easyMultiple Select
CISA Practice Question: During the system development life cycle (SDLC),…
During the system development life cycle (SDLC), which THREE of the following are recognized benefits of involving internal audit early in the process?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse 'reduced need for future audits' (a false benefit) with 'enhanced assurance' (a real benefit), or assume that early audit involvement reduces testing effort, when in fact it may increase the scope of validation to ensure controls are properly designed and implemented.
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
✓
Lower cost of implementing controls due to early design changes.
Option B is correct because involving internal audit during the design phase allows control requirements to be identified and incorporated while changes are still inexpensive, avoiding costly rework later in the SDLC when modifications become far more expensive. Option D is correct because early audit involvement surfaces potential control weaknesses during design and development, before they become embedded in the system and are much harder and costlier to remediate. Option E is correct because audit participation in the design phase provides assurance that necessary controls are built directly into the system architecture rather than bolted on afterward. Option A is not correct because early internal audit involvement does not eliminate or reduce the need for future independent audits, which remain necessary for objective assurance. Option C is not correct because early audit involvement does not reduce the number of system tests required; testing scope is driven by system complexity, risk, and requirements, not by audit's early participation.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reduced need for future independent audits.
Why it's wrong here
Internal audit remains independent, so early involvement informs and advises but never removes the need for subsequent independent audit work; it may reduce reliance on later testing, not the audits themselves. Reduced future audits would apply only if audit lost its independence by owning controls.
- ✓
Lower cost of implementing controls due to early design changes.
Why this is correct
Audit involvement during requirements and design lets control requirements be built into the system rather than retrofitted, avoiding costly rework and remediation after implementation. Catching design gaps early directly reduces the expense of implementing controls.
- ✗
Reduction in the number of system tests required.
Why it's wrong here
Internal audit involvement adds control reviews and risk assessments; it does not remove or reduce the testing the project team must perform. It is tempting because audit can identify control gaps that let developers streamline test coverage, but the SDLC benefit is improved control design, not fewer system tests.
- ✓
Identification of potential control weaknesses before they are ingrained.
Why this is correct
Early internal audit involvement surfaces control design flaws while the system is still being specified, when remediation costs only documentation changes rather than code rework. This directly satisfies the SDLC's shift-left constraint: catching weaknesses before they become ingrained in production architecture, where retrofitting segregation of duties or audit trails becomes materially harder.
- ✓
Enhanced assurance that controls are embedded in the system design.
Why this is correct
Early audit participation gives independent assurance that required controls are actually designed into architecture, data flows and processing logic, rather than added later. This provides stakeholders with confidence that the system's control environment is complete.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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