Isaca CISA Practice Test 79
Question 780
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A spreadsheet with editable formulas calculates regulatory capital but has no validation or change history. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity.
- Unsanctioned services can bypass enterprise security, retention and legal controls.
- Operational resilience requires evaluation of common-mode dependencies.
- Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk. The corresponding audit procedure is: Review spreadsheet logic, versioning, reconciliations, owners and manual overrides.
Incorrect Answers
A:Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Database transaction logs fill the only disk volume and cause a payment service outage. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk. The governing distinction is: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.
B:Unsanctioned services can bypass enterprise security, retention and legal controls. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A sales team stores client contracts in an unapproved personal file-sharing account for convenience. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk. The governing distinction is: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.
C:Operational resilience requires evaluation of common-mode dependencies. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Two data centers have separate buildings but share one telecom carrier and underground duct. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk. The governing distinction is: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.
Question 781
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A routine database update causes outages because no dependency assessment included reporting services. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Infrastructure component changes require compatibility and interface impact assessment.
- Asset lifecycle management must control custody and data disposition at retirement.
- Change control should assess end-to-end service dependencies and rollback feasibility.
- Configuration accuracy is necessary for impact analysis and controlled service changes.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Change control should assess end-to-end service dependencies and rollback feasibility. The corresponding audit procedure is: Inspect dependency maps, test coverage, change approvals and outage history.
Incorrect Answers
A:Infrastructure component changes require compatibility and interface impact assessment. 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 principle is: Change control should assess end-to-end service dependencies and rollback feasibility. The governing distinction is: Change control should assess end-to-end service dependencies and rollback feasibility.
B:Asset lifecycle management must control custody and data disposition at retirement. 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 principle is: Change control should assess end-to-end service dependencies and rollback feasibility. The governing distinction is: Change control should assess end-to-end service dependencies and rollback feasibility.
D:Configuration accuracy is necessary for impact analysis and controlled service changes. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A configuration database lists a retired server as the active owner of a production application. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Change control should assess end-to-end service dependencies and rollback feasibility. The governing distinction is: Change control should assess end-to-end service dependencies and rollback feasibility.
Question 782
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: A report calls a firewall exception critical but provides no business impact, cause or responsible owner. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Compare approved charter, new testing requests, risk justification and effort forecast.
- Compare transaction value, exposure, change velocity, recent incidents and prior assurance coverage.
- Review the policy exception, applicable requirement, exposure evidence and management response.
- Analyze risk ratings, affected processes, residual exposure and stakeholder decisions needed.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Review the policy exception, applicable requirement, exposure evidence and management response. The governing principle is: Actionable audit findings link condition, criteria, cause, effect and corrective ownership.
Incorrect Answers
A:Compare approved charter, new testing requests, risk justification and effort forecast. 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 audit step is: Review the policy exception, applicable requirement, exposure evidence and management response. The governing distinction is: Actionable audit findings link condition, criteria, cause, effect and corrective ownership.
B:Compare transaction value, exposure, change velocity, recent incidents and prior assurance coverage. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: The annual audit plan gives equal effort to a low-risk intranet and a newly acquired payment processing platform. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Review the policy exception, applicable requirement, exposure evidence and management response. The governing distinction is: Actionable audit findings link condition, criteria, cause, effect and corrective ownership.
D:Analyze risk ratings, affected processes, residual exposure and stakeholder decisions needed. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A board report includes hundreds of raw test details but fails to distinguish enterprise-critical findings. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Review the policy exception, applicable requirement, exposure evidence and management response. The governing distinction is: Actionable audit findings link condition, criteria, cause, effect and corrective ownership.
Question 783
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: A revoked supplier certificate remains trusted by an application because revocation checks are disabled. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Compare renewed certificate inventory, deployed endpoints, validity dates and chain health.
- Compare simulation outcomes, repeat behavior, reporting rates and learner groups.
- Inspect trust-store settings, CRL/OCSP reachability, cache behavior and certificate status.
- Inspect bucket ACLs, public access settings, deployment templates and audit events.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Inspect trust-store settings, CRL/OCSP reachability, cache behavior and certificate status. The governing principle is: Certificate trust decisions should account for revocation and current validity requirements.
Incorrect Answers
A:Compare renewed certificate inventory, deployed endpoints, validity dates and chain health. 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 audit step is: Inspect trust-store settings, CRL/OCSP reachability, cache behavior and certificate status. The governing distinction is: Certificate trust decisions should account for revocation and current validity requirements.
B: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 trust-store settings, CRL/OCSP reachability, cache behavior and certificate status. The governing distinction is: Certificate trust decisions should account for revocation and current validity requirements.
D:Inspect bucket ACLs, public access settings, deployment templates and audit events. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A cloud storage bucket used for personnel data becomes publicly readable after a template change. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect trust-store settings, CRL/OCSP reachability, cache behavior and certificate status. The governing distinction is: Certificate trust decisions should account for revocation and current validity requirements.
Question 784
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A DBA changes production schema directly, causing an analytics extract to return wrong totals. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Database changes require controlled migration, versioning and dependent-query testing.
- Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity.
- Service-level oversight requires end-to-end responsibility and dispute or escalation paths.
- Availability analysis must include upstream shared dependencies, not just redundant hosts.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Database changes require controlled migration, versioning and dependent-query testing. The corresponding audit procedure is: Compare schema revisions, approvals, query plans and affected reconciliation reports.
Incorrect Answers
B:Database operations require monitored storage, retention and recovery capacity. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Database transaction logs fill the only disk volume and cause a payment service outage. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Database changes require controlled migration, versioning and dependent-query testing. The governing distinction is: Database changes require controlled migration, versioning and dependent-query testing.
C:Service-level oversight requires end-to-end responsibility and dispute or escalation paths. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An internal support agreement omits escalation responsibilities for incidents spanning two suppliers. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Database changes require controlled migration, versioning and dependent-query testing. The governing distinction is: Database changes require controlled migration, versioning and dependent-query testing.
D:Availability analysis must include upstream shared dependencies, not just redundant hosts. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A redundant web cluster shares one DNS resolver and becomes inaccessible when that resolver fails. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Database changes require controlled migration, versioning and dependent-query testing. The governing distinction is: Database changes require controlled migration, versioning and dependent-query testing.
Question 785
Management reports that this issue has been corrected: A hospital chooses a cloud imaging service without confirming network reliability or clinical response needs. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?
- Representative imaging workflow meets agreed performance and data-handling requirements.
- The project closure record includes validated benefits, outstanding risks and lessons implemented.
- Pilot data flows reconcile successfully against real-world mapping and exception requirements.
- Design tests reject unauthorized refunds and reconcile approved changes in records.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Representative imaging workflow meets agreed performance and data-handling requirements. It addresses business case and feasibility analysis. Underlying audit concern: Feasibility studies should test technical, operational and compliance constraints before selection.
Incorrect Answers
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: Representative imaging workflow meets agreed performance and data-handling requirements. The governing distinction is: Feasibility studies should test technical, operational and compliance constraints before selection.
C:Pilot data flows reconcile successfully against real-world mapping and exception requirements. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A vendor's product demonstration uses sanitized sample data while the production workload needs complex legacy mappings. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Representative imaging workflow meets agreed performance and data-handling requirements. The governing distinction is: Feasibility studies should test technical, operational and compliance constraints before selection.
D:Design tests reject unauthorized refunds and reconcile approved changes in records. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A new web checkout design addresses user experience but fails to define controls for unauthorized refund changes. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Representative imaging workflow meets agreed performance and data-handling requirements. The governing distinction is: Feasibility studies should test technical, operational and compliance constraints before selection.
Question 786
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: A business unit requests that internal audit review only controls selected by its system owner. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Examine threat scenarios, regulatory exposure, process dependencies and proposed exclusions.
- Review time-stamped configuration history, effective encryption status and relevant system logs.
- Collect business criticality, interface volume, control maturity, change history and incident reporting quality.
- Check event forwarding, immutable storage controls, access logs and clock accuracy.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Examine threat scenarios, regulatory exposure, process dependencies and proposed exclusions. The governing principle is: Audit scope must be based on independent assessment of relevant risk rather than auditee preference.
Incorrect Answers
B:Review time-stamped configuration history, effective encryption status and relevant system logs. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Auditors receive conflicting statements from administrators about whether an encryption setting was enabled during the test period. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Examine threat scenarios, regulatory exposure, process dependencies and proposed exclusions. The governing distinction is: Audit scope must be based on independent assessment of relevant risk rather than auditee preference.
C:Collect business criticality, interface volume, control maturity, change history and incident reporting quality. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An auditor cannot decide whether to review a high-impact legacy billing interface because no recent incidents are recorded. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Examine threat scenarios, regulatory exposure, process dependencies and proposed exclusions. The governing distinction is: Audit scope must be based on independent assessment of relevant risk rather than auditee preference.
D:Check event forwarding, immutable storage controls, access logs and clock accuracy. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A vendor's audit log is editable by the same administrator whose changes are under investigation. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Examine threat scenarios, regulatory exposure, process dependencies and proposed exclusions. The governing distinction is: Audit scope must be based on independent assessment of relevant risk rather than auditee preference.
Question 787
An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A cloud storage bucket used for personnel data becomes publicly readable after a template change. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?
- Certificate trust decisions should account for revocation and current validity requirements.
- Framework implementation should address local constraints without unreviewed security gaps.
- Provider assurances do not automatically cover customer-operated security responsibilities.
- Cloud shared responsibility includes customer configuration and continuous misconfiguration detection.
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Cloud shared responsibility includes customer configuration and continuous misconfiguration detection. The corresponding audit procedure is: Inspect bucket ACLs, public access settings, deployment templates and audit events.
Incorrect Answers
A:Certificate trust decisions should account for revocation and current validity requirements. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A revoked supplier certificate remains trusted by an application because revocation checks are disabled. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Cloud shared responsibility includes customer configuration and continuous misconfiguration detection. The governing distinction is: Cloud shared responsibility includes customer configuration and continuous misconfiguration detection.
B:Framework implementation should address local constraints without unreviewed security gaps. 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 principle is: Cloud shared responsibility includes customer configuration and continuous misconfiguration detection. The governing distinction is: Cloud shared responsibility includes customer configuration and continuous misconfiguration detection.
C:Provider assurances do not automatically cover customer-operated security responsibilities. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A cloud provider's assurance report covers physical facilities but the customer's tenant encryption and IAM are untested. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Cloud shared responsibility includes customer configuration and continuous misconfiguration detection. The governing distinction is: Cloud shared responsibility includes customer configuration and continuous misconfiguration detection.
Question 788
An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A virtualization administrator can snapshot and download regulated production virtual machines without oversight. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?
- Recommend minimal export entitlements and monitoring or blocking of unauthorized bulk transfers.
- Recommend scoped privileged access and auditable controls on VM export and snapshots.
- Recommend approved signed-image pipelines and enforced workload admission policy.
- Recommend monitored and secured emergency access consistent with life-safety requirements.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Recommend scoped privileged access and auditable controls on VM export and snapshots. The relevant control principle is: Hypervisor privileges can expose entire workloads and require strict governance. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Unauthorized snapshot downloads are blocked and authorized operations are logged.
Incorrect Answers
A:Recommend minimal export entitlements and monitoring or blocking of unauthorized bulk transfers. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A customer service portal allows employees to export unrestricted copies of all customer identity documents. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend scoped privileged access and auditable controls on VM export and snapshots. The governing distinction is: Hypervisor privileges can expose entire workloads and require strict governance.
C:Recommend approved signed-image pipelines and enforced workload admission policy. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A container orchestration platform admits unverified public images into a payment workload namespace. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend scoped privileged access and auditable controls on VM export and snapshots. The governing distinction is: Hypervisor privileges can expose entire workloads and require strict governance.
D:Recommend monitored and secured emergency access consistent with life-safety requirements. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A server room uses badge access but an unattended emergency door allows unrecorded entry. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend scoped privileged access and auditable controls on VM export and snapshots. The governing distinction is: Hypervisor privileges can expose entire workloads and require strict governance.
Question 789
Management reports that this issue has been corrected: Operations declares an incident resolved because a server restarted, although business transactions remain stuck. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?
- Trained staff complete representative customer calls from the alternate site.
- Loss of one cooling component does not violate approved service continuity requirements.
- A sample transaction completes correctly and accountable users confirm recovery.
- A simulated severe incident reaches designated decision-makers within defined thresholds.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:A sample transaction completes correctly and accountable users confirm recovery. It addresses problem and incident management. Underlying audit concern: Incident closure should confirm restoration of the affected business service, not just infrastructure state.
Incorrect Answers
A:Trained staff complete representative customer calls from the alternate site. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A call center continuity binder lists alternate desks but employees cannot access the customer service application from that location. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: A sample transaction completes correctly and accountable users confirm recovery. The governing distinction is: Incident closure should confirm restoration of the affected business service, not just infrastructure state.
B:Loss of one cooling component does not violate approved service continuity requirements. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A database is replicated across two racks but both racks depend on the same cooling circuit. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: A sample transaction completes correctly and accountable users confirm recovery. The governing distinction is: Incident closure should confirm restoration of the affected business service, not just infrastructure state.
D:A simulated severe incident reaches designated decision-makers within defined thresholds. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A major cyber outage is escalated only after normal helpdesk response times expire. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: A sample transaction completes correctly and accountable users confirm recovery. The governing distinction is: Incident closure should confirm restoration of the affected business service, not just infrastructure state.
Question 790
Before reaching an audit conclusion, consider: An attacker encrypts production files and online backups because both use the same compromised admin identity. Which evidence should the auditor review FIRST to evaluate this risk?
- Map DNS architecture, cache behavior, alternate paths and outage records.
- Review network routes, partner links, certificates and recovery site failover plans.
- Inspect backup privilege boundaries, deletion rights and ransomware recovery design.
- Review backup method, transaction logs, quiescing support and restore checks.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Inspect backup privilege boundaries, deletion rights and ransomware recovery design. The governing principle is: Backup resilience needs separation and protected immutable or offline recovery copies.
Incorrect Answers
A:Map DNS architecture, cache behavior, alternate paths and outage records. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A redundant web cluster shares one DNS resolver and becomes inaccessible when that resolver fails. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect backup privilege boundaries, deletion rights and ransomware recovery design. The governing distinction is: Backup resilience needs separation and protected immutable or offline recovery copies.
B:Review network routes, partner links, certificates and recovery site failover plans. 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 audit step is: Inspect backup privilege boundaries, deletion rights and ransomware recovery design. The governing distinction is: Backup resilience needs separation and protected immutable or offline recovery copies.
D:Review backup method, transaction logs, quiescing support and restore checks. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A company copies database files nightly while transactions remain active, producing inconsistent backups. In the present case, the most directly relevant audit step is: Inspect backup privilege boundaries, deletion rights and ransomware recovery design. The governing distinction is: Backup resilience needs separation and protected immutable or offline recovery copies.