CISM Information Security Programme Practice Question
A SOC analyst receives an alert about a potential malware infection on a critical server. Which step should the analyst take FIRST?
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
✓
Perform initial triage to verify the alert and assess severity
The first step in incident response is to investigate and confirm the alert (triage) to avoid acting on false positives.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reboot the server to clear the potential malware
Why it's wrong here
Rebooting may destroy evidence and not remove the malware.
- ✗
Notify the incident response team and escalate
Why it's wrong here
Escalation should occur after triage confirms a real incident.
- ✗
Disconnect the server from the network immediately
Why it's wrong here
Isolation may be necessary but only after confirming the incident to avoid disruption.
- ✓
Perform initial triage to verify the alert and assess severity
Why this is correct
Triage confirms the alert and guides next steps.
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.