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CISA Practice Question: Which TWO of the following are essential…
Which TWO of the following are essential components of an effective incident response plan? (Select exactly 2.)
⚠ Common exam trap
ISACA often tests the distinction between proactive security activities (like vulnerability scanning or vendor lists) and the reactive, operational components of an incident response plan, leading candidates to mistakenly include non-essential items that are important for general IT management but not for immediate incident handling.
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
✓
Clearly defined roles and responsibilities
Clearly defined roles and responsibilities (C) are essential because they ensure that during a security incident, every team member knows their specific tasks, such as who leads the investigation, who communicates with stakeholders, and who executes containment actions. Without this clarity, response efforts become chaotic, leading to delays and missed containment windows, which directly impacts the organization's ability to minimize damage and recover quickly.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Root cause analysis procedures
Why it's wrong here
Root cause analysis is done after the incident, not during response.
- ✗
Detailed vulnerability scanning schedules
Why it's wrong here
Vulnerability scanning is a preventive measure, not part of incident response.
- ✓
Clearly defined roles and responsibilities
Why this is correct
Essential for coordinated response.
- ✗
List of all hardware vendors and support contacts
Why it's wrong here
While useful, it is not an essential component of the plan itself.
- ✓
Communication and escalation procedures
Why this is correct
Critical for timely notification and decision-making.
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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.