A candidate must evaluate change requests for security impact, enforce separation of duties, and produce decommissioning plans covering sanitization, key destruction or revocation, and network removal. The most important thing is preserving accountability and data protection across every change and disposal step.
Start practicing
Secure Operations Change Management And Disposal — choose a session length
Free · No account required
Domain overview
This domain covers the ISSE role in controlling change to fielded systems and retiring them without exposing data. Questions center on emergency and security-relevant change review, separation of duties across build and deploy, configuration and audit-log integrity, and decommissioning that handles data remanence, key material, and network removal.
Exam objectives
Applying separation of duties between build and deploy roles for security-sensitive changes
Evaluating emergency changes to audit logging and their effect on accountability and monitoring
Planning decommissioning that addresses data remanence, media sanitization, and network disconnection
Handling HSM-protected root CA private keys and certificate revocation during system retirement
Approving an emergency change that weakens audit logging without compensating controls or retroactive review, breaking accountability.
Letting one person build and deploy the same change, defeating separation of duties and enabling unlogged modification.
Treating system shutdown as decommissioning while leaving residual data on media or root keys active.
Click any question to see the full explanation and answer options, or start a focused practice session above.
An administrator needs to wipe a decommissioned laptop hard drive. Which method meets the NIST 800-88 'Purge' standard for magnetic media?
2You are utilizing Terraform to manage infrastructure as code. To ensure security-critical changes are not committed to production without authorization, which feature should you implement?
3You are configuring a CI/CD pipeline in GitLab to ensure security-critical changes are verified. Which mechanism ensures that only authorized engineers can merge changes to the master branch?
4What is the first step when preparing a system for secure disposal?
5When conducting a security impact analysis for a system change in a Federal environment, what is the primary purpose of reviewing the FIPS 199 categorization?
6You are reviewing a Change Management plan for an ICS (Industrial Control System). What is the most critical risk during the 'Implement' phase?
7When disposing of SSDs that contain PII, why is traditional degaussing ineffective?
8Which command line utility is used on Linux to verify the integrity of binary files during a maintenance patch update?
9What is the primary function of a Change Advisory Board (CAB) in an ITIL-based environment?
10When managing decommissioning of a cloud-native application, which document must be updated to reflect the removal of security controls?
11Which type of change is typically excluded from a formal Change Advisory Board review process?
12You are configuring a secure baseline for a server migration. Which NIST SP 800-53 control category covers 'System and Services Acquisition' regarding the maintenance of security-critical configurations?
13When managing a security-sensitive change in a regulated environment, why is 'Separation of Duties' applied to the 'Build' and 'Deploy' roles?
14A legacy database must be decommissioned. You need to ensure the data is retrievable for 7 years for regulatory compliance. Which strategy is most secure?
15Which TWO actions should be included in a secure decommissioning process for a physical server?
16Which document outlines the specific security steps to be taken when a workstation reaches its end-of-life?
17Which TWO factors must be assessed when determining if a change is 'Emergency' versus 'Standard'?
18Which THREE items should be included in a Post-Implementation Review (PIR) for a security change?
19Which TWO criteria are used to determine if a change request must be reviewed by the Change Advisory Board (CAB)?
20Which THREE elements are essential in a Change Management policy?
21Which THREE strategies are used to mitigate risk during a production software change?
22Which TWO aspects of a system's lifecycle must be documented in the decommission plan?
23A defense contractor is preparing to decommission a classified file server that used self-encrypting drives (SEDs). The drives must be reused in a lower-classification environment. Which action satisfies the media sanitization requirements while preserving the drives' usability?
24A security engineer is drafting a change management procedure for a financial institution's production environment. The procedure must ensure that changes are approved before implementation and that emergency changes are handled without bypassing security controls. Which element is essential to include in the procedure?
25A government agency is decommissioning a legacy mainframe that processes sensitive but unclassified data. The agency must ensure that all data is irretrievably destroyed and that the destruction is verifiable for audit purposes. Which disposal method best meets these requirements?
26You are the ISSE responsible for a change to an accredited system that will replace the cryptographic module used for data-at-rest encryption. The system is in the Operations phase and processes Controlled Unclassified Information. The change has been approved by the Configuration Control Board. Before implementation, which action BEST ensures the change does not invalidate the existing authorization?
27You are engineering the disposal process for a system that stores Top Secret information on magnetic tape. The tapes are at end-of-life and will be transported to an offsite facility for destruction. Which combination of activities BEST ensures the media cannot be reconstructed and that the disposal is auditable?
28You are the ISSE for a system that processes Controlled Unclassified Information. An engineer submits a change request to upgrade the operating system, and the change will alter the cryptographic module boundary described in the system security plan. Before the change is approved, what must occur?
29You are the ISSE for a system that has just been decommissioned. The system security plan included a contingency plan that referenced a failover site. Which action is MOST important to perform during the disposal phase to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data that may remain at the failover site?
30A defense contractor is decommissioning a system that processed classified information. The media sanitization records must demonstrate compliance with the Committee on National Security Systems policy for clearing, purging, and destroying media. Which action best satisfies the sanitization requirement for magnetic hard drives that will leave the controlled area?
31A security engineer is developing a media disposal plan for a data center that is being decommissioned. The plan must address the secure disposal of various media types, including hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), and magnetic tapes. Which two actions should be included in the plan to ensure compliance with NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 1? (Choose two.)
32You are advising a program on the disposal of a system that processes Sensitive But Unclassified information. The system uses solid-state drives. The program wants to reuse the drives in a lower-security environment. Which sanitization method is MOST appropriate to allow reuse while ensuring the data cannot be recovered?
33An organization is retiring a legacy application that stores personal data. The decommissioning plan must address data retention, media sanitization, and the removal of the application from the authorization boundary. Which activity must be completed before the system is removed from the authorization boundary?
34You are an ISSE at a financial institution. A critical security patch for a web application firewall (WAF) must be deployed to production. The change management policy requires that a rollback plan be documented and tested. The WAF configuration is managed via infrastructure-as-code (IaC) in a Git repository. Which approach best satisfies the rollback requirement while maintaining security?
35You are the security engineer for a federal agency that must follow NIST SP 800-53 configuration management controls. A system administrator submits an emergency change to modify a firewall rule to allow a new business partner's IP range. The change is implemented immediately and documented afterward. Which configuration management control requirement does this action violate?
36You are the ISSE reviewing a change management process for a system that supports a continuous authorization approach. The process must ensure that security-relevant changes are identified and handled appropriately. Which TWO activities are required to maintain the authorization when a security-relevant change occurs? (Choose two.)
37You are an ISSE for a healthcare provider. A legacy server that stored electronic protected health information (ePHI) is being decommissioned. The server's hard drives are encrypted with AES-256, and the encryption keys are managed by a hardware security module (HSM). The drives will be repurposed within the organization for non-sensitive data. According to NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 1, which sanitization method is most appropriate to render the ePHI unrecoverable while allowing drive reuse?
38You are designing the disposal process for a data center that hosts a multi-tenant cloud environment. The hardware includes NVMe SSDs and HDDs. Regulatory requirements mandate that data must be rendered unrecoverable even against laboratory attacks. Which combination of sanitization methods should you specify for the SSDs and HDDs respectively to meet the most stringent level?
39A system is being disposed of, and the disposal plan includes sanitizing solid-state drives that contain sensitive but unclassified data. The drives will be reused within the same organization but in a different security domain with a lower sensitivity level. Which sanitization method is most appropriate?
40A defense contractor maintains classified systems in a facility accredited under the NISP. A storage area network (SAN) array will be repurposed from a collateral Secret enclave to an unclassified R&D network. The ISSE must select the sanitization action that renders the array's magnetic disk media free of any residual data that could be recovered using laboratory techniques. Which action satisfies this requirement?
41An ISSE supports a continuous integration pipeline where developers commit infrastructure-as-code that provisions security groups and logging agents. A recent audit found that a developer merged a change disabling flow logs in production without any independent review. Which control directly addresses this gap while preserving the pipeline's automated deployment model?
42A federal information system is being decommissioned. The ISSE must ensure that hardware containing controlled unclassified information is disposed of in a manner that satisfies both the agency's media protection policy and its contract with a cloud service provider that hosted backups. Which action best addresses the disposal obligation for the provider-held backups?
43You are the security lead for a financial institution that is decommissioning a legacy server that processed credit card transactions. The server contains encrypted cardholder data. Legal requires that all data be irretrievably destroyed. The server has multiple hard drives that are still functional. Which disposal method best meets the requirement while also allowing for potential reuse of the drives?
44An ISSE is reviewing the change management process for a system that processes law enforcement sensitive data. A proposed emergency change will modify the audit logging configuration to reduce log volume during a peak period. The change must be implemented within four hours. Which action best preserves the security posture while meeting the timeline?
45You are developing a decommissioning plan for a system that processes sensitive data. The plan must address both data remanence and the removal of the system from the network. Which two actions are essential to include in the decommissioning plan to ensure secure disposal? (Choose two.)
46An ISSE is preparing a disposal plan for a system that has reached end of life. The system includes custom-developed software, commercial hardware, and interfaces to an external identity provider. Which TWO activities must be included in the disposal plan to address security and continuity obligations? (Choose two.)
47A financial services firm runs a three-tier web application on-premises. The security team must apply an emergency patch to the TLS library on all web servers because of an actively exploited vulnerability. The change management policy requires an emergency change process, but the firm's regulator mandates that production changes be traceable and approved by someone other than the implementer. Which sequence best satisfies both the emergency response need and the regulatory requirement?
48A healthcare provider is retiring an on-premises electronic health record (EHR) system that stored protected health information (PHI). The decommissioning plan includes data migration, media sanitization, and contract termination with the hardware maintenance vendor. The security engineer must ensure that residual PHI on the vendor's diagnostic laptops and spare parts inventory is addressed before the maintenance contract ends. Which action best closes this disposal gap?
49A government agency is decommissioning a legacy identity management system that issued smart card credentials. The system's hardware security modules (HSMs) contain root certificate authority (CA) private keys, and the directory database holds user attributes. The decommissioning team must decide how to handle the HSM keys and the directory data. Which two actions are required to properly dispose of the CA key material and user data while preserving the ability to validate previously issued credentials? (Choose two.)
50A retail company is replacing its point-of-sale (POS) terminals with new models that support tokenization. The old terminals store encrypted card data locally and are leased from a payment processor. The security policy requires that all storage media be sanitized before leaving the company's control. Which action should the security engineer take before returning the leased terminals?
A candidate must evaluate change requests for security impact, enforce separation of duties, and produce decommissioning plans covering sanitization, key destruction or revocation, and network removal. The most important thing is preserving accountability and data protection across every change and disposal step.
The Courseiva ISC question bank contains 50 questions in the Secure Operations Change Management And Disposal domain. Click any question to see the full explanation and answer breakdown.
Start with a 10-question focused session to identify your baseline accuracy in this domain. Read every explanation — even for questions you answer correctly — to understand the reasoning. Once you score consistently above 80%, move to a 20–30 question session to confirm depth before moving to the next domain.
Yes — the session launcher on this page draws questions exclusively from the Secure Operations Change Management And Disposal domain. Choose 10, 20, 30, or 50 questions for a focused session, or click individual questions to review them one by one.
Save your results, see per-domain analytics, and get readiness scores — free, for every certification.
Sign Up FreeFree forever · Every certification included