produce inconsistent and unowned technology decisions.
Question 697
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A transaction platform runs at high average CPU and has no measured headroom for seasonal spikes. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- RPO should be derived from business impact and transactional tolerance, not backup convenience.
- Availability calculations require consistently defined scope, denominator and exclusions.
- Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.
- Capacity planning must account for peak demand, growth and degraded operation.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Capacity planning must account for peak demand, growth and degraded operation. The corresponding audit procedure is: Review peak transaction load, resource saturation, forecasts and failure reserves.
Incorrect Answers
A: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: Capacity planning must account for peak demand, growth and degraded operation. The governing distinction is: Capacity planning must account for peak demand, growth and degraded operation.
B:Availability calculations require consistently defined scope, denominator and 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 principle is: Capacity planning must account for peak demand, growth and degraded operation. The governing distinction is: Capacity planning must account for peak demand, growth and degraded operation.
C: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: Capacity planning must account for peak demand, growth and degraded operation. The governing distinction is: Capacity planning must account for peak demand, growth and degraded operation.
Question 698
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A customer service portal allows employees to export unrestricted copies of all customer identity documents. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend consistent risk-based DLP controls across authorized transfer channels.
- Recommend approved controlled testing with coordinated incident-response safeguards.
- Recommend incident handling and detection improvements for the observed attack chain.
- Recommend minimal export entitlements and monitoring or blocking of unauthorized bulk transfers.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Recommend minimal export entitlements and monitoring or blocking of unauthorized bulk transfers. The relevant control principle is: Data loss controls should be tied to classification, legitimate purpose and authorized exfiltration paths. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Approved staff retrieve only necessary records and excessive exports are flagged or blocked.
Incorrect Answers
A:Recommend consistent risk-based DLP controls across authorized transfer channels. 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 recommendation is: Recommend minimal export entitlements and monitoring or blocking of unauthorized bulk transfers. The governing distinction is: Data loss controls should be tied to classification, legitimate purpose and authorized exfiltration paths.
B:Recommend approved controlled testing with coordinated incident-response safeguards. 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 recommendation is: Recommend minimal export entitlements and monitoring or blocking of unauthorized bulk transfers. The governing distinction is: Data loss controls should be tied to classification, legitimate purpose and authorized exfiltration paths.
C:Recommend incident handling and detection improvements for the observed attack chain. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A malicious attachment launches a child process and connects to an unfamiliar command server. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend minimal export entitlements and monitoring or blocking of unauthorized bulk transfers. The governing distinction is: Data loss controls should be tied to classification, legitimate purpose and authorized exfiltration paths.
Question 699
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: An auditor cannot decide whether to review a high-impact legacy billing interface because no recent incidents are recorded. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Examine threat scenarios, regulatory exposure, process dependencies and proposed exclusions.
- Collect business criticality, interface volume, control maturity, change history and incident reporting quality.
- Obtain the complete critical-service inventory and independent exercise records.
- Inspect project participation records, audit assignments and independence declarations before fieldwork.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Collect business criticality, interface volume, control maturity, change history and incident reporting quality. The governing principle is: Absence of reported incidents is not proof of low inherent or residual risk.
Incorrect Answers
A:Examine threat scenarios, regulatory exposure, process dependencies and proposed exclusions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A business unit requests that internal audit review only controls selected by its system owner. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Collect business criticality, interface volume, control maturity, change history and incident reporting quality. The governing distinction is: Absence of reported incidents is not proof of low inherent or residual risk.
C: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: Collect business criticality, interface volume, control maturity, change history and incident reporting quality. The governing distinction is: Absence of reported incidents is not proof of low inherent or residual risk.
D:Inspect project participation records, audit assignments and independence declarations before fieldwork. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An internal auditor helped configure the privileged-access system now scheduled for an assurance review. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Collect business criticality, interface volume, control maturity, change history and incident reporting quality. The governing distinction is: Absence of reported incidents is not proof of low inherent or residual risk.
Question 700
Management reports that this issue has been corrected: A spreadsheet with editable formulas calculates regulatory capital but has no validation or change history. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?
- Unauthorized formula changes are detected and regulatory calculations reconcile.
- Representative warehouse transactions continue correctly after the planned router change.
- Only authorized destinations receive necessary data and workflow use is logged.
- A recovery test completes reconciled business transactions within required limits.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Unauthorized formula changes are detected and regulatory calculations reconcile. It addresses shadow it and end-user computing. Underlying audit concern: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.
Incorrect Answers
B:Representative warehouse transactions continue correctly after the planned router change. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A network router is upgraded without identifying the legacy protocol needed by an older warehouse controller. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Unauthorized formula changes are detected and regulatory calculations reconcile. The governing distinction is: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.
C:Only authorized destinations receive necessary data and workflow use is logged. 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 verification is: Unauthorized formula changes are detected and regulatory calculations reconcile. The governing distinction is: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.
D:A recovery test completes reconciled business transactions within required limits. 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 verification is: Unauthorized formula changes are detected and regulatory calculations reconcile. The governing distinction is: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.