CISA Governance and Management of IT Practice Question
An organization's data classification policy defines 'Confidential' data as requiring encryption at rest. An IS auditor discovers that a database containing customer personal information is not encrypted. What is the auditor's BEST course of action?
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
✓
Report the finding to the data owner and IT management
The IS auditor's primary responsibility is to report findings to the appropriate stakeholders—the data owner and IT management—so they can take corrective action. Option A is incorrect because implementing controls is management's responsibility, not the auditor's. Option C is premature; compensating controls should be recommended after reporting and discussing the risk. Option D is unnecessary since the data classification policy already defines 'Confidential' data requiring encryption, and the auditor has identified a violation of that policy.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Encrypt the database immediately
Why it's wrong here
Auditors do not implement controls.
- ✓
Report the finding to the data owner and IT management
Why this is correct
Reporting ensures accountability for remediation.
- ✗
Recommend a compensating control
Why it's wrong here
Compensating controls are secondary; non-compliance must be reported first.
- ✗
Verify the classification of the data
Why it's wrong here
Assuming classification is correct, the issue is non-compliance.
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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.