CISA Practice Question: Information Systems Acquisition, Development and Implementation
This CISA practice question tests your understanding of information systems acquisition, development and implementation. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Over-privileged access
The IAM policy grants broad permissions (e.g., `"Effect": "Allow", "Action": "*", "Resource": "*"`) without scoping to specific actions or resources, violating the principle of least privilege. This over-privileged access allows any authenticated principal to perform any operation (including destructive actions like `iam:DeleteRole` or `s3:DeleteBucket`) across all resources, creating a severe security risk. The primary weakness is the lack of fine-grained access control, not the absence of encryption, MFA, or logging.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Over-privileged access
Why this is correct
The role has broad access to all objects without conditions.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
No encryption requirement
Why it's wrong here
Encryption is not specified but is not the primary weakness.
✗
MFA not required
Why it's wrong here
MFA could be added as a condition, but the primary weakness is over-privilege.
✗
Lack of logging
Why it's wrong here
Logging is not part of the policy.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often focus on missing security features like encryption or MFA, but the CISA exam emphasizes that the most critical IAM weakness is granting excessive permissions (over-privileged access) rather than missing optional controls.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In AWS IAM, a policy with `"Action": "*"` and `"Resource": "*"` effectively grants full administrative access, equivalent to the `AdministratorAccess` managed policy. This bypasses any service-specific permission boundaries, allowing actions like `iam:PassRole` to escalate privileges or `ec2:TerminateInstances` to disrupt operations. The principle of least privilege requires scoping actions to specific service APIs (e.g., `s3:GetObject`) and resources using ARN patterns (e.g., `arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket/*`), which this policy completely ignores.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A junior network technician can log in to a core router but cannot reach the enable prompt or configuration mode. The AAA server is authenticating the login — but the authorisation policy only grants privilege level 1, not 15. Authentication (who you are) is working; authorisation (what you can do) is not.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Information Systems Acquisition, Development and Implementation — This question tests Information Systems Acquisition, Development and Implementation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Over-privileged access — The IAM policy grants broad permissions (e.g., `"Effect": "Allow", "Action": "*", "Resource": "*"`) without scoping to specific actions or resources, violating the principle of least privilege. This over-privileged access allows any authenticated principal to perform any operation (including destructive actions like `iam:DeleteRole` or `s3:DeleteBucket`) across all resources, creating a severe security risk. The primary weakness is the lack of fine-grained access control, not the absence of encryption, MFA, or logging.
What should I do if I get this CISA question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.