CISM Information Security Risk Management Practice Question
A company is implementing a risk management program and needs to identify the most critical assets. Which of the following is the BEST approach to prioritize assets for risk assessment?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse 'asset value' with 'purchase cost' (Option A) or mistake technical severity (Option C) for business criticality, failing to recognize that risk management prioritization must be driven by business impact analysis, not by financial or technical metrics alone.
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
✓
Assess the business impact of each asset's compromise
The best approach to prioritize assets for risk assessment is to assess the business impact of each asset's compromise because risk management focuses on the potential harm to business objectives, not on financial cost or technical vulnerabilities. Business impact analysis (BIA) evaluates criticality based on factors like revenue loss, regulatory penalties, and operational downtime, directly aligning asset priority with organizational risk appetite.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use the asset's purchase value to determine priority
Why it's wrong here
Purchase value does not necessarily correlate with business criticality or risk.
- ✓
Assess the business impact of each asset's compromise
Why this is correct
Assessing business impact directly ties to criticality and is the best method for prioritization.
- ✗
Perform a vulnerability scan and prioritize based on findings
Why it's wrong here
Vulnerability scans identify security weaknesses but not asset criticality.
- ✗
Review historical incident reports for each asset
Why it's wrong here
Historical incidents may indicate past issues but not current criticality.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CISM 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 CISM exam.