CISM Information Security Risk Management Practice Question
An organization selects a control to mitigate a risk, but after implementation, the risk level remains unchanged. What should the risk manager do first?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates mistakenly jump to 'increase control strength' (Option A) because they assume the control is simply too weak, rather than first verifying whether the control is actually functioning or correctly designed to address the specific risk.
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
✓
Re-assess the risk and control effectiveness
When a control is implemented but the risk level remains unchanged, the risk manager must first re-assess the risk and control effectiveness to determine why the control failed to reduce the risk. This aligns with the CISM risk management process, which mandates that controls be evaluated for proper design and operation before any escalation or acceptance decisions are made. Without this re-assessment, the organization cannot know whether the control is misconfigured, insufficient, or simply not addressing the correct threat vector.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the control strength
Why it's wrong here
Without understanding why the control failed, increasing strength may be ineffective.
- ✓
Re-assess the risk and control effectiveness
Why this is correct
Reassessment is necessary to understand the gap.
- ✗
Report to senior management
Why it's wrong here
Reporting should come after assessment.
- ✗
Accept the risk as residual
Why it's wrong here
Acceptance should come after analysis, not as a first step.
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About these practice questions
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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.