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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?

  1. Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity.
  2. Reliable log correlation depends on consistent time and original event provenance.
  3. Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.
  4. 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?

  1. Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use.
  2. Data loss controls should be tied to classification, legitimate purpose and authorized exfiltration paths.
  3. PKI monitoring should validate deployed certificates and trust paths, not just job status.
  4. 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?

  1. Communicate the verified urgent exposure immediately to authorized management and audit leadership.
  2. Revise staffing and milestones or formally escalate a defensible scope or schedule change.
  3. Obtain documented authorization for the scope adjustment and rebaseline the plan.
  4. 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?

  1. Forensic collection scope should preserve a complete relevant timeline within lawful boundaries.
  2. Preserving original evidence is essential for reliable investigation and potential legal use.
  3. Policy order and scope determine the effective network control, not the existence of later rules.
  4. 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?

  1. Recommend business-owner attestation with technical evidence and timely deprovisioning.
  2. Recommend restoring critical module coverage and validating findings with manual review.
  3. Recommend controlled validation and risk-ranked remediation rather than blind closure.
  4. 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?

  1. Inspect ticket retention configuration, attachment lifecycle and regulatory obligations.
  2. Inspect job exit codes, dependency configuration, completion records and reconciliation totals.
  3. Review nonfinancial impacts, dependency chains and stakeholder severity scales.
  4. 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?

  1. Compliance obligations vary by location, data activity, contract and regulatory scope.
  2. Quality management should evaluate defects, process capability and business outcomes across the lifecycle.
  3. Ambiguous governance rights can produce inconsistent and unowned technology decisions.
  4. 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?

  1. RPO should be derived from business impact and transactional tolerance, not backup convenience.
  2. Availability calculations require consistently defined scope, denominator and exclusions.
  3. Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.
  4. 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?

  1. Recommend consistent risk-based DLP controls across authorized transfer channels.
  2. Recommend approved controlled testing with coordinated incident-response safeguards.
  3. Recommend incident handling and detection improvements for the observed attack chain.
  4. 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?

  1. Examine threat scenarios, regulatory exposure, process dependencies and proposed exclusions.
  2. Collect business criticality, interface volume, control maturity, change history and incident reporting quality.
  3. Obtain the complete critical-service inventory and independent exercise records.
  4. 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?

  1. Unauthorized formula changes are detected and regulatory calculations reconcile.
  2. Representative warehouse transactions continue correctly after the planned router change.
  3. Only authorized destinations receive necessary data and workflow use is logged.
  4. 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.

Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) Practice Tests