CAS-004 Governance, Risk, and Compliance Practice Question
A compliance officer is preparing for an audit and needs to collect evidence. Which TWO of the following are considered acceptable forms of audit evidence? (Select TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is that candidates select 'verbal statements from employees' because interviews are part of audits — but interviews are inquiry, not evidence, and auditors must corroborate inquiry with documentary or system-generated proof.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Written security policies
Written security policies (C) are acceptable audit evidence because they are documented, approved artifacts that demonstrate the organization's formal security requirements and controls, providing verifiable proof of governance intent. System access logs (E) are acceptable because they are system-generated, tamper-evident records that objectively show actual activity such as authentication events, timestamps, and user actions, which auditors can trace and corroborate. In contrast, screenshots of unofficial reports (A) lack authenticity and provenance since they can be altered and are not from controlled sources, verbal statements from employees (B) are testimonial and unverifiable without documentation, and assumptions about system configurations (D) are unsubstantiated beliefs rather than evidence, so none of these qualify as acceptable audit evidence.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Screenshots of unofficial reports
Why it's wrong here
Screenshots of unofficial reports are unverified reproductions lacking provenance, so they cannot substantiate a control's operation. It is tempting because screenshots are visual and easy to capture, but they would be the correct choice only when taken from authoritative systems of record with traceable timestamps and ownership.
- ✗
Verbal statements from employees
Why it's wrong here
Verbal statements are testimony, not documented evidence, so they lack the verifiability and audit trail an auditor requires. It is tempting because interviews do form part of an audit, but verbal statements would be the correct choice when corroborating documented evidence or explaining context, not as primary evidence.
- ✓
Written security policies
Why this is correct
Written security policies are documented, approved management directives that auditors accept as evidence of intended control design and governance. This satisfies the stem's acceptable-evidence criterion because they demonstrate the organisation's stated requirements, though they show intent rather than proving the controls actually operate.
- ✗
Assumptions about system configurations
Why it's wrong here
Assumptions about system configurations are unverified beliefs, not evidence, so they cannot demonstrate that a control exists or operates. It is tempting because assumptions speed up scoping, but they would be the correct choice only as hypotheses to test, never as audit evidence themselves.
- ✓
System access logs
Why this is correct
System access logs are automatically generated records capturing authentication and activity events, providing objective, independently verifiable evidence. This satisfies the stem's acceptable-evidence criterion because they demonstrate that controls actually operated during the audit period, rather than merely documenting intended policy.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This CAS-005 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CAS-005 exam.