CISA Practice Question: Information Systems Acquisition, Development, and Implementation
An IS auditor is reviewing the system design phase of a project. Which of the following activities is most important to ensure that security is adequately addressed?
⚠ Common exam trap
CISA often tests the distinction between supporting artifacts (data flow diagrams) and the core security assurance activity (threat modeling), causing candidates to pick the input rather than the activity.
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
✓
Conducting a threat modeling exercise
Threat modeling is a structured, design-phase activity that systematically identifies threats, attack surfaces, and mitigations before code is written. It is the most important activity to ensure security is adequately addressed in system design because it directly influences architecture, trust boundaries, and control selection. Data flow diagrams support threat modeling but are an input, not the primary security assurance activity.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Creating a data flow diagram
Why it's wrong here
A data flow diagram documents where data moves and is stored, but it records no security controls, so it cannot demonstrate that threats are mitigated. It is tempting because it is a genuine design-phase artefact, yet threat modelling is the activity that identifies risks and specifies the controls the design must include.
- ✗
Developing a detailed project schedule
Why it's wrong here
A project schedule sequences tasks and resources; it contains no security requirements, controls or threat analysis, so it cannot show that security has been designed in. It is tempting because scheduling is a real design-phase activity, but it addresses delivery timing rather than the security architecture under review.
- ✓
Conducting a threat modeling exercise
Why this is correct
Threat modelling examines data flows and trust boundaries during design, identifying security weaknesses while changes remain cheap. It directly satisfies the stem's requirement to ensure security is adequately addressed at the system design phase, before coding begins.
- ✗
Reviewing the budget for security tools
Why it's wrong here
Budgeting for security tools allocates money, not design decisions; funding a tool does not establish that controls address identified threats in the architecture. It is tempting because security spending signals management commitment, but the auditor needs evidence of threat modelling and control design, not financial provision.
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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
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