easyMultiple Choice
CISM Practice Question: Based on the exhibit, what is the PRIMARY risk of…
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
Exhibit: JSON policy snippet for an incident response automation:
{
"policy_name": "Auto-Contain Malicious IP",
"trigger": "SIEM_alert.severity >= 5",
"actions": [
{"action": "block_ip", "target": "alert.source_ip"},
{"action": "isolate_host", "target": "alert.target_host"},
{"action": "create_ticket", "assignee": "IR_team"}
],
"notify": ["SOC_manager"],
"auto_approve": true
}Based on the exhibit, what is the PRIMARY risk of the automated response policy as configured?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates focus on the technical effectiveness of the block (dynamic IPs) or the severity threshold, rather than recognizing that the automated approval itself—without human-in-the-loop—is the primary risk, as it can cause business disruption from false positives.
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
✓
Automatic approval may cause unnecessary disruption on false positives
An automated response policy that approves blocking actions without human validation can trigger unnecessary disruption when false positives occur. Even if the severity threshold is appropriate, the lack of a verification step means legitimate traffic may be blocked, impacting business operations. The primary risk is not the effectiveness of the block but the operational impact of automated decisions on benign events.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Blocking the IP may be ineffective against dynamic IPs
Why it's wrong here
Dynamic addressing affects any IP-blocking control, so it is a generic limitation rather than the risk specific to this configuration. The exhibit's automated policy blocks without analyst validation, which is the actual exposure. IP-blocking efficacy would be the focus if the question asked about blocking controls generally.
- ✗
The SOC manager may not receive notifications in time
Why it's wrong here
The policy's automated containment actions execute regardless of notification delivery, so the manager's alert timing is not the primary risk; the real exposure is an incorrect automated action disrupting production. Notification delay would matter if the policy depended on human approval before acting.
- ✓
Automatic approval may cause unnecessary disruption on false positives
Why this is correct
Automated response acts on detection signals without human validation, so a false positive triggers containment against healthy systems. That causes unnecessary disruption and potential outage, which is the primary risk of the policy as configured in the exhibit.
- ✗
The trigger severity is too low
Why it's wrong here
Trigger severity governs whether the policy fires at all, not the risk created once it does. The exhibit's automated response acts on whatever matches, so the danger is the unvalidated containment action, not the threshold. Severity tuning would be the concern for a detection-only rule.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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