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CISA Practice Question: An IS auditor is conducting an audit of a small…
An IS auditor is conducting an audit of a small manufacturing company's IT operations. The company has 50 employees and uses a single server running Windows Server 2019 for file sharing and print services. There is no formal change management process. The IT manager, who also doubles as the system administrator, has full administrative rights and is the only person who can make changes to the server. During the audit, the auditor notices that the server's local security policy is configured to allow unlimited password attempts and no account lockout. The IT manager states that this is to avoid locking out users who forget their passwords. The auditor also finds that the guest account is enabled on the server. What should the auditor recommend as the HIGHEST priority action?
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
✓
Disable the guest account and enforce account lockout policy.
The most immediate vulnerabilities are the enabled guest account and lack of account lockout, which significantly increase the risk of unauthorized access. Disabling the guest account and enforcing an account lockout policy directly mitigate these risks. While employee training (A) and implementing change management (B) are beneficial, they are not as urgent as addressing the technical controls. Separating roles (D) is a governance improvement but also less urgent. Therefore, the highest priority action is to disable the guest account and enforce account lockout.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Train employees on password security.
Why it's wrong here
Training is beneficial but does not address the technical vulnerabilities.
- ✗
Implement a formal change management process.
Why it's wrong here
Important but not as urgent as fixing current security gaps.
- ✓
Disable the guest account and enforce account lockout policy.
Why this is correct
These are direct security vulnerabilities that must be addressed immediately.
- ✗
Separate the roles of IT manager and system administrator.
Why it's wrong here
Segregation of duties is a long-term improvement, not immediate fix.
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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.