CISM Incident Management Practice Question
During a P1 incident involving a ransomware attack, the incident response manager needs to communicate with executives. Which of the following is the most appropriate approach for executive communication?
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
✓
Send hourly situation reports (sitreps) focusing on business impact and key actions
For critical incidents, hourly sitreps (situation reports) are recommended to keep executives informed. Avoiding speculation and preserving legal privilege with counsel involvement are also key.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Include speculative root causes to show thoroughness
Why it's wrong here
Speculation should be avoided to preserve credibility and legal privilege.
- ✗
Wait until the incident is fully resolved before communicating
Why it's wrong here
Executives need timely updates to make decisions; waiting is not appropriate.
- ✓
Send hourly situation reports (sitreps) focusing on business impact and key actions
Why this is correct
Hourly sitreps are appropriate for P1 incidents, focusing on impact and response actions.
- ✗
Provide detailed technical analysis in every update
Why it's wrong here
Executives need high-level status, not deep technical details.
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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.