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Isaca CISA Practice Test 9

Question 80

An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A quarterly access certification is completed by a system administrator who cannot identify the employees' current business responsibilities. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?

  1. Threat monitoring should assess indicator freshness, context and false-positive effects.
  2. Privileged access should be individually attributable and constrained by least privilege.
  3. Provider assurances do not automatically cover customer-operated security responsibilities.
  4. Access reviews require knowledgeable business ownership of authorization decisions.

Explanation

Correct Answer

D:

Access reviews require knowledgeable business ownership of authorization decisions. The corresponding audit procedure is: Inspect reviewer role, HR roster, role descriptions and sample revocation outcomes.

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: Access reviews require knowledgeable business ownership of authorization decisions. The governing distinction is: Access reviews require knowledgeable business ownership of authorization decisions.

B:

Privileged access should be individually attributable and constrained by least privilege. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Privileged database administrators routinely use shared root credentials without individual attribution. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Access reviews require knowledgeable business ownership of authorization decisions. The governing distinction is: Access reviews require knowledgeable business ownership of authorization decisions.

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: Access reviews require knowledgeable business ownership of authorization decisions. The governing distinction is: Access reviews require knowledgeable business ownership of authorization decisions.

Question 81

An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: Security logs are forwarded to a central platform but administrators can disable forwarding without generating an alert. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?

  1. Recommend restricted log changes and independent alerts on collection interruption.
  2. Recommend protected retention and tested retrieval matching the authorized period.
  3. Recommend tracked handoff and approved sanitization verification before disposal.
  4. Recommend independent communications paths or explicit mitigation for shared exposure.

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Recommend restricted log changes and independent alerts on collection interruption. The relevant control principle is: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps. A meaningful follow-up should establish: A controlled forwarding outage triggers timely alerting with identifiable ownership.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Recommend protected retention and tested retrieval matching the authorized period. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A financial application retains operational logs for only a week although investigation rules require six months. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend restricted log changes and independent alerts on collection interruption. The governing distinction is: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps.

C:

Recommend tracked handoff and approved sanitization verification before disposal. 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 recommendation is: Recommend restricted log changes and independent alerts on collection interruption. The governing distinction is: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps.

D:

Recommend independent communications paths or explicit mitigation for shared exposure. 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 recommendation is: Recommend restricted log changes and independent alerts on collection interruption. The governing distinction is: Logging integrity requires control over collection configuration and visibility into gaps.

Question 82

An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A helpdesk repeatedly reopens application errors but closes each ticket without investigating a shared underlying defect. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?

  1. Problem management seeks root causes and prevention of recurring incidents.
  2. Infrastructure component changes require compatibility and interface impact assessment.
  3. Availability analysis must include upstream shared dependencies, not just redundant hosts.
  4. Severe incidents require priority-based classification and timely escalation paths.

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Problem management seeks root causes and prevention of recurring incidents. The corresponding audit procedure is: Group incident trends, known error records and evidence of shared failure conditions.

Incorrect Answers

B:

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: Problem management seeks root causes and prevention of recurring incidents. The governing distinction is: Problem management seeks root causes and prevention of recurring incidents.

C:

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: Problem management seeks root causes and prevention of recurring incidents. The governing distinction is: Problem management seeks root causes and prevention of recurring incidents.

D:

Severe incidents require priority-based classification and timely escalation paths. 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 principle is: Problem management seeks root causes and prevention of recurring incidents. The governing distinction is: Problem management seeks root causes and prevention of recurring incidents.

Question 83

An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A spreadsheet with editable formulas calculates regulatory capital but has no validation or change history. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?

  1. Recommend durable queuing, replay controls and dead-letter monitoring.
  2. Recommend controlled formula protection, independent review and periodic reconciliation.
  3. Recommend sanctioned collaboration or compensating controls and managed migration.
  4. Recommend representative scenario tests including concurrent demand and decision roles.

Explanation

Correct Answer

B:

Recommend controlled formula protection, independent review and periodic reconciliation. The relevant control principle is: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Unauthorized formula changes are detected and regulatory calculations reconcile.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Recommend durable queuing, replay controls and dead-letter monitoring. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A cloud event bus drops messages during an outage and consuming systems never replay them. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend controlled formula protection, independent review and periodic reconciliation. The governing distinction is: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.

C:

Recommend sanctioned collaboration or compensating controls and managed migration. 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 recommendation is: Recommend controlled formula protection, independent review and periodic reconciliation. The governing distinction is: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.

D:

Recommend representative scenario tests including concurrent demand and decision roles. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A company rehearses DR annually on a clean weekend but its live recovery window overlaps payroll peaks and storage contention. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend controlled formula protection, independent review and periodic reconciliation. The governing distinction is: Critical end-user computing requires integrity, access and change controls proportionate to risk.

Question 84

Management reports that this issue has been corrected: An audit query joins employee and privilege tables but mistakenly duplicates rows for users with multiple roles. Which result would provide the STRONGEST assurance that the issue is corrected?

  1. Relevant events match across trusted sources and retention controls prevent undetected alteration.
  2. Each finding links to reviewed evidence and all material open review notes are resolved.
  3. Reported exceptions are reproducible and supported by transaction evidence rather than model scores alone.
  4. Aggregate user counts and sampled privilege mappings agree with the source systems.

Explanation

Correct Answer

D:

Aggregate user counts and sampled privilege mappings agree with the source systems. It addresses audit data analytics. Underlying audit concern: Join multiplicity can distort counts and audit conclusions even when query syntax succeeds.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Relevant events match across trusted sources and retention controls prevent undetected alteration. 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 verification is: Aggregate user counts and sampled privilege mappings agree with the source systems. The governing distinction is: Join multiplicity can distort counts and audit conclusions even when query syntax succeeds.

B:

Each finding links to reviewed evidence and all material open review notes are resolved. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An audit manager signs the report although a junior tester's exceptions have not received independent review. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Aggregate user counts and sampled privilege mappings agree with the source systems. The governing distinction is: Join multiplicity can distort counts and audit conclusions even when query syntax succeeds.

C:

Reported exceptions are reproducible and supported by transaction evidence rather than model scores alone. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An anomaly model ranks high-value payments as suspicious but the auditor cannot explain its scoring or false-positive rate. In the present case, the most directly relevant verification is: Aggregate user counts and sampled privilege mappings agree with the source systems. The governing distinction is: Join multiplicity can distort counts and audit conclusions even when query syntax succeeds.

Question 85

An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A planned analytics launch relies on one database specialist who has no trained backup. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?

  1. Resource governance should use accurate inventory and allocation evidence before investment.
  2. Quality measures can be gamed if closure accuracy and user outcomes are not assessed.
  3. Technology strategy should translate enterprise value objectives into measurable performance outcomes.
  4. Critical skill dependencies should be addressed in resource and continuity planning.

Explanation

Correct Answer

D:

Critical skill dependencies should be addressed in resource and continuity planning. The corresponding audit procedure is: Map service roles, competencies, staffing coverage and recovery requirements.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Resource governance should use accurate inventory and allocation evidence before investment. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An infrastructure team buys additional servers while idle compatible capacity remains unallocated in another business unit. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Critical skill dependencies should be addressed in resource and continuity planning. The governing distinction is: Critical skill dependencies should be addressed in resource and continuity planning.

B:

Quality measures can be gamed if closure accuracy and user outcomes are not assessed. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A shared IT helpdesk closes incidents quickly by marking unresolved requests as user error. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Critical skill dependencies should be addressed in resource and continuity planning. The governing distinction is: Critical skill dependencies should be addressed in resource and continuity planning.

C:

Technology strategy should translate enterprise value objectives into measurable performance outcomes. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An IT strategy document lists new tools but has no targets for customer availability or service costs. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Critical skill dependencies should be addressed in resource and continuity planning. The governing distinction is: Critical skill dependencies should be addressed in resource and continuity planning.

Question 86

An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A lost employee phone still accesses confidential mail because device compliance and remote wipe were never enabled. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?

  1. Mobile management should enforce enrollment, encryption and revocation when devices are lost.
  2. Security program maturity requires operational evidence rather than documentation counts alone.
  3. IoT assets require inventory, secure identity and segmentation proportionate to exposure.
  4. Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation.

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Mobile management should enforce enrollment, encryption and revocation when devices are lost. The corresponding audit procedure is: Review MDM coverage, token expiry, remote-wipe procedures and mailbox sessions.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Security program maturity requires operational evidence rather than documentation counts alone. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A compliance dashboard reports all policies published but does not measure whether their security controls operate. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Mobile management should enforce enrollment, encryption and revocation when devices are lost. The governing distinction is: Mobile management should enforce enrollment, encryption and revocation when devices are lost.

C:

IoT assets require inventory, secure identity and segmentation proportionate to exposure. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Warehouse sensors retain factory passwords and are reachable from the corporate office LAN. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Mobile management should enforce enrollment, encryption and revocation when devices are lost. The governing distinction is: Mobile management should enforce enrollment, encryption and revocation when devices are lost.

D:

Monitoring reliability requires completeness, heartbeat and sensor-health validation. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An endpoint dashboard displays every system as healthy even though remote devices have stopped forwarding telemetry. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Mobile management should enforce enrollment, encryption and revocation when devices are lost. The governing distinction is: Mobile management should enforce enrollment, encryption and revocation when devices are lost.

Question 87

An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A risk register identifies unpatched critical servers but assigns the mitigation decision to the auditor. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?

  1. Management owns risk treatment; the auditor evaluates its governance and effectiveness.
  2. Governance measures should combine schedule, benefit, quality and risk indicators.
  3. Risk aggregation requires consistent criteria and clear reporting of noncomparable dimensions.
  4. Ambiguous governance rights can produce inconsistent and unowned technology decisions.

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Management owns risk treatment; the auditor evaluates its governance and effectiveness. The corresponding audit procedure is: Check enterprise risk roles, server exposure, risk ratings and assigned accountable owners.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Governance measures should combine schedule, benefit, quality and risk indicators. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A change program reports all projects green by budget but ignores delayed security deliverables. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Management owns risk treatment; the auditor evaluates its governance and effectiveness. The governing distinction is: Management owns risk treatment; the auditor evaluates its governance and effectiveness.

C:

Risk aggregation requires consistent criteria and clear reporting of noncomparable dimensions. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: An enterprise applies one numeric risk score to cyber, safety and privacy exposures despite different materiality definitions. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Management owns risk treatment; the auditor evaluates its governance and effectiveness. The governing distinction is: Management owns risk treatment; the auditor evaluates its governance and effectiveness.

D:

Ambiguous governance rights can produce inconsistent and unowned technology decisions. 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 principle is: Management owns risk treatment; the auditor evaluates its governance and effectiveness. The governing distinction is: Management owns risk treatment; the auditor evaluates its governance and effectiveness.

Question 88

An IS auditor evaluates this situation: A new inventory system's disaster-recovery test is deferred because normal transaction testing passes. Which audit principle MOST directly applies to this situation?

  1. Project governance requires clear business ownership and formal acceptance of material risk.
  2. Functional success does not demonstrate recoverability or continuity readiness.
  3. Configuration changes must remain controlled, traceable and aligned with approved baselines.
  4. Readiness gates should include measured nonfunctional acceptance under representative demand.

Explanation

Correct Answer

B:

Functional success does not demonstrate recoverability or continuity readiness. The corresponding audit procedure is: Review criticality, recovery objectives, failover plans and missing test evidence.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Project governance requires clear business ownership and formal acceptance of material risk. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A mobile-banking project reaches launch without an accountable sponsor for unresolved regulatory requirements. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Functional success does not demonstrate recoverability or continuity readiness. The governing distinction is: Functional success does not demonstrate recoverability or continuity readiness.

C:

Configuration changes must remain controlled, traceable and aligned with approved baselines. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A production release changes database permissions manually after the reviewed deployment package was approved. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Functional success does not demonstrate recoverability or continuity readiness. The governing distinction is: Functional success does not demonstrate recoverability or continuity readiness.

D:

Readiness gates should include measured nonfunctional acceptance under representative demand. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A cloud platform is declared ready despite failed high-load tests and no capacity remediation plan. In the present case, the most directly relevant principle is: Functional success does not demonstrate recoverability or continuity readiness. The governing distinction is: Functional success does not demonstrate recoverability or continuity readiness.

Question 89

An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: Regional IT teams follow conflicting change-control procedures even though one enterprise policy applies. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?

  1. Recommend correcting its label and enforcing corresponding access and handling requirements.
  2. Harmonize procedures or formally approve justified exceptions with assigned owners.
  3. Report missing management ownership and recommend formal risk treatment assignment.
  4. Recommend a formally assessed update or compensating control with time-bound approval.

Explanation

Correct Answer

B:

Harmonize procedures or formally approve justified exceptions with assigned owners. The relevant control principle is: Inconsistent procedures can weaken implementation of a common governance control. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Sample changes in each region follow the same mandatory authorization and evidence rules.

Incorrect Answers

A:

Recommend correcting its label and enforcing corresponding access and handling requirements. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A finance spreadsheet contains confidential salary data but is labeled public in the enterprise catalog. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Harmonize procedures or formally approve justified exceptions with assigned owners. The governing distinction is: Inconsistent procedures can weaken implementation of a common governance control.

C:

Report missing management ownership and recommend formal risk treatment assignment. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A risk register identifies unpatched critical servers but assigns the mitigation decision to the auditor. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Harmonize procedures or formally approve justified exceptions with assigned owners. The governing distinction is: Inconsistent procedures can weaken implementation of a common governance control.

D:

Recommend a formally assessed update or compensating control with time-bound approval. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A legacy security standard remains mandatory even though new approved cloud services cannot technically meet it. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Harmonize procedures or formally approve justified exceptions with assigned owners. The governing distinction is: Inconsistent procedures can weaken implementation of a common governance control.

Question 90

An IS auditor is preparing recommendations after reviewing this situation: A chief technology officer both accepts enterprise cyber risk and certifies the independence of the risk oversight function. Which recommendation would BEST address the identified weakness?

  1. Recommend clear separation of risk acceptance from independent oversight and assurance.
  2. Recommend an accountable data steward and controlled master-data quality process.
  3. Recommend an accountable portfolio review that documents strategic rationale and benefit measures.
  4. Recommend lifecycle deletion and exception enforcement across all controlled storage locations.

Explanation

Correct Answer

A:

Recommend clear separation of risk acceptance from independent oversight and assurance. The relevant control principle is: Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles. A meaningful follow-up should establish: Approvals show authorized risk owners and recorded independent challenge for material exposures.

Incorrect Answers

B:

Recommend an accountable data steward and controlled master-data quality process. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: Multiple business units publish different values for the same customer account status without a nominated data steward. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend clear separation of risk acceptance from independent oversight and assurance. The governing distinction is: Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles.

C:

Recommend an accountable portfolio review that documents strategic rationale and benefit measures. This would be relevant to a different issue such as: A technology steering group approves projects without showing how they support the organization's strategic priorities. In the present case, the most directly relevant recommendation is: Recommend clear separation of risk acceptance from independent oversight and assurance. The governing distinction is: Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles.

D:

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 clear separation of risk acceptance from independent oversight and assurance. The governing distinction is: Governance should define risk ownership and objective challenge across accountable roles.

Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) Practice Tests