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CISA Practice Question: An IS auditor is reviewing a system development…
An IS auditor is reviewing a system development project and notices that user acceptance testing (UAT) is being conducted in the production environment due to lack of a separate test environment. What is the primary risk?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates focus on operational impacts like performance or availability, but the CISA exam emphasizes that the highest risk from using production for testing is the compromise of sensitive data and unauthorized access, not just system slowdowns.
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
✓
Security breaches due to unauthorized access
Conducting UAT in production exposes sensitive production data and live systems to test scripts and users who may not have proper authorization, creating a direct path for security breaches. Production environments typically have broader access controls and audit trails that are not designed to isolate test activities, increasing the risk of unauthorized data exposure or modification. This violates the principle of segregation of duties and can lead to compliance issues with standards like PCI DSS or HIPAA.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
System availability issues
Why it's wrong here
Availability is a risk but the primary risk is security.
- ✗
Performance degradation
Why it's wrong here
Performance is a concern but not the most critical risk.
- ✓
Security breaches due to unauthorized access
Why this is correct
UAT in production exposes sensitive data and may lead to breaches.
- ✗
Data integrity violations
Why it's wrong here
Data integrity may be affected but the primary risk is security.
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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.