CISM Information Security Program Practice Question
A large financial institution is maturing its information security program and wants to move from a reactive to a proactive posture. Which of the following initiatives would best support this transition?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse proactive security with reactive vulnerability management or detection improvements, mistakenly selecting bug bounty programs or SOC staffing increases because they seem forward-looking, when in fact only threat intelligence directly addresses the proactive shift by focusing on adversary behavior and prevention.
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
✓
Establish a threat intelligence unit that analyzes adversary tactics and shares indicators across the organization.
Establishing a threat intelligence unit directly supports a proactive posture by enabling the organization to anticipate and prepare for emerging threats based on adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). Unlike reactive measures, this initiative shifts focus from responding to incidents to preventing them by sharing actionable indicators across the enterprise, aligning with the CISM goal of maturing the security program toward proactive risk management.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Deploy an automated compliance monitoring tool.
Why it's wrong here
Compliance monitoring ensures adherence but does not anticipate new threats.
- ✗
Implement a bug bounty program to uncover vulnerabilities.
Why it's wrong here
Bug bounties are reactive in that they find existing vulnerabilities; not proactive prevention.
- ✓
Establish a threat intelligence unit that analyzes adversary tactics and shares indicators across the organization.
Why this is correct
Threat intelligence provides actionable information to prevent attacks before they occur.
- ✗
Increase the number of security operations center (SOC) analysts.
Why it's wrong here
More analysts improve detection but do not inherently make the program proactive.
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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.