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CISA Practice Question: An IS auditor is evaluating the effectiveness of…
An IS auditor is evaluating the effectiveness of an organization's information security awareness program. Which of the following is the BEST indicator of program effectiveness?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse activity metrics (completion, acknowledgment, quiz scores) with outcome metrics (actual behavior change and incident reduction), leading them to choose a proxy for effectiveness rather than the direct measure of program impact.
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
✓
Trend in security incidents attributed to human error
The best indicator because it directly measures the program's outcome: a reduction in security incidents caused by human error. While training completion, policy acknowledgment, and quiz scores measure activity or knowledge, they do not confirm that employees have changed their behavior. A downward trend in human-error-related incidents provides empirical evidence that the awareness program is effectively influencing employee actions in real-world scenarios.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Percentage of employees who completed the training
Why it's wrong here
Completion does not guarantee learning or behavioral change.
- ✗
Number of employees who acknowledged the security policy
Why it's wrong here
Acknowledgment is not indicative of understanding or compliance.
- ✗
Average score on the post-training quiz
Why it's wrong here
Knowledge test scores do not measure practical application.
- ✓
Trend in security incidents attributed to human error
Why this is correct
A downward trend indicates improved behavior due to awareness.
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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.