mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
CISA Practice Question: An IS auditor reviews the exhibit during an audit…
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit. ``` ERROR: ORA-00604: error occurred at recursive SQL level 1 ERROR: ORA-00054: resource busy and acquire with NOWAIT specified or timeout expired ```
An IS auditor reviews the exhibit during an audit of database controls. What is the most appropriate recommendation?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse a deadlock or lock contention issue with a timeout or missing COMMIT problem, and choose to increase timeouts or add retries instead of addressing the fundamental locking strategy.
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
✓
Implement a locking strategy to prevent resource contention
The exhibit (not shown here, but implied by the context) likely depicts a deadlock graph or lock-wait chain, indicating that concurrent transactions are blocking each other. The most appropriate recommendation is to implement a locking strategy (e.g., row-level locking, lock ordering, or using snapshot isolation) to prevent resource contention and avoid deadlocks. This directly addresses the root cause of the observed performance or failure issues.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Review the application code for missing commit statements
Why it's wrong here
Missing commits could cause locks, but the error specifically indicates resource busy, not just uncommitted data.
- ✗
Enable automatic retry for failed transactions
Why it's wrong here
Automatic retry may succeed if locks are released, but it does not address the underlying contention issue.
- ✓
Implement a locking strategy to prevent resource contention
Why this is correct
A proper locking strategy, such as using row-level locks or scheduling, reduces contention.
- ✗
Increase the database timeout parameter
Why it's wrong here
Increasing timeout may mask the problem but does not resolve the root cause of locking.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every CISA question from scratch — 995 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.