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CISM Practice Question: An incident responder is handling a phishing…
An incident responder is handling a phishing attack that resulted in credential theft. Which TWO actions should be taken FIRST in the containment phase?
⚠ Common exam trap
This trap is common in incident management: candidates confuse containment with eradication or communication, selecting forensic analysis or user notification as first actions, when the immediate priority is to sever the attacker's authentication path by disabling the account and resetting the password.
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
✓
Disable the user's account temporarily.
Option A is correct because temporarily disabling the compromised user's account immediately stops the attacker from using the stolen credentials to access mail, VPN, or other resources, which is the fastest way to cut off the threat during containment. Option E is correct because resetting the compromised user's password invalidates the stolen credential and prevents its continued use, and it should be done as part of the initial containment actions (typically paired with revoking active sessions/tokens). Options B, C, and D, while useful, are not the first containment actions: notifying all users is awareness/communication rather than containment, forensic analysis is part of the investigation/eradication phase and should not precede stopping the active compromise, and blocking the phishing URL at the proxy is a broader mitigation that may be helpful but does not directly address the already-stolen credentials.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Disable the user's account temporarily.
Why this is correct
Disabling the account immediately severs the attacker's authenticated access, preventing further use of stolen credentials for lateral movement or data exfiltration. This directly satisfies containment by cutting off the compromised identity before password resets or broader remediation proceed.
- ✗
Notify all users about the phishing campaign.
Why it's wrong here
Communication is secondary to containment.
- ✗
Conduct a forensic analysis of the user's machine.
Why it's wrong here
Not part of containment; occurs later.
- ✗
Block the phishing URL at the proxy.
Why it's wrong here
Useful but not the first containment step for credential theft.
- ✓
Reset the compromised user's password.
Why this is correct
Resetting the password invalidates the stolen credential so the attacker cannot reauthenticate, restoring exclusive control to the legitimate user. Combined with account disablement, it satisfies containment by eliminating the compromised secret's ongoing usefulness during the incident.
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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.