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CISA Practice Question: Is evaluating a cloud-based identity as a service…
An organization is evaluating a cloud-based identity as a service (IDaaS) for single sign-on (SSO). Which of the following security concerns is MOST critical to address?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often focus on technical protocol details like encryption (Option A) or operational risks like downtime (Option C), but the CISA exam emphasizes that the most critical security concern in any federated identity system is the protection of the identity provider's root of trust—its credentials—because a compromise there negates all other controls.
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
✓
Compromise of the identity provider's credentials
The compromise of the identity provider's (IdP) credentials is the most critical security concern because the IdP acts as the central trust anchor for all SSO transactions. If an attacker gains control of the IdP's signing key or administrative credentials, they can forge SAML assertions for any user, bypassing all downstream authentication and gaining unauthorized access to every connected service provider (SP). This represents a single point of failure that undermines the entire SSO trust model.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Lack of encryption for SAML assertions
Why it's wrong here
SAML assertions are typically signed and encrypted; this is a concern but less critical than IdP compromise.
- ✗
Incompatibility with legacy applications
Why it's wrong here
Incompatibility is an integration issue, not a security concern.
- ✗
Downtime of the IDaaS provider
Why it's wrong here
Downtime affects availability but is not the most critical security concern.
- ✓
Compromise of the identity provider's credentials
Why this is correct
A compromise of the IdP would grant attackers access to all federated applications, making it the most critical security concern.
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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.