mediumMultiple Choice
CISA Practice Question: A university is implementing a new student…
A university is implementing a new student information system. The project team uses an iterative development approach. During user acceptance testing, students report that the online course registration portal crashes when more than 100 users register simultaneously. The development team identifies a database connection pooling issue and estimates a fix will take three weeks. The project deadline is in two weeks. The project manager suggests deploying the system as is and fixing the issue after go-live, as the crash is rare. The IS auditor is consulted. What should the auditor recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume a 'rare' crash can be accepted as a post-go-live fix, but the IS auditor must recognize that the crash occurs under a specific, predictable load threshold that is likely to be exceeded during normal operations, making it a high-risk defect that requires pre-deployment resolution.
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
✓
Delay the go-live until the defect is fixed and user acceptance testing is passed.
Deploying a system with a known critical defect that fails under expected load conditions violates the principle of delivering a reliable and secure system. The database connection pooling issue causes the portal to crash under concurrent user load, which is a functional failure that directly impacts business operations. Delaying go-live ensures the defect is fixed and user acceptance testing (UAT) is fully passed, aligning with the IS auditor's responsibility to recommend risk mitigation over acceptance of a preventable failure.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Delay the go-live until the defect is fixed and user acceptance testing is passed.
Why this is correct
Deploying a system that crashes under concurrent load breaches availability, a core IS control objective. User acceptance testing has not passed, so the defect represents an unmitigated risk to a critical student service. The auditor should recommend delaying go-live until the connection pooling fix is implemented and acceptance testing succeeds.
- ✗
Document the risk and proceed with the go-live, planning to fix later.
Why it's wrong here
Accepting the risk leaves a known crash defect in production, breaching the iterative approach's goal of resolving issues before release. Risk documentation and acceptance is legitimate for low-impact, unresolvable residual risk, not for a defect the team has already diagnosed and can fix.
- ✗
Deploy on time but restrict registration to fewer than 100 students per session.
Why it's wrong here
Restricting registration to under 100 users leaves the connection pooling defect in production, so the crash recurs whenever the cap is exceeded and no remediation is scheduled. It is tempting as a temporary workaround preserving the deadline, but it accepts a known availability defect rather than requiring the fix before go-live.
- ✗
Implement a temporary increase in server capacity to handle the load.
Why it's wrong here
Adding server capacity masks the connection pooling defect rather than resolving it; the crash recurs once concurrency exceeds the new ceiling, and the underlying bug ships to production. Vertical scaling suits predictable, sustained load growth, not a known code-level defect with a scheduled fix.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 934 original CISA practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CISA practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISACA 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 CISA exam.