hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
CISM Practice Question: An incident has been declared involving a…
An incident has been declared involving a ransomware attack that encrypted critical servers. The organization has backups, but the backups were also encrypted. Which of the following is the BEST course of action?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume offline backups are always safe, but the question explicitly states the backups were encrypted, so restoring from them would be futile; the correct answer focuses on clean images rather than any form of backup restoration.
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
✓
Rebuild the servers from clean images
Rebuilding servers from clean, uninfected images is the only reliable way to restore operations when backups have also been encrypted. Since the ransomware encrypted both production systems and backup data, any restoration attempt from compromised backups would reintroduce the malware. Clean images ensure a known-good state without relying on potentially corrupted or encrypted backup files.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Analyze the ransomware to find a decryptor
Why it's wrong here
While possible, analyzing ransomware takes time and may not produce a working decryptor; rebuilding is more reliable.
- ✓
Rebuild the servers from clean images
Why this is correct
Rebuilding from clean system images ensures a secure, malware-free environment; data may need to be restored from alternate sources.
- ✗
Restore from offline backups
Why it's wrong here
Offline backups were encrypted, so they cannot be used for restoration.
- ✗
Pay the ransom to obtain decryption key
Why it's wrong here
Paying the ransom encourages criminal activity and does not guarantee data recovery; it should be avoided.
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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.