CISA Practice Question: Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience
During a software asset management (SAM) audit, it is discovered that the organization is using software that has reached end-of-life. Which of the following is the MOST significant risk associated with this situation?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often focus on immediate operational or financial impacts like cost or compatibility, but the CISA exam prioritizes security risks, especially unpatched vulnerabilities, as the most critical consequence of end-of-life software.
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
✓
Lack of security patches
End-of-life software no longer receives security patches from the vendor, meaning any newly discovered vulnerabilities will remain unaddressed. This creates a direct and exploitable attack surface, making lack of security patches the most significant risk because it can lead to data breaches, system compromise, and regulatory non-compliance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Incompatibility with new hardware
Why it's wrong here
Possible but not the most significant risk.
- ✓
Lack of security patches
Why this is correct
No patches means higher risk of exploitation.
- ✗
Increased maintenance costs
Why it's wrong here
Costs may increase, but security risk is more significant.
- ✗
License compliance issues
Why it's wrong here
End-of-life does not necessarily mean license non-compliance.
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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.