Symulator egzaminu ISACA CRISC®

The data owner is accountable for the confidentiality of the data that is outsourced to a third party with servers located in a foreign country. The data owner is the person or entity that has the authority and responsibility to classify, label, and protect the data according to the organization’s policies and standards. The data owner is also responsible for defining the data access rights and privileges, and for ensuring that the data is handled in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations. The data owner retains the accountability for the data even when it is outsourced to a third party, and must monitor and evaluate the security performance and compliance of the service provider. The third-party data custodian, the data custodian, and the regional office executive are not accountable for the confidentiality of the data, as they have different roles and responsibilities in the outsourcing process.

Controls can be effectively assessed only by determining how accurately the control objective is achieved within the environment in which they are operating. No conclusion can be reached as to the strength of the control until the control has been adequately tested.

Communication has been identified as one of the biggest reasons why projects succeed or fail. Effective communication is essential for good project management. Communication is a process in which information is passed from one person to another. A manager asks his subordinates to accomplish the task assigned to them. He should successfully pass the information to his subordinates. It is a means of motivating and guiding the employees of an enterprise.

When the cost of control is more than the cost of the potential impact, the risk should be accepted.

Using the list of possible scenarios with threats and impacts will better frame the range of risk and hence can frame more informative results of qualitative analysis.

The organization has not reviewed its encryption standards, would pose the greatest concern for the risk practitioner assessing recent external advancements in quantum computing. Quantum computing has the potential to break conventional encryption algorithms used to secure sensitive data. Therefore, not reviewing and updating encryption standards in light of this emerging technology leaves the organization vulnerable to security breaches and data compromises. While other options may also have implications for risk management and cybersecurity, they do not directly address the specific threat posed by advancements in quantum computing to encryption standards.

The best course of action when a risk practitioner identifies a database application that has been developed and implemented by the business independently of IT is to include the application in IT risk assessments. IT risk assessments are the process of identifying, analyzing, and evaluating the IT-related risks that could affect the achievement of the enterprise’s objectives. By including the application in IT risk assessments, the risk practitioner can identify the potential threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts associated with the application, and recommend the appropriate controls and mitigation strategies to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. Escalating the concern to senior management, documenting the reasons for the exception, and proposing that the application be transferred to IT are not the best courses of action, as they do not address the risk exposure and impact of the application, and may not be feasible or desirable for the business.

Cost of controls is the amount of money or resources that an organization is willing to spend to implement and maintain risk responses. Cost of controls is one of the factors that influences the risk appetite of an organization, as it reflects the trade-off between the benefits and costs of risk responses. Cost of controls helps to determine the optimal level of risk that an organization can accept in pursuit of its objectives, and to align the risk responses with the organization’s strategy, goals, and culture.

Escalation triggers are predefined thresholds or conditions that indicate when a key risk indicator (KRI) has reached a critical level that requires immediate attention or action. Escalation triggers can be based on quantitative or qualitative measures, such as percentages, scores, ratings, or colors. Escalation triggers can help to ensure appropriate action is taken to mitigate risk, because they provide clear and timely signals that alert the risk owners, managers, and other stakeholders of the need to review and revise the risk response plan, or to implement additional or alternative controls. Escalation triggers can also help to communicate and report the risk status and the risk response actions to the senior management and the board, and to obtain their support and approval, if needed. The other options are not the best answer, although they may be related or influential to the KRI and the risk mitigation. Management intervention is a part of the risk response process, which involves the actions and decisions taken by the management to address the risk, such as approving, implementing, or monitoring the controls. Management intervention can help to mitigate risk, but it is not a component of the KRI, rather it is a consequence or a result of the escalation triggers. Risk appetite is the amount and type of risk that an organization is willing to accept or pursue in order to achieve its objectives. Risk appetite can help to define and align the KRI and the escalation triggers with the organizational strategy and culture, but it is not a component of the KRI, rather it is a factor or a driver of the KRI. Board commentary is a part of the risk reporting process, which involves the feedback and guidance provided by the board on the risk management process and performance. Board commentary can help to improve and enhance the KRI and the risk mitigation, but it is not a component of the KRI, rather it is a source or a resource of the KRI.

An incentive program is most likely implemented to manage the risk associated with loss of employees, as it aims to motivate, retain, and reward the employees who have valuable skills, knowledge, and experience, and to reduce the risk of employee turnover, dissatisfaction, or underperformance. Data, reputation, and customer lists are not the organizational assets that are most likely managed by an incentive program, as they are more related to the information, image, or relationship of the organization, respectively, rather than the human capital of the organization.

A threat is any event in which a threat element/actor acts against an asset in a manner that has the potential to directly result in harm. The stem describes the emerging threat of hackers attacking the start-up company.

PKI combines public key encryption with a trusted third party to publish and revoke digital certificates that contain the public key of the sender. Senders can digitally sign a message with their private key and attach their digital certificate (provided by the trusted third party). These characteristics allow senders to provide authentication, integrity validation and nonrepudiation.

Embedding risk management into processes that are aligned with business drivers is the most effective way to integrate risk and compliance management, as it ensures that the risk management objectives and activities are consistent and supportive of the enterprise’s strategic goals and values. It also enables the identification and management of risks and compliance requirements across the enterprise, and the optimization of risk and compliance resources and performance. Embedding risk management into compliance decision-making, designing corrective actions to improve risk response capabilities, and conducting regular self-assessments to verify compliance are not ways to integrate risk and compliance management, but rather components or outcomes of the risk and compliance management process.

Controls deployed according to the risk action plan to manage the risk should provide the desired results because the risk action plan is based on management acceptance of residual risk and the steps in the risk action plan.

The best KPI to measure the maturity of an organization's security incident handling process is the number of recurring security incidents. This metric captures the effectiveness of incident management, including identification, analysis, response, containment, eradication, and recovery. KPI should be aligned with the organization's objectives and provide insight into progress and improvement. The number of new security incidents (b) could also be a useful KPI, but it does not reflect the organization's ability to learn from past incidents and improve processes.

RBAC provides access according to business needs; therefore, it reduces unnecessary access rights and enforces accountability.

A review of the parameter settings will provide a good basis for comparison of the actual configuration to the security policy and will provide reliable audit evidence documentation. Answer: B is incorrect. While procedures may provide a good understanding of how the firewall is supposed to be managed, they do not reliably confirm that the firewall configuration complies with the enterprise's security policy.

When new risks are identified as part of the scope additions, Walter should update the risk register and the project management plan to reflect the responses to the risk event.

The percentage of unpatched IT assets is a KPI that measures the effectiveness of the IT asset management process in ensuring that the IT assets are updated with the latest security patches and are protected from vulnerabilities. This KPI reflects the compliance of the IT assets with the enterprise’s security policy and standards, and the ability of the IT asset management process to identify and remediate any gaps or risks in the IT asset inventory.

The best way to ensure ongoing control effectiveness is to measure trends in control performance. This will help to monitor and evaluate how well the controls are achieving their objectives, and to identify any deviations or anomalies that may indicate control failures or weaknesses. Measuring trends in control performance also helps to provide feedback and assurance to the stakeholders and decision makers, and to support continuous improvement and optimization of the control environment. Establishing policies and procedures, periodically reviewing control design, and obtaining management control attestations are good practices, but they are not the best way to ensure control effectiveness.

Enterprise environmental factor is not an input to the quantitative risk analysis process. The five inputs to the quantitative risk analysis process are risk register, risk management plan, cost management plan, schedule management plan, and the organisational process assets.

The best option to protect against a future recurrence of unauthorized access by a service provider’s administrator is contractual requirements. Data encryption, intrusion prevention system, and two-factor authentication are all technical measures that can enhance the security of the data stored in the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model, but they do not prevent the service provider’s administrator from accessing the data if they have the necessary credentials, keys, or permissions. Contractual requirements, on the other hand, are legal obligations that bind the service provider to respect the customer’s privacy and confidentiality, and to limit the access to the data to only authorized and necessary personnel. Contractual requirements can also specify the penalties or remedies for any breach of contract, which can deter the service provider’s administrator from violating the terms of the agreement. Therefore, contractual requirements are the most effective way to protect against a future recurrence of unauthorized access by a service provider’s administrator.

Productivity, quality and customer service are used for evaluating critical service factors of any particular project.

Internal audit reports provide the most useful information to assess the magnitude of identified deficiencies in the IT control environment. Internal audit reports are independent and objective evaluations of the design and operating effectiveness of the IT controls, as well as the compliance with policies, standards, and regulations. Internal audit reports also provide recommendations for improvement and follow-up actions for the control deficiencies. Internal audit reports can help measure the impact and severity of the control deficiencies, and prioritize the remediation efforts. Peer benchmarks, business impact analysis (BIA) results, and threat analysis results are not as directly related to the assessment of the control deficiencies, although they may provide some contextual or comparative information.

Website defacing is an attack on a website by an unauthorized party that changes the visual appearance of the site or a webpage. These are typically the work of system crackers, who break into a web server and replace the hosted website with one of their own.

While using an industry-based generic list can help to start the risk management process, it might miss risks that are specific to the organization's unique context, operations, or environment. If those specific risks are not included in the generic list, they may not be assessed at all, which would leave the organization exposed to unidentified and unmanaged risks. Hence, the biggest concern with this approach would be the potential overlooking of relevant risk scenarios unique to the organization.

All identified risk events should be entered into the risk register. A risk register is an inventory of risks and exposure associated with those risks. Risks are commonly found in project management practices and provide information to identify, analyze, and manage risks. Typically a risk register contains: #1 A description of the risk. #2 The impact should this event occur The probability of its occurrence. #3 Risk Score (the multiplication of Probability and Impact). #4 A summary of the plan. #5 Response should the event occur. #6 A summary of the mitigation (the actions taken in advance to reduce the probability and/or impact of the event) #7 Ranking of risks by Risk Score to highlight the highest priority risks to all involved.

The best way to ensure the effectiveness of a DLP control, especially one that's intended to prevent the loss of sensitive data like credit card numbers, would be to test the system by attempting to transmit credit card numbers. If the system works as intended, it should detect and block such attempts, thereby proving its effectiveness. While reviewing logs for unauthorized data transfers is an important activity for overall security, it does not proactively test the DLP control's ability to prevent loss of credit card data. Configuring the DLP control to block credit card numbers is a necessary setup step, but it doesn't ensure the effectiveness of the control. The effectiveness can only be ensured by testing. Testing the DLP rule change control process could be important to ensure changes to rules are properly managed, but it does not directly validate the effectiveness of the DLP control in preventing the loss of credit card data.

A comparison of current risk levels with established tolerance is the most useful information for senior management when determining an appropriate risk response, as it shows the gap between the actual risk exposure and the desired risk exposure of the enterprise. This gap indicates the need and urgency for risk response actions, and helps senior management to prioritize and allocate resources for risk mitigation. A comparison of current risk levels with established tolerance also reflects the effectiveness of the existing risk management process and controls, and enables senior management to monitor and adjust the risk strategy and objectives accordingly.

The best way to address the request for IT risk profile reports associated with specific departments would be to use key risk indicators (KRIs), which are metrics that provide information on the level of exposure to a given operational risk. KRIs can help to monitor the changes in risk levels over time, identify emerging risks, and trigger risk response actions when the risk exceeds the acceptable thresholds. KRIs can also help to allocate resources for risk mitigation by prioritizing the risks that pose the greatest threat to the business objectives and performance of each department. The other options are not the best ways to address the request, as they do not provide the same level of insight and guidance as KRIs. The cost associated with each control may indicate the efficiency of the risk mitigation, but not the effectiveness or the necessity. Historical risk assessments may provide some baseline data, but not the current or future risk trends. Information from the risk register may include too much detail or irrelevant information, and not the key risk factors that need to be monitored and reported.

The procurement management plan is not one of the eleven inputs for the risk identification process. The eleven inputs to this process are: risk management plan, activity cost estimates, activity duration estimates, scope baseline, stakeholder register, cost management plan, schedule management plan, quality management plan, project documents, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets.

The factor that primarily influences an organization’s capability to implement a risk management framework is the maturity of its risk culture, as it reflects the degree of awareness, understanding, and commitment of the organization’s stakeholders towards the risk management objectives, values, and practices, and affects the adoption and integration of the risk management framework across the organization. The other options are not the primary factors, as they are more related to the guidance, competence, or approval of the risk management framework, respectively, rather than the influence of the risk management framework.

A change in the risk profile would be the most important information to communicate to stakeholders after an annual risk assessment is completed, as it indicates how the risk landscape of the organization has changed over time, and how it affects the achievement of the business goals and objectives. A decrease in threats, an increase in reported vulnerabilities, and an increase in identified risk scenarios are also important information, but they are not the most important, as they are specific aspects of the risk profile, and do not provide a holistic view of the risk exposure and appetite of the organization.

The most effective key performance indicator (KPI) for change management is the percentage of successful changes. This KPI measures the success rate of changes that have been implemented without any significant negative impact on the organization and its operations. It provides insights into the effectiveness of the change management process by analyzing the number of changes that have been implemented successfully against the total number of changes initiated. It is a critical KPI for demonstrating the value of the change management process to stakeholders, including management, customers, and other users. Although other KPIs such as the number of changes implemented, percentage of changes with a fallback plan, and average time required to implement a change are useful, they are not as effective in measuring the overall success of the change management process.

Information that is no longer required should be analyzed under the retention policy to determine whether the organization is required to maintain the data for business, legal or regulatory reasons. Keeping data that are no longer required unnecessarily consumes resources; may be in breach of legal and regulatory obligations regarding retention of data; and, in the case of sensitive personal information, can increase the risk of data compromise.

The risk practitioner’s most important responsibility in managing risk acceptance that exceeds risk tolerance is to verify authorization by senior management. Risk acceptance is a risk response strategy that involves acknowledging and agreeing to bear the risk and its potential consequences. Risk tolerance is the acceptable or allowable level of variation or deviation from the expected or desired outcomes or objectives. When the risk acceptance exceeds the risk tolerance, it means that the organization is taking on more risk than it can handle or afford. Therefore, the risk practitioner should verify that the risk acceptance is authorized by senior management, who have the authority and accountability for making risk management decisions and ensuring that they are aligned with the organizational strategy and objectives. The other options are not as important as verifying authorization by senior management, as they are related to the adjustments, conditions, or documentation of the risk acceptance, not the approval or validation of the risk acceptance.

Blame culture should be avoided. It is the most effective inhibitor of relevant and efficient communication. In a blame culture, business units tend to point the finger at IT when projects are not delivered on time or do not meet expectations. In doing so, they fail to realize how the business unit's involvement up front affects project success. In extreme cases, the business unit may assign blame for a failure to meet the expectations that the unit never clearly communicated. Executive leadership must identify and quickly control a blame culture if collaboration is to be fostered throughout the enterprise.

As quantitative analysis is data-driven, it: Allows data classification and counting. Allows statistical models to be constructed, which help in explaining what is being observed. Generalizes findings for a larger population and direct comparisons between two different sets of data or observations. Produces statistically reliable results. Allows the discovery of phenomena which are likely to be genuine and merely occur by chance.

The accountable party is senior management. While they may not be responsible for executing the risk management program, they are ultimately liable for the acceptance and mitigation of all risks.

Risk scenarios provide the most helpful information in identifying risk in an organization, because they describe the possible events, causes, effects, and impacts of a risk on the organization’s objectives and processes. Risk scenarios help to identify the sources, drivers, and indicators of risk, as well as the potential consequences and likelihood of occurrence. The other options are not as helpful as risk scenarios. Risk registers are tools to document and track the identified risks, their characteristics, and their status, but they do not provide information on how to identify risks in the first place. Risk analysis is a process to assess the likelihood and impact of the identified risks, and to prioritize them based on their severity, but it does not provide information on how to identify risks in the first place. Risk responses are actions to address the identified risks, either by reducing, transferring, avoiding, or accepting them, but they do not provide information on how to identify risks in the first place.

End-user awareness is the best choice as it addresses the underlying issue of human error and helps users to become more aware and vigilant about phishing. While other options, such as intrusion detection system, application hardening, and spam filters, can help prevent phishing to some extent, they are not as effective as end-user awareness. It is important to note that a combination of different defenses may be necessary to build a strong security posture against phishing attacks.

A risk response is the action or plan that is taken to address a specific risk that has been identified, analyzed, and evaluated. It can be one of the following types: mitigate, transfer, avoid, or accept. The highest priority when developing a risk response is to ensure that it aligns with the organization’s risk appetite, which is the amount and type of risk that the organization is willing to accept in pursuit of its goals. The risk appetite is usually expressed as a range or a threshold, and it is aligned with the organization’s strategy and culture. Aligning the risk response with the organization’s risk appetite ensures that the risk response is consistent, appropriate, and proportional to the level and nature of the risk, and that it supports the organization’s objectives and values. It also helps to optimize the balance between risk and return, and to create and protect value for the organization and its stakeholders. The other options are not the highest priority when developing a risk response, because they do not address the fundamental question of whether the risk response is suitable and acceptable for the organization.

The primary objective for selecting risk response options is to reduce risk to an acceptable level. Risk response options are the possible actions that can be taken to address the risks that have been identified and analyzed in the risk management process. Risk response options can be classified into four categories: avoid, transfer, mitigate, and accept for negative risks (or threats), and exploit, share, enhance, and accept for positive risks (or opportunities). The selection of the risk response options depends on various factors, such as the risk level, the risk appetite and tolerance, the cost and benefit, and the feasibility and availability of the options. The main goal of selecting the risk response options is to reduce the risk to a level that is acceptable to the organization, which means that the risk exposure is within the boundaries of the risk criteria and the risk appetite. The other options are not the primary objective for selecting risk response options, although they may be related or beneficial. Identifying compensating controls is a technique to implement additional or alternative controls when the existing controls are not effective or sufficient to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. Minimizing residual risk is a result of selecting and implementing the risk response options, but it is not the main purpose. Residual risk is the risk that remains after the risk response, and it may or may not be acceptable depending on the risk appetite and tolerance. Reducing risk factors is a method to decrease the likelihood or impact of the risk by addressing the root causes or sources of the risk. However, reducing risk factors does not necessarily mean that the risk is reduced to an acceptable level, as there may be other factors or uncertainties that affect the risk.

When you fast track a project, the risks associated with the project tend to increase. Fast tracking is a project management technique that compresses the project schedule by overlapping or performing activities in parallel that would usually be done sequentially. While this approach can shorten the overall duration of the project, it can increase the risk of negative consequences such as missed deadlines, lack of quality control, or even increased safety risks. Fast tracking can also cause communication breakdowns, as the speed of the project may lead to misunderstandings or missed information. While additional resources are often required in a fast-tracked project, it is the increased risks that need to be carefully considered when deciding whether or not to attempt to accelerate a project.

The Business Continuity Strategy is an outline of the approach to ensure the continuity of Vital Business Functions in the case of disaster events. The Business Continuity Strategy is prepared by the business and serves as a starting point for producing the IT Service Continuity Strategy. Answer: C is incorrect. Disaster Invocation Guideline is a document produced by IT Service Continuity Management with detailed instructions on when and how to invoke the procedure for fighting a disaster. Most importantly, the guideline defines the first step to be taken by the Service Desk after learning that a disaster has occurred.

The best recommendation to further reduce the impact of ransomware attacks would be to implement continuous data backup controls. Ransomware attacks can encrypt an organization's data, rendering it inaccessible until a ransom is paid. Continuous data backup controls ensure that copies of critical data are regularly and automatically backed up to a secure location. In the event of a ransomware attack, the organization can restore its data from backups without needing to pay the ransom.

Changes in the business environment in terms of new threats, vulnerabilities or changes to information assets deployment will act as a main trigger for conducting comprehensive risk assessment on a periodic basis. Based on periodic risk assessment, policies are modified rather than the other way around where risk assessment is performed based on policy changes already made.

The information security infrastructure should be based on a risk assessment.

The greatest concern with finding unreturned and unencrypted laptops belonging to former employees is the risk of unauthorized access to organizational data. The laptops may contain sensitive or confidential information that could be compromised if they fall into the wrong hands. This could result in data breaches, reputational damage, legal liabilities, or regulatory penalties for the organization. Therefore, it is important to have proper controls in place to ensure that the laptops are returned, wiped, or encrypted when the employees leave the organization.

An analysis of the security logs that illustrate the sequence of events is the most important information for the person responsible for managing the incident, as it can help to identify the source, scope, and impact of the security breach, and to determine the appropriate response actions. An analysis of the security logs can also provide evidence for forensic investigation and legal action, and help to prevent or mitigate future incidents by identifying the root causes and vulnerabilities.

This is an example of preventive control as the problem has not yet occurred, only it is detected and accounted for. By removing the scope items from the project work, the project manager is aiming to remove the added risk events, hence it is a preventive control. Preventive control is a type of internal control that is used to avoid undesirable events, errors and other occurrences, which an organization has determined could have a negative material effect on a process or end product.

The project manager's responsibilities related to the change request approval process are judging the impact of each change request on project activities, schedule and budget, and also archiving copies of all change requests in the project file.

Performing a business impact analysis is the moat important for a risk practitioner to have an awareness of an organization's processes. A business impact analysis (BIA) identifies all critical business processes, their dependencies, and the impact of their disruption on the organization's operations, profitability, and reputation. A BIA enables risk practitioners to prioritize risk management efforts, allocate resources effectively, and ensure that all critical processes have appropriate control mechanisms in place. Although identifying potential sources of risk and establishing risk guidelines are important steps in risk management, they are prescriptive and rely on the results of a BIA.

Risk response activities must be assigned to the responsible person or group; if this is not included, it will be unclear who will implement the countermeasure.

Laws and regulations of the country of origin may not be enforceable in foreign countries and conversely, it is also true that laws and regulations of the foreign outsourcer may also impact the enterprise. Hence violation of applicable laws may not be recognized or rectified due to lack of knowledge of the local laws.

To ensure business alignment, the following control activities are necessary: 1) Establishing business requirements for IT-managed data. 2) Periodically/Regularly identifying critical data impacting business operations, following the risk management model, IT services, and business continuity plan.

Key risk indicators (KRIs) are most useful during the monitoring phase of the risk management process, as they provide timely and relevant information on the current and future risk status and performance. KRIs are metrics that measure the level of risk exposure and the effectiveness of risk response strategies, and they have predefined thresholds that indicate the acceptable or unacceptable risk status. By monitoring the KRIs, the risk practitioner can identify and report any changes or deviations in the risk level, and take appropriate actions to manage the risk. KRIs are not most useful during the analysis, identification, or response selection phases, as they do not help to assess the likelihood or impact of the risk, to find the sources or causes of the risk, or to evaluate or choose the optimal risk response option.

Applying risk appetite is the most important topic to cover in a training session to communicate risk assessment methodologies. Risk appetite is the amount and type of risk that an organization is willing to accept in pursuit of its objectives. It is a key element of the risk management framework and influences the risk assessment process. Applying risk appetite helps to ensure a consistent risk view within the organization by providing a common basis for evaluating and prioritizing risks, aligning risk responses with business goals, and communicating risk information to stakeholders. The other options are not the most important topics to cover in a training session to communicate risk assessment methodologies, although they may be relevant and useful. Applying risk factors is a technique to quantify or qualify the likelihood and impact of risks based on predefined criteria or scales. Referencing risk event data is a source of information to identify and analyze risks based on historical or current incidents. Understanding risk culture is a factor that affects the risk behavior and attitude of the organization and its people.

Risk management is the process of identifying, analyzing, evaluating, treating, monitoring, and communicating the risks that may affect the achievement of an organization’s objectives. The activity that best facilitates effective risk management throughout the organization is conducting periodic risk assessments, which are the systematic and structured methods of identifying and analyzing the potential sources and consequences of risk events. By conducting periodic risk assessments, an organization can proactively identify and prioritize the risks that pose the greatest threat or opportunity, and implement the appropriate risk responses to optimize the risk exposure and align it with the risk appetite and tolerance.

Control testing is the process of verifying that the risk mitigation controls are designed and operating effectively, and that they achieve the intended objectives and outcomes. Control testing can involve various methods, such as observation, inspection, inquiry, re-performance, or simulation. Control testing results can provide evidence and assurance that the implementation of a risk mitigation control has been completed as intended, and that the control is functioning properly and consistently. Control testing results can also identify any issues or deficiencies in the control design or operation, and recommend corrective actions or improvements. The other options are not as helpful as control testing results, because they do not provide a direct and objective verification of the control implementation, but rather focus on other aspects or outputs of the risk management process. An updated risk register is a document that records and tracks the identified risks, their characteristics, and their status. An updated risk register can reflect the changes in the risk profile and exposure after the implementation of a risk mitigation control, but it does not verify that the control implementation has been completed as intended, or that the control is effective and reliable. Risk assessment results are the outputs of the risk analysis and evaluation process, which measure the impact and likelihood of the risks, and assign a risk rating and priority. Risk assessment results can indicate the level of risk exposure and the need for risk mitigation controls, but they do not verify that the control implementation has been completed as intended, or that the control is effective and reliable. Technical control validation is the process of ensuring that the technical aspects of a control, such as hardware, software, or network components, are configured and functioning correctly. Technical control validation can verify that the control implementation meets the technical specifications and requirements, but it does not verify that the control implementation has been completed as intended, or that the control is effective and reliable from a business perspective.

CRO is the individual who oversees all aspects of risk management across the enterprise. The chief risk officer has the main accountability for collecting data and articulating risk. If there is any fault in these processes then CRO should be answerable.

Organizational process asset is not a tool and technique, but an input to the quantitative risk analysis process. Quantitative Risk Analysis is a process to assess the probability of achieving particular project objectives, quantify the effect of risks on the whole project objective, and prioritize the risks based on the impact on overall project risk. The quantitative Risk Analysis process analyzes the effect of a risk event deriving a numerical value. It also presents a quantitative approach to building decisions in the presence of uncertainty. The inputs for Quantitative Risk Analysis are 1. Organizational process assets, 2. Project Scope Statement, 3. Risk Management Plan, 4. Risk Register, 5. Project Management Plan.

When evaluating enterprise IT risk management, the most important action is to confirm the organization's risk appetite and tolerance." The effectiveness of IT risk management hinges on its alignment with the organization's overall risk appetite and tolerance levels. This step ensures that risk management efforts are aligned with the organization's strategic objectives and priorities. While the other options (creating new control processes, reviewing alignment with the investment plan, reporting identified risk scenarios to senior management) are all relevant aspects of IT risk management, they should be undertaken in light of the organization's risk appetite and tolerance to ensure that the risk management efforts are appropriate and aligned with the organization's risk management strategy.

IT and business misalignment is the risk that the IT objectives, plans, and activities are not aligned with the business goals, needs, and expectations. This can result in wasted resources, missed opportunities, poor performance, and customer dissatisfaction. One of the best ways to mitigate this risk is to involve the business process owner in IT strategy. The business process owner is the person who has the authority and responsibility for a specific business process and its outcomes. By involving the business process owner in IT strategy, the organization can ensure that the IT initiatives and solutions are relevant, effective, and beneficial for the business process and its stakeholders. The business process owner can also provide valuable input, feedback, and support for the IT strategy and its implementation. The other options are not the best ways to mitigate the risk associated with IT and business misalignment, although they may be helpful and complementary. Establishing business key performance indicators (KPIs) is a technique to measure and monitor the achievement of business objectives and outcomes. However, KPIs do not necessarily ensure that the IT strategy is aligned with the business strategy or that the IT activities support the business activities. Introducing an established framework for IT architecture is a method to design and implement the IT infrastructure, systems, and services in a consistent and coherent manner. However, an IT architecture framework does not guarantee that the IT architecture is aligned with the business architecture or that the IT capabilities meet the business requirements. Establishing key risk indicators (KRIs) is a tool to monitor and communicate the level of exposure to a given risk or the potential impact of a risk. However, KRIs do not directly address the risk of IT and business misalignment or the actions needed to align them.

A risk register is a tool that records and tracks the information about the identified risks, such as the risk description, category, owner, probability, impact, response strategy, status, and action plan. The most important consideration for effectively maintaining a risk register is to update it frequently, as the risk environment is dynamic and subject to change. By updating the risk register regularly, an organization can ensure that the risk information is current, accurate, and relevant, and that the risk responses are timely, appropriate, and effective.

The probability of achieving time and cost estimates is an update that is produced from the Quantitative risk analysis process. In Qualitative risk analysis probability of occurrence of a specific risk is identified but not of achieving time and cost estimates.

Crashing the project adds labor and resources to the project and this decision will cause the need for an update to the human resource management plan. Crashing is a schedule compression technique to obtain the greatest amount of compression for the least incremental cost. Crashing works for activities where additional resources will shorten the duration. Approving overtime, bringing in additional resources, paying to expedite delivery to activities on the critical path are examples of crashing.

The probability that an actual return on an investment will be lower than the investor's expectations is termed an investment risk or expense risk. All investments have some level of risk associated with it due to the unpredictability of the market's direction. This includes consideration of the overall IT investment portfolio.

Expert judgment is utilized in developing risk responses, including feedback and guidance from risk management experts and those internal to the project qualified to assist in this process. Expert judgment is a technique based on a set of criteria that has been acquired in a specific knowledge area or product area. It is obtained when the project manager or project team requires specialized knowledge that they do not possess. Expert judgment involves people most familiar with the work of creating estimates. Preferably, the project team member who will be doing the task should complete the estimates. Expert judgment is applied when performing administrative closure activities, and experts should ensure the project or phase closure is performed to the appropriate standards.

Groups have differing levels of responsibility and expertise; each group should receive the same message tailored to its role and level of understanding.

It is the responsibility of the risk owners to approve the cost of controls implemented for mitigating risks. Risk owners are ultimately responsible for the risks within their area of accountability and must weigh the costs and benefits of alternative risk responses. They must ensure that adequate controls are in place to mitigate key risks, the controls are effective, and their ongoing operation is reliably monitored. Risk practitioner advises on risk management, but their role may not include cost approval for controls. Control owner ensures that controls conform to their objectives and controls are functioning satisfactorily. Control implementer is responsible for physically implementing and maintaining the controls rather than approving cost.

The best type of indicators to measure the effectiveness of an organization’s firewall rule set are key control indicators (KCIs). A firewall is a device or software that filters the network traffic based on a set of rules or policies. A firewall rule set is the configuration of the firewall that defines the criteria for allowing or blocking the traffic. A key control indicator is a metric that measures the performance and effectiveness of a control in achieving its objectives and mitigating the risks. A key control indicator can help to evaluate the adequacy and efficiency of the firewall rule set, and to identify any gaps, weaknesses, or issues that need to be addressed. Key risk indicators (KRIs), key management indicators (KMIs), and key performance indicators (KPIs) are not as suitable as key control indicators, as they measure different aspects of the risk management process, such as the level and nature of the risk exposure, the alignment and integration of the risk management activities, and the achievement of the risk management goals and targets.

Fast tracking allows entire phases of the project to overlap and generally increases risks within the project. Fast tracking is a technique for compressing project schedule. In fast tracking, phases are overlapped that would normally be done in sequence. It is shortening the project schedule without reducing the project scope.

Good practice states that data should be kept only as long as required by business or regulation requirements.

A review of the enterprise's strategic plan is the first step in designing effective IS controls that would fit the enterprise's long-term plans.

Security code reviews for the entire application are the best measure and involve reviewing the entire source code to detect all instances of back doors.

An incident is an unplanned event that disrupts or degrades the normal operation or performance of an IT service, system, or network1. An incident can cause various negative impacts, such as service outages, data losses, security breaches, or customer dissatisfaction2. An incident can recur if the underlying cause or problem of the incident is not properly identified and resolved. The best course of action to help reduce the probability of an incident recurring is to perform root cause analysis. Root cause analysis is a systematic process of finding and eliminating the fundamental cause or problem that led to the incident4. Root cause analysis can help to: - Prevent or minimize the recurrence of the incident by addressing the source of the problem, not just the symptoms or effects. - Identify and implement corrective or preventive actions that can effectively resolve or mitigate the problem. - Learn from the incident and improve the IT service, system, or network quality and reliability. - Enhance the incident management and problem management processes and capabilities.

Having an interdisciplinary team contribute to risk management ensures that all areas are adequately considered and included in the risk assessment processes to support an enterprisewide view of risk.

Some of the most important measures of a mature IT risk management process are those related to a risk-aware culture, an enterprise where people recognize the risk inherent to their activities, are able to discuss it and are willing to work together to resolve the risk.

Scalability is the aspect of the monitoring tool that ensures that it has the ability to keep up with the growth of an enterprise. It refers to the capability of the monitoring tool to handle an increasing amount of data as the enterprise grows, without sacrificing performance. As the amount of data increases, the monitoring tool should be able to handle the load by scaling up its resources (e.g., processing power, memory) or by distributing the load across multiple servers. Scalability is an important consideration when selecting a monitoring tool as it ensures that the tool can accommodate the needs of the enterprise both now and in the future.

Integrating risk and security requirements in an organization’s enterprise architecture (EA) helps to ensure that information assets are consistently managed throughout their life cycle, and that the risks associated with them are identified and mitigated.

Penetration test results are the most helpful resource to a risk practitioner when updating the likelihood rating in the risk register. Penetration testing is a method of simulating real-world attacks on an IT system or network to identify and exploit vulnerabilities and measure the potential impact. Penetration test results provide empirical evidence of the existence and severity of vulnerabilities, as well as the ease and probability of exploitation. These results can help the risk practitioner to update the likelihood rating of the risks associated with the vulnerabilities, and to prioritize the risk response actions. Risk control assessment, audit reports with risk ratings, and business impact analysis (BIA) are also useful resources for risk management, but they are not as directly related to the likelihood rating as penetration test results.

The organization's management remains accountable for risk associated with outsourced operations. Even though the IT security operations have been outsourced to a third party, the organization is responsible for the security and confidentiality of its sensitive information. Therefore, the organization's management must ensure that they select a competent and trustworthy third-party vendor, establish a service-level agreement that includes security requirements and monitoring mechanisms, and remain liable for any security breaches.

The main benefit of using a top-down approach to develop risk scenarios is that it establishes the relationship between risk events and organizational objectives. A top-down approach is a method of risk identification and analysis that starts with the organization’s strategic objectives and then identifies the potential risk events that could affect or prevent the achievement of those objectives. A top-down approach helps to establish the relationship between risk events and organizational objectives, because it links the risk scenarios to the organization’s mission, vision, values, and strategy, and it prioritizes the risk scenarios based on their impact and relevance to the organization’s objectives. A top-down approach also helps to align and communicate the risk scenarios with the organization’s stakeholders, such as the board, management, and business units, and to facilitate the risk response and monitoring activities. The other options are not the main benefit of using a top-down approach, although they may be part of or derived from the top-down approach. Describing risk events specific to technology used by the enterprise, using hypothetical and generic risk events specific to the enterprise, and helping management and the risk practitioner to refine risk scenarios are all activities or outcomes that could be performed or achieved by using a top-down approach, but they are not the primary purpose or result of the top-down approach.

Change requests are not one of the four inputs to the Risk Monitoring and Controlling Process. The four inputs are the risk register, the project management plan, work performance information, and performance reports.

This risk event has the potential to save money on project costs and the organization is hiring a vendor to ensure that all these savings are being realized. Hence this risk event involves sharing with a third party to help ensure that the opportunity takes place.

The most helpful input to develop risk scenarios associated with hosting an organization’s key IT applications in a cloud environment is conducting a risk workshop with key stakeholders. A risk workshop is a facilitated session that involves brainstorming, discussing, and analyzing the potential risks and opportunities related to a specific topic or project. A risk workshop helps to identify and prioritize the most relevant and significant risk scenarios, as well as to explore the possible causes, impacts, and responses. A risk workshop also helps to engage and align the key stakeholders, such as the business owners, IT managers, cloud providers, and risk experts, and to leverage their knowledge, experience, and perspectives. The other options are not as helpful as conducting a risk workshop, although they may provide some input or information for the risk scenario development. Reviewing the results of independent audits, performing a site visit to the cloud provider’s data center, and performing a due diligence review are all activities that can help to assess the current state and performance of the cloud environment, but they do not necessarily generate or evaluate the risk scenarios.

A reliable system rollback plan will allow the administrators to roll back the patches from the system in case the patches affect the system negatively.

To optimize return on security investment, the primary focus should be identifying the important information assets and protecting them appropriately to optimize investment (i.e., important information assets get more protection than less critical assets).

Organizational risk culture is the term describing the values, beliefs, knowledge, attitudes and understanding about risk shared by a group of people with a common purpose. Organizational risk culture influences how the organization identifies, assesses, and manages risks, and how it aligns its risk appetite and tolerance with its objectives and strategies. The best indication of a mature organizational risk culture is that risk owners understand and accept accountability for risk, because it means that the organization: - Clearly defines and assigns the roles and responsibilities of the risk owners, who are the individuals or groups who have the authority and ability to manage the risks within their scope or domain. - Empowers and supports the risk owners to perform their risk management duties, such as identifying, assessing, responding, monitoring, and reporting the risks. - Holds the risk owners accountable for the outcomes and consequences of the risks, and evaluates their performance and compliance with the risk policies, standards, and procedures. - Encourages and rewards the risk owners for demonstrating risk awareness and competence, and for contributing to the risk management improvement and learning. The other options are not the best indications of a mature organizational risk culture, but rather some of the elements or aspects of it. Corporate risk appetite is the amount and type of risk that the organization is willing to accept in order to achieve its objectives. Corporate risk appetite is communicated to staff members to guide their risk decision making and behavior, and to ensure the consistency and alignment of the risk taking and tolerance across the organization. Risk policy is the document that establishes the principles, framework, and process for managing the risks within the organization. Risk policy is published and acknowledged by employees to ensure their awareness and compliance with the risk management expectations and requirements. Management is the group of individuals who have the authority and responsibility to direct and control the organization’s activities and resources. Management encourages the reporting of policy breaches to ensure the transparency and accountability of the risk management performance and outcomes, and to identify and address the risk management issues and gaps.

Scenario analysis and stress testing are the best methods to enable an organization to determine whether external emerging risk factors will impact the organization’s risk profile, as they help to simulate and evaluate the potential outcomes and effects of various risk events and scenarios on the enterprise’s objectives and operations. Scenario analysis and stress testing can help to identify and assess the impact of external emerging risk factors, such as changes in the market, technology, regulation, or environment, and to measure the resilience and preparedness of the enterprise to cope with these factors. Control identification and mitigation, adoption of a compliance-based approach, and prevention and detection techniques are not the best methods to enable an organization to determine whether external emerging risk factors will impact the organization’s risk profile, as they do not help to simulate and evaluate the potential outcomes and effects of various risk events and scenarios, but rather to manage and monitor the existing or known risks.

When creating risk scenarios the most important factor to consider is the likely threats or threat actions that will act upon the risk.

Maintaining a documented risk register improves decision-making related to risk response because a risk register captures the population of relevant risk scenarios and helps provide a basis for prioritisation of risk responses.

A network vulnerability assessment intends to identify known vulnerabilities that are based on common misconfigurations and missing updates.

Fault tree analysis (FIA) is a technique that provides a systematic description of the combination of possible occurrences in a system, which can result in an undesirable outcome. It combines hardware failures and human failures.

The business owner and security manager should be notified and the risk should be documented on the operational or security risk register to enable appropriate risk treatment.

This chart is a probability-impact matrix in a quantitative analysis process. The probability and financial impact of each risk are learned through research, testing, and subject matter experts. The probability of the event is multiplied by the financial impact to create a risk event value for each risk. The sum of the risk event values will lead to the contingency reserve for the project.

The best recommendation to the control owner when an existing control has deteriorated over time is to discuss risk mitigation options with the risk owner. This is because the risk owner is the person or entity who has the authority and accountability to make decisions and take actions regarding the risk, including the selection and implementation of the risk response strategies. The control owner is the person or entity who is responsible for the design, operation, and maintenance of the control, but not for the overall risk management. By discussing risk mitigation options with the risk owner, the control owner can communicate the current status and performance of the control, and collaborate on finding the most appropriate and effective solution to address the risk and the control deterioration. The other options are not the best recommendation to the control owner, because they do not involve the risk owner, who is the key stakeholder in the risk management process.

Legal obligations are one of the principal external requirements to which compliance should be monitored.

Emerging IT risk scenarios, should be reported periodically to the risk committee due to its significance in maintaining proactive risk management strategies. The identification and analysis of emerging IT risk scenarios are crucial for staying ahead of potential threats and vulnerabilities in a rapidly evolving technological landscape. By regularly reporting these scenarios to the risk committee, organizations can ensure timely assessment and mitigation efforts, aligning with best practices in risk governance. Other options D may also warrant reporting to relevant committees or stakeholders, but they do not directly address the dynamic nature of emerging IT risks, which require ongoing attention and adaptation in risk management strategies.

Inherent risk is the most likely to increase as a result of the new initiative, because it is the risk that exists before any controls or mitigating factors are applied. Inherent risk reflects the natural or raw level of exposure that the organization faces from a given risk source or scenario. Accepting credit card payments from customers via the corporate website introduces new sources and types of risk, such as fraud, theft, data breach, or non-compliance, that increase the inherent risk level of the organization. Risk tolerance, risk appetite, and residual risk are all related to the risk management process, but they are not the most likely to increase as a result of the new initiative, as they depend on the organization’s risk strategy, objectives, and controls.

The control owner is the person who is accountable for ensuring that a control is designed, implemented, and operated effectively to mitigate risk. The control owner is also responsible for monitoring the performance of the control and reporting any issues or deficiencies. The risk manager is the person who oversees the risk management process and ensures that risks are identified, assessed, and treated appropriately. The control operator is the person who executes the control activities on a day-to-day basis. The risk treatment owner is the person who is accountable for implementing the risk response strategy and ensuring that the residual risk is within the acceptable level.

Risk appetite is the broad-based amount of risk that an organization is willing to accept in pursuit of its objectives. Risk appetite reflects the level of risk that the organization is prepared to take to achieve its strategic goals, and provides guidance and boundaries for the risk management activities and decisions. To define the risk management strategy, which is the plan and approach for managing the risks that may affect the achievement of the organization’s objectives, the factor that must be set by the board of directors is the risk appetite. The board of directors is the highest governing body of the organization, and has the ultimate responsibility and authority for setting the direction and oversight of the organization. By setting the risk appetite, the board of directors can communicate its expectations and preferences for the risk exposure and performance of the organization, and ensure alignment with the business objectives and strategies.

The best indicator that additional or improved controls are needed in the environment is when risk events and losses exceed risk tolerance. Risk tolerance is the acceptable level of variation in performance or outcomes relative to the achievement of objectives. Risk events and losses are the negative consequences of risk that have occurred or are expected to occur. When risk events and losses exceed risk tolerance, it means that the existing controls are not sufficient or effective to prevent or mitigate the risk, and that the organization is exposed to unacceptable levels of risk that could impair its ability to achieve its objectives. Therefore, additional or improved controls are needed to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. Management decreasing organizational risk appetite, the risk register and portfolio not including all risk scenarios, and emerging risk scenarios being identified are not as clear and direct indicators that additional or improved controls are needed in the environment, as they do not necessarily reflect the actual performance or outcomes of the risk management process.

Risk management identifies and prioritizes risk and relates the aggregated risk to the enterprise’s risk appetite and risk tolerance levels to enable risk-aware decision-making.

An enterprise may choose to accept risk without knowing the correct level of risk that is being accepted; this may result in accusations of negligence.

Controls are most effective when they are designed to reduce vulnerabilities affecting the enterprise. Vulnerabilities can result from external relationships, such as sole-source suppliers.

The most reliable evidence of the effectiveness of security controls implemented for a web application is penetration testing. Penetration testing is a process that simulates an attack on the web application by exploiting its vulnerabilities, using the same tools and techniques as real attackers. Penetration testing helps to evaluate the effectiveness of security controls, because it helps to verify that the security controls can prevent, detect, or mitigate the attack, and to measure the impact and severity of the attack. Penetration testing also helps to identify and address any weaknesses or gaps in the security controls, and to provide recommendations and solutions for improving the security of the web application. The other options are not as reliable as penetration testing, although they may provide some evidence of the effectiveness of security controls. IT general controls audit, vulnerability assessment, and fault tree analysis are all examples of analytical or evaluative methods, which may help to assess or estimate the effectiveness of security controls, but they do not necessarily test or measure the effectiveness of security controls in a realistic scenario.

The most effective way to help ensure an organization’s current risk scenarios are relevant is to involve the stakeholders in the risk assessment process, because they are the ones who have the knowledge, experience, and interest in the risk scenarios that affect their domains and objectives. The involvement of stakeholders can help to identify and validate the risk scenarios, to provide input and feedback on the risk analysis and evaluation, and to ensure the alignment and integration of the risk scenarios with the business processes and goals. The other options are not as effective as the involvement of stakeholders. Adoption of industry best practices is a good way to improve the quality and consistency of the risk scenarios, but it does not ensure their relevance to the organization’s specific context and environment. Industry best practices are general and standardized guidelines that may not reflect the organization’s unique risks and needs. Review of risk scenarios by independent parties is a useful way to verify and enhance the accuracy and reliability of the risk scenarios, but it does not ensure their relevance to the organization’s internal and external stakeholders. Independent parties are objective and impartial reviewers who may not have the same knowledge, experience, and interest as the stakeholders. Documentation of potential risk in business cases is a helpful way to communicate and justify the importance and value of the risk scenarios, but it does not ensure their relevance to the organization’s current and future state. Business cases are concise and persuasive documents that may not capture all the aspects and dimensions of the risk scenarios.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) identifies the following principles of risk management. Risk management should: 1) create value, 2) be an integral part of organizational processes be part of decision making, 3) explicitly address uncertainty be systematic and structured, 4) be based on the best available information and be tailored, 5) take into account human factors be transparent and inclusive, 6) be dynamic, iterative, and responsive to change be capable of continual improvement and enhancement

The most useful information an organization can obtain from external sources is the indicators for detecting the presence of threats. Indicators are observable signs or patterns that can help identify, prevent, or mitigate cyberattacks. Examples of indicators are IP addresses, domain names, file hashes, network traffic, system logs, and user behavior. External sources of emerging threats are sources that provide information about the latest cyberattacks, hacking techniques, malware, and vulnerabilities that can affect an organization’s IT systems and data. Examples of external sources are security blogs, forums, newsletters, reports, and alerts from reputable organizations such as ISACA, Imperva, Aura, and BitSight123.

The risk analysis involves identifying the most probable threats to an organization and analyzing the related vulnerabilities of the organization to these threats. A risk from an organizational perspective consists of 1) Threats to various processes of the organization. 2) Threats to physical and information assets. 3) Likelihood and frequency of occurrence from threat. 4) Impact on assets from threat and vulnerability. Risk analysis allows the auditor to do the following tasks: A) Identify threats and vulnerabilities to the enterprise and its information system. B) Provide information for evaluation of controls in audit planning. C) Aids in determining audit objectives. D) Supporting decisions based on risks.

Monitoring tools have to be able to keep up with the growth of an enterprise and meet anticipated growth in process, complexity or transaction volumes; this is ensured by the scalability criteria of the monitoring tool.

Data processing is the activity of collecting, organizing, transforming, and analyzing data to produce useful information for decision making or other purposes. The role of the internal IT team in this situation is data processors, which are the people or entities that process data on behalf of the data controllers, who are the people or entities that determine the purposes and means of the data processing. Data processors are the role of the internal IT team because they are responsible for managing information through the applications that are used by the organization, and they act under the instructions and authority of the organization, which is the data controller. Data processors are also the role of the internal IT team because they have to comply with the data protection laws and regulations that apply to the data processing, and they have to ensure the security and confidentiality of the data. The other options are not the role of the internal IT team, but rather possible roles or terms that are related to data processing.

A risk map, also known as a risk heat map, is a visual tool that helps an enterprise prioritize risk scenarios by plotting them on a matrix based on their likelihood and impact. A risk map can help to compare and contrast different risk scenarios, as well as to identify the most critical and urgent risks that require attention. A risk map can also help to communicate and report the risk profile and status to the stakeholders and decision makers. Therefore, the placement on the risk map would best help an enterprise prioritize risk scenarios. The other options are not the best ways to help an enterprise prioritize risk scenarios, although they may be relevant and useful. Industry best practices are the standards or guidelines that are widely accepted and followed by the organizations in a specific industry or domain. Industry best practices can help to benchmark and improve the risk management process and performance, but they may not reflect the specific risk context and needs of the enterprise. Degree of variances in the risk is the measure of the variability or uncertainty of the risk, which may affect the accuracy or reliability of the risk assessment and response. Degree of variances in the risk can help to adjust and refine the risk analysis and treatment, but it may not indicate the priority or importance of the risk. Cost of risk mitigation is the amount of resources or expenses that are required or allocated to implement the risk response actions, such as avoiding, transferring, mitigating, or accepting the risk. Cost of risk mitigation can help to evaluate and optimize the risk response options, but it may not determine the priority or urgency of the risk.

The best way to resolve the concern where a control process has been implemented in response to a new regulatory requirement, but has significantly reduced productivity, is to escalate the issue to senior management. Senior management is the highest level of authority and responsibility in the organization, and they are responsible for setting the strategic direction, objectives, and risk appetite of the organization. Senior management should also oversee the risk management process, and ensure that the controls are aligned with the organization’s goals and values. Escalating the issue to senior management can help to find a balance between complying with the regulatory requirement and maintaining the productivity of the organization. The other options are not as effective or desirable as escalating the issue to senior management, because they either ignore the problem, violate the regulation, or compromise the control.

The risk an enterprise is willing to accept is called risk appetite. An enterprise's risk appetite refers to the amount and type of risk that the organization is willing to accept or be exposed to for the achievement of its strategic objectives. This definition is consistent with the ISO 31000:2018 risk management standard. Hedging is a strategy used to minimize the impact of financial losses partially, and risk aversion refers to an organization's tendency to avoid or minimize the level of risk. Risk tolerance refers to the level of risk that an organization can withstand before triggering a risk response.

Assessing and incorporating the results of the risk management activity into the decision-making process best describes the role of senior management in establishing and implementing a risk management strategy.

The lack of adequate controls represents a vulnerability, exposing sensitive information and data to the risk of malicious damage, attack or unauthorized access by hackers. This could result in a loss of sensitive information, financial loss, legal penalties, etc.

The best way to determine the likelihood of a system availability risk scenario is by assessing the redundancy of technical infrastructure. The likelihood of an availability incident stems from the resiliency of the underlying IT systems and technology components. By evaluating the redundancy, failover mechanisms, and backup provisions in place, one can quantify the probability of outage impacts should hardware, software, or a data center become compromised.

An element of the risk appetite of an organization should include the enterprise's capacity to absorb loss. Risk appetite refers to the level of risk an organization is willing to accept in pursuit of its objectives. This includes an understanding of the organization's financial strength, resources, and ability to withstand and recover from potential losses.

Problem management is part of the Information Technology Information Library (ITIL) and is a process that is used to minimize the impact of problems in an enterprise. Metrics, known errors and incidents are all tracked to minimize problems.

A root cause analysis is a process of identifying and understanding the underlying or fundamental causes or factors that contribute to or result in a problem or incident that has occurred or may occur in the organization. A root cause analysis can provide useful insights and solutions on the origin and nature of the problem or incident, and prevent or reduce its recurrence or impact. Performing a root cause analysis is the risk practitioner’s best recommendation when the number of tickets to rework application code has significantly exceeded the established threshold. Performing a root cause analysis can help the organization to improve and optimize the application code quality and performance, and to reduce or eliminate the need for rework. It can also help the organization to align the application code development and testing with the organization’s objectives and requirements, and to comply with the organization’s policies and standards. The other options are not the risk practitioner’s best recommendations when the number of tickets to rework application code has significantly exceeded the established threshold, because they do not address the main purpose and benefit of performing a root cause analysis, which is to identify and understand the underlying or fundamental causes or factors that contribute to or result in the problem or incident.

The control owner is the person who has the authority to approve an exception to a control. A control is a policy, procedure, or technical measure that is implemented to prevent or mitigate a risk. A control owner is responsible for the design, implementation, operation, and maintenance of the control, as well as for monitoring and reporting its performance and effectiveness. A control owner is also accountable for the approval of any changes or exceptions to the control, based on the risk assessment and business justification. An information security manager, a risk owner, and a risk manager are not the best choices, as they do not have the same level of authority, responsibility, and knowledge as the control owner in relation to the control.

The primary consideration when assessing the automation of control monitoring should be the cost-benefit analysis of automation. This would help in determining whether the benefits derived from automation outweigh the cost of such automation. The other options listed (frequency of failure of control, contingency plan for residual risk, and impact due to failure of control) should also be taken into consideration when assessing automation but should come after the cost-benefit analysis. It is important to note that the cost-benefit analysis is not a one-time event, but rather an ongoing process that should be reviewed periodically to ensure that it remains favorable.

The asset owner is the best suited to assist a risk practitioner in developing a relevant set of risk scenarios. The asset owner is the person who has the authority and responsibility for the IT assets that support the business processes. The asset owner can provide valuable information on the business objectives, requirements, and expectations that the IT assets should meet. The asset owner can also help identify the potential threats, vulnerabilities, and impacts that may affect the IT assets and the business processes. The asset owner can also suggest possible risk responses and mitigation strategies to address the risk scenarios. The other options are not as relevant as the asset owner, as they may not have the same level of knowledge, interest, or involvement in the IT assets and the business processes.

Cost performance index (CPI) is used to calculate performance efficiencies of project. It is used in trend analysis to predict future performance. CPI is the ratio of earned value to actual cost. If the CPI value is greater than 1, it indicates better than expected performance, whereas if the value is less than 1, it shows poor performance.

Information security governance models are highly dependent on the overall organizational structure.

Risk avoidance is the process of systematically avoiding risk, constituting one approach to managing risk.

When establishing leading indicators for the information security incident response process, it is most important to consider the percentage of reported incidents that are resolved within the service level agreement (SLA). A leading indicator is a metric that can predict or influence the future performance or outcome of a process or activity. A leading indicator for the information security incident response process should measure how well the process is achieving its objectives, such as minimizing the impact of incidents, restoring normal operations as quickly as possible, and preventing recurrence of incidents. The percentage of reported incidents that are resolved within the SLA is a leading indicator that reflects the efficiency and effectiveness of the information security incident response process. It shows how well the process is meeting the expectations and requirements of the stakeholders, such as the business units, customers, and regulators. It also shows how well the process is managing the resources, such as time, budget, and personnel, that are allocated for incident response. A high percentage of reported incidents that are resolved within the SLA indicates that the information security incident response process is performing well and delivering value to the organization. A low percentage of reported incidents that are resolved within the SLA indicates that the information security incident response process is facing challenges and needs improvement. The percentage of reported incidents that are resolved within the SLA can also help identify the root causes of incidents, the gaps in the process, and the areas for improvement. For example, if the percentage of reported incidents that are resolved within the SLA is low, it may indicate that the process has issues with the following aspects: - Incident detection and reporting: The process may not have adequate tools, techniques, or procedures to detect and report incidents in a timely and accurate manner. - Incident prioritization and classification: The process may not have clear and consistent criteria to prioritize and classify incidents based on their severity, impact, and urgency. - Incident analysis and investigation: The process may not have sufficient skills, knowledge, or evidence to analyze and investigate the incidents and determine their root causes, scope, and consequences. - Incident containment and eradication: The process may not have effective methods or measures to contain and eradicate the incidents and prevent them from spreading or escalating. - Incident recovery and restoration: The process may not have reliable backup and recovery plans or systems to restore the normal operations and functionality of the affected systems or services. - Incident communication and escalation: The process may not have proper communication and escalation channels or protocols to inform and involve the relevant stakeholders, such as the management, the users, the vendors, or the authorities. - Incident documentation and closure: The process may not have adequate documentation and closure procedures to record and report the incidents and their resolution. - Incident review and improvement: The process may not have regular review and improvement activities to evaluate and enhance the process and its performance. Therefore, the percentage of reported incidents that are resolved within the SLA is the most important leading indicator for the information security incident response process, as it can provide valuable insights and feedback for the process and its improvement.

The internal auditor is the best suited to provide objective input when updating residual risk to reflect the results of control effectiveness. The internal auditor is an independent and impartial function that evaluates the adequacy and effectiveness of the internal controls and reports on the findings and recommendations. The internal auditor can provide an unbiased and reliable assessment of the residual risk, which is the risk that remains after the controls are applied. The other options are not as objective as the internal auditor, as they may have vested interests or conflicts of interest in the control environment.

After migrating a key financial system to a new provider, it was discovered that a developer could gain access to the production environment. This indicates that there is a risk of unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification, or destruction of sensitive data, such as financial records, transactions, reports, etc. A control that could mitigate this risk is to remove the developer’s access to the production environment. This means that the developer would not be able to alter the source code or configuration of the financial system without proper authorization or approval. The other options are not the best ways to mitigate the risk in this situation. They are either irrelevant or less effective than removing the developer’s access.

Internal controls are the actions taken by the organization to help assure management that the organization's objectives are protected from the occurrence of risk events. Internal control objectives apply to all manual or automated areas. Internal control objectives include #1 Internal accounting controls. they control accounting operations, including safeguarding assets and financial records. #2 Operational controls focus on day-to-day operations, functions, and activities. They ensure that all the organization's objectives are being accomplished. #3 Administrative controls focus on operational efficiency in a functional area and stick to management policies.

Predetermined expiration dates are the most effective means of removing systems access for temporary users.

A BIA raises the level of awareness for business continuity within the enterprise.

A salience model defines and charts stakeholders' power, urgency, and legitimacy in the project. The salience model is a technique for categorizing stakeholders according to their importance. The various difficulties faced by the project managers are as follows: How to choose the right stakeholders? How to prioritize competing claims of the stakeholders' communication needs? Stakeholder salience is determined by the evaluation of their power, legitimacy and urgency in the organization. Power is defined as the ability of the stakeholder to impose their will. Urgency is the need for immediate action. Legitimacy shows whether the stakeholders' participation is appropriate or not.

Risk is not the main driver for the business/enterprise decision process. The business will accept the risk when it is determined that the potential opportunities may yield a higher return in revenue and/or gain in market share compared to risk.

Identification of time-sensitive critical business functions and interdependencies is a deliverable of the BIA; this is reflected partially by metrics, such as recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs).

Determining the level of acceptable risk will allow the enterprise to determine the security measures to put in place.

The best method to ensure a terminated employee’s access to IT systems is revoked upon departure from the organization is to have the human resources (HR) system automatically revoke system access, which is a process that involves integrating the HR system with the IT system, and triggering the removal of access rights for the employee as soon as the termination is recorded in the HR system. This method is the best because it provides the most timely, accurate, and consistent way of revoking access, and reduces the risk of human error, oversight, or delay that may occur in manual or semi-automated processes. This method is also the best because it enhances the security and compliance of the organization, and prevents the terminated employee from accessing or compromising the IT systems or data after departure. The other options are not the best methods, but rather alternative or supplementary methods that may have some limitations or drawbacks.

The enterprise security architecture must align with the strategies and objectives of the enterprise, taking into consideration the importance of the free flow of information within an enterprise as well as business with partners, customers and suppliers.

When an organization outsources an application to a SaaS provider, the risk associated with the use of the service should be owned by the organization's business process manager. The business process manager is responsible for ensuring that the outsourced application meets the organization's business needs and that the service level agreements (SLAs) with the provider are met. While the service provider's IT manager is responsible for ensuring the smooth operation of the service, and the risk manager is responsible for identifying and mitigating the risks associated with the service; the responsibility for ensuring that the application meets the organization's business and operational needs lies with the business process manager. The vendor manager is responsible for managing the relationship with the provider and ensuring that the terms and conditions of the contract are being met.

The first step in assessing the current risk level of data loss is to identify where the sensitive data is stored, such as servers, databases, laptops, mobile devices, etc. This will help to determine the scope and boundaries of the risk assessment, as well as the potential exposure and impact of data loss. Identifying staff members who have access to the data, risk scenarios and owners, and existing controls are important steps, but they should be done after identifying the data locations.

The appropriate response to the risk is decided by the risk itself, the company's attitude and appetite of risk, and the threat and opportunity combination of the risk.

The enterprise must consider risks that have not yet occurred and should develop scenarios around unlikely, obscure or non-historical events. Such scenarios can be developed by considering two things: 1) Visibility, and 2) Recognition. For the fulfilment of this task, an enterprise must: 1) Be in a position where it can observe anything going wrong and 2) Have the capability to recognize an observed event as something wrong.

Risk governance is a continuous life cycle that requires regular reporting and ongoing review, not once a year.

Reasonableness tests make certain assumptions about the information as the basis for more elaborate data validation tests.

When the project team needs training to be able to complete the project work it is a cost of conformance to quality. The cost of conformance to quality defines the cost of training, proper resources, and the costs the project must spend to ascertain the expected levels of quality the customer expects from the project. It is the capital used up throughout the project to avoid failures. It consists of two types of costs: Prevention costs: It is measured to build a quality product. It includes costs in training, document processing, equipment, and time to do it right. Appraisal costs: It is measured to assess the quality. It includes testing, destructive testing loss, and inspections.

Avoiding the risk means eliminating the source of the risk or changing the likelihood or impact to zero. In this case, the source of the risk is the collection of customers’ personally identifiable information (Pll), which could be exposed to unauthorized parties and result in severe fines. Therefore, the best action to avoid the risk is to modify the business processes to stop collecting Pll, as this would eliminate the possibility of data leakage and the associated consequences. The other options are not as effective as modifying the business processes, because they do not avoid the risk, but rather mitigate or transfer the risk. Reduce retention periods for Pll data is a mitigation action, as it reduces the impact of the risk by minimizing the amount of data that could be leaked and the duration of exposure. Move Pll to a highly-secured outsourced site is a transfer action, as it shifts the responsibility of protecting the data to a third party, but does not eliminate the risk of data leakage. Implement strong encryption for Pll is a mitigation action, as it reduces the likelihood of the risk by making the data unreadable to unauthorized parties, but does not eliminate the risk of data leakage.