easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
CISA Practice Question: During a security assessment, an auditor…
During a security assessment, an auditor discovers that employees are sharing passwords to access a critical system. Which of the following controls would BEST mitigate this risk?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse 'preventing password sharing' with 'detecting or discouraging it,' and choose awareness training or logging, when the only control that technically renders shared passwords useless is multi-factor authentication.
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 multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) mitigates the risk of password sharing because even if credentials are shared, an attacker cannot authenticate without the second factor (e.g., a one-time passcode from a hardware token or authenticator app). MFA decouples authentication from a single shared secret, making shared passwords insufficient for access. This directly addresses the root cause—reliance on passwords alone—rather than attempting to prevent sharing behavior.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Provide security awareness training
Why it's wrong here
Training may not prevent deliberate sharing.
- ✓
Implement multi-factor authentication
Why this is correct
MFA requires additional factors, reducing the effectiveness of shared passwords.
- ✗
Log all authentication attempts
Why it's wrong here
Logging is detective, not preventive.
- ✗
Enforce complex password policies
Why it's wrong here
Complex passwords can still be shared.
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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.