- A
Mitigate the risk by applying a technical control immediately
Why wrong: Mitigation reduces the likelihood or impact, but the scenario says the business is not fixing it now.
- B
Accept the risk with documented approval and periodic review
Acceptance is appropriate when leadership decides the current risk level is tolerable and the cost or disruption of fixing it is not justified right away.
- C
Transfer the risk to an insurer or third party
Why wrong: Transfer shifts some financial exposure, but the scenario describes keeping the risk internally and reviewing it later.
- D
Avoid the risk by stopping the business activity entirely
Why wrong: Avoidance would mean eliminating the activity or system causing the risk, which is more drastic than the scenario describes.
Quick Answer
The answer is risk acceptance. This is correct because the scenario describes a low-likelihood, high-cost software risk that leadership chooses to tolerate rather than fix immediately, which is the precise definition of risk acceptance. Unlike risk mitigation, which would involve reducing the vulnerability, or risk transfer, which would shift the liability to a third party, or risk avoidance, which would eliminate the activity entirely, acceptance means formally documenting the decision and scheduling periodic reviews to ensure the exposure remains tolerable over time. On the Security+ SY0-701 exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish between the four core risk treatment strategies, and the common trap is confusing acceptance with ignoring the risk—acceptance always requires documented approval and a reassessment schedule. Remember the mnemonic "A.R.T.A.": Accept, Reduce, Transfer, Avoid—and that acceptance is the only one where you consciously live with the risk.
SY0-701 Security Program Management and Oversight Practice Question
This SY0-701 practice question tests your understanding of security program management and oversight. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A department identifies a low-likelihood software risk that would be expensive to fix right now. Leadership decides the business can live with the exposure for now, but wants it documented and reviewed later. What risk treatment is this?
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
Accept the risk with documented approval and periodic review
The scenario describes a low-likelihood, high-cost software risk that leadership chooses to tolerate rather than fix immediately. This is the definition of risk acceptance, which requires documented approval and periodic review to ensure the risk remains acceptable over time. The correct risk treatment is to formally accept the exposure with a record of the decision and a schedule for reassessment.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Mitigate the risk by applying a technical control immediately
Why it's wrong here
Mitigation reduces the likelihood or impact, but the scenario says the business is not fixing it now.
- ✓
Accept the risk with documented approval and periodic review
Why this is correct
Acceptance is appropriate when leadership decides the current risk level is tolerable and the cost or disruption of fixing it is not justified right away.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Transfer the risk to an insurer or third party
Why it's wrong here
Transfer shifts some financial exposure, but the scenario describes keeping the risk internally and reviewing it later.
- ✗
Avoid the risk by stopping the business activity entirely
Why it's wrong here
Avoidance would mean eliminating the activity or system causing the risk, which is more drastic than the scenario describes.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse risk acceptance with risk mitigation, thinking that documenting a risk means a control is applied, but acceptance explicitly means no control is implemented and the exposure is tolerated with formal sign-off.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
Mitigation reduces the likelihood or impact, but the scenario says the business is not fixing it now.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Risk acceptance is a formal risk treatment strategy where the residual risk is deemed tolerable, often documented in a risk register with an owner, acceptance date, and review interval. In practice, this is common for low-likelihood, high-impact vulnerabilities in legacy systems where patching would break critical functionality; the organization accepts the risk and implements compensating controls like monitoring or segmentation. Periodic review ensures that if the likelihood or impact changes (e.g., a new exploit emerges), the risk can be re-evaluated and a different treatment applied.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SY0-701 question test?
Security Program Management and Oversight — This question tests Security Program Management and Oversight — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Accept the risk with documented approval and periodic review — The scenario describes a low-likelihood, high-cost software risk that leadership chooses to tolerate rather than fix immediately. This is the definition of risk acceptance, which requires documented approval and periodic review to ensure the risk remains acceptable over time. The correct risk treatment is to formally accept the exposure with a record of the decision and a schedule for reassessment.
What should I do if I get this SY0-701 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This SY0-701 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 SY0-701 exam.
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