CISM Information Security Program Practice Question
An organization has just completed a risk assessment and identified several high-risk vulnerabilities. The security program manager needs to prioritize remediation efforts. Which of the following should be the primary factor in determining priority?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently choose 'Likelihood of exploitation' (Option B) because they confuse frequency with overall risk, ignoring that a high-likelihood but low-impact vulnerability (e.g., a minor misconfiguration) may be less critical than a low-likelihood but catastrophic one (e.g., a zero-day in a core database).
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
✓
Risk level (likelihood × impact)
Risk level, calculated as likelihood multiplied by impact, is the primary factor for prioritizing remediation because it quantifies the overall exposure to the organization. While regulatory requirements, likelihood alone, or ease of remediation are important considerations, they do not capture the combined effect of both probability and consequence, which is essential for effective risk management in an information security program.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Regulatory requirements only
Why it's wrong here
Regulatory requirements cover only a subset of obligations and ignore vulnerabilities outside compliance scope, leaving material risk untreated. It is tempting because non-compliance carries penalties, and it would drive priority where a specific mandate names the vulnerability, but it cannot serve as the general primary factor.
- ✗
Likelihood of exploitation
Why it's wrong here
Likelihood of exploitation alone omits business impact, so a highly exploitable but trivial vulnerability could outrank a severe one. It is tempting because exploitation probability is a genuine risk component, and it would be correct when combined with impact in a full risk calculation, but the stem asks for the primary prioritisation factor.
- ✓
Risk level (likelihood × impact)
Why this is correct
Risk level combines likelihood and impact, giving a quantified measure of exposure that reflects both probability and business consequence. Prioritising by this score directs remediation to vulnerabilities posing the greatest overall threat, rather than by severity rating or ease of fixing alone.
- ✗
Ease of remediation
Why it's wrong here
Ease of remediation addresses effort, not the exposure the vulnerability creates, so it cannot rank risk. It is tempting because quick wins reduce the backlog visibly, and it would be reasonable as a secondary scheduling input once risk-based priority is set, but the primary factor must reflect impact and likelihood.
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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.