CISA Governance and Management of IT Practice Question
Scenario: A mid-sized manufacturing company has recently experienced a significant IT outage that halted production for 8 hours. The root cause was a failed firmware update on a core switch that was performed outside the change management process by a senior network engineer who claimed the update was urgent to patch a critical vulnerability. The company has a well-documented change management policy that requires all changes to be reviewed by the change advisory board (CAB) before implementation, except for emergency changes which require post-implementation review within 48 hours. The engineer did not follow the emergency change process; he implemented the update directly. The IT director wants to prevent such incidents in the future. Which of the following is the BEST action?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often choose technical controls (like automatic updates or removing access) instead of recognizing that the fundamental issue is a governance failure—the policy exists but was not enforced, so the best action is to strengthen enforcement and accountability, not to add or remove technical capabilities.
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
✓
Enforce the change management policy by implementing stricter controls and disciplinary measures for non-compliance.
The root cause was a deliberate bypass of the existing change management policy, not a flaw in the policy itself. Enforcing stricter controls and disciplinary measures directly addresses the human factor by reinforcing accountability and deterring unauthorized changes, which is the most effective way to prevent recurrence when a well-documented process is already in place but ignored.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Implement automatic firmware updates to eliminate human error.
Why it's wrong here
Automatic updates bypass change management and could cause outages.
- ✗
Increase the frequency of CAB meetings to weekly to expedite change approvals.
Why it's wrong here
Does not prevent unauthorized changes; the engineer bypassed the process entirely.
- ✓
Enforce the change management policy by implementing stricter controls and disciplinary measures for non-compliance.
Why this is correct
Enforcing existing policy with consequences ensures adherence.
- ✗
Remove the network engineer's administrative access to all network devices.
Why it's wrong here
Overly restrictive; the engineer needs access for legitimate tasks.
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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.