CISA Information System Auditing Process Practice Question
An IS auditor is performing a compliance audit of a data privacy regulation. Which of the following is the PRIMARY source of audit criteria?
⚠ Common exam trap
CISA often tests the distinction between audit criteria and audit evidence — candidates incorrectly select internal policies or best practices because they sound authoritative, but the regulation itself is always the primary criteria for a regulatory compliance audit.
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
✓
The specific requirements of the regulation
In a compliance audit, the audit criteria are the standards, laws, regulations, or contractual requirements against which the auditor measures the organization's controls and practices. When auditing against a data privacy regulation, the specific requirements of that regulation are the authoritative source of criteria — they define what compliance actually means. Internal policies and best practices may be relevant context, but they cannot override or substitute for the regulatory requirements themselves.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Prior audit findings
Why it's wrong here
Prior audit findings record earlier observations and remediation status; they do not define the regulatory requirements against which compliance is measured. They serve as context for follow-up audits, whereas the regulation itself supplies the authoritative criteria.
- ✗
Industry best practices
Why it's wrong here
Industry best practices are voluntary guidance, not enforceable obligations, so they cannot establish compliance criteria for a specific regulation. They inform control design where the regulation is silent, but the regulation's own text governs the audit.
- ✓
The specific requirements of the regulation
Why this is correct
The regulation's own text supplies the authoritative criteria against which compliance is measured, since the audit tests conformity with those mandated requirements rather than internal policy or generic frameworks. It directly satisfies the stem's demand for the primary source of audit criteria in a regulatory compliance audit.
- ✗
The organization's internal policies
Why it's wrong here
Internal policies translate the regulation into organisational controls, but they are audited artefacts and may under-implement the legal requirement. They are the criteria when auditing policy adherence, not when auditing compliance with the external regulation itself.
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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 ISACA exam blueprint
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.