CISM Information Security Program Practice Question
An organization's security program includes metrics to measure performance. Which metric BEST indicates the effectiveness of the vulnerability management process?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse activity metrics (number of patches, scan coverage) with outcome metrics (MTTR), which is the only option that directly measures the effectiveness of closing vulnerabilities in a timely manner.
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
✓
Mean time to remediate (MTTR) vulnerabilities
Mean time to remediate (MTTR) directly measures how quickly the organization closes the window of exposure after a vulnerability is identified. A lower MTTR indicates a more effective vulnerability management process because it reduces the risk window, whereas raw counts of vulnerabilities or patches do not reflect the timeliness or completeness of remediation.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Number of vulnerabilities identified
Why it's wrong here
Identification count does not measure remediation effectiveness.
- ✗
Number of patches deployed per month
Why it's wrong here
Patch count does not indicate whether critical vulnerabilities are prioritized.
- ✗
Percentage of systems scanned weekly
Why it's wrong here
Scan coverage is a process metric, not a measure of remediation effectiveness.
- ✓
Mean time to remediate (MTTR) vulnerabilities
Why this is correct
MTTR shows how quickly the organization fixes vulnerabilities, a key effectiveness indicator.
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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.