CISM Information Security Programme Practice Question
A security manager is developing a security scorecard for the CISO. Which THREE of the following metrics are considered LEADING indicators?
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
✓
Patch compliance percentage
Leading indicators predict future incidents. Patch compliance, access review completion, and phishing click rate are proactive measures.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Mean time to detect (MTTD)
Why it's wrong here
Lagging indicator of detection capability.
- ✓
Patch compliance percentage
Why this is correct
Measures proactive vulnerability remediation.
- ✓
Phishing simulation click rate
Why this is correct
Predicts likelihood of successful phishing attacks.
- ✗
Number of data breaches
Why it's wrong here
Lagging indicator.
- ✓
Access review completion rate
Why this is correct
Indicates proactive identity governance.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every CISM question from scratch — 871 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.