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CISM Practice Question: During an incident, the incident response team…
During an incident, the incident response team determines that a compromised account was used to exfiltrate data. The account has been disabled. What is the NEXT best action to prevent similar incidents?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse 'next best action' with 'immediate containment step'—they choose to reset all passwords or review logs again, when the correct post-containment priority is to analyze the root cause to prevent recurrence, as emphasized in the CISM Incident Management lifecycle.
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
✓
Perform a root cause analysis
Performing a root cause analysis (RCA) is the next best action because it systematically identifies the underlying vulnerability or control weakness that allowed the account compromise. Without understanding how the attacker gained access—whether through phishing, credential stuffing, or a software vulnerability—simply disabling the account does not prevent recurrence. The RCA will inform targeted remediation, such as patching, policy changes, or implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA).
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Notify potentially affected customers
Why it's wrong here
Notification is important but occurs after analysis and legal review.
- ✓
Perform a root cause analysis
Why this is correct
Root cause analysis identifies the weakness to prevent recurrence.
- ✗
Reset passwords for all user accounts
Why it's wrong here
Mass password reset is reactive and may not address root cause.
- ✗
Review authentication logs for other anomalies
Why it's wrong here
Log review is part of investigation but not the next best preventive step.
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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.