The answer is risk acceptance with formal sign-off by senior management. This is the most appropriate strategy because when a critical vulnerability cannot be patched and the system must remain available for business operations, all feasible technical and compensating controls have been exhausted, leaving residual risk that must be formally acknowledged rather than transferred, avoided, or mitigated. In the Certified Information Security Manager CISM exam, this scenario tests your understanding that risk acceptance is not a default or lazy option but a deliberate, documented decision reserved for cases where the cost or feasibility of other treatments outweighs the benefit, and it always requires senior management approval when the residual risk exceeds the organization’s risk appetite. A common trap is choosing risk mitigation or transfer, but remember that mitigation is impossible here (no patch exists) and transfer (e.g., insurance) does not remove the operational exposure. For a memory tip, think “ACCEPT when you can’t PATCH or STOP”—acceptance is the only valid path when the system must run and the vulnerability cannot be fixed.
CISM Legacy system vulnerability Practice Question
This CISM practice question tests your understanding of information security risk management. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
During a risk assessment, an organization identifies a critical vulnerability in a legacy system that cannot be patched. The system's availability is crucial for business operations. Which of the following risk treatment strategies is MOST appropriate?
Risk mitigation by implementing compensating controls
Why wrong: Compensating controls are a form of mitigation, but the question says the system cannot be patched; however, compensating controls can still reduce risk. The key is that the vulnerability cannot be fixed, so mitigation may not be fully effective. The best answer is acceptance if no controls are cost-effective.
C
Risk transfer through cyber insurance
Why wrong: Insurance transfers financial risk but not operational risk; the vulnerability remains.
D
Risk avoidance by decommissioning the system
Why wrong: Decommissioning would avoid risk but is not acceptable because the system is critical.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Risk acceptance with formal sign-off by senior management
When a critical vulnerability cannot be patched and the system must remain available for business operations, risk acceptance is the most appropriate strategy because it formally acknowledges the residual risk after all feasible controls have been considered. Senior management sign-off is required because the risk exceeds the organization's risk appetite, and acceptance documents the decision to operate with the known vulnerability. This approach aligns with the CISM principle that risk acceptance is a valid treatment when the cost of other treatments exceeds the benefit or when no other treatment is feasible.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Risk mitigation by implementing compensating controls
Why it's wrong here
Compensating controls are a form of mitigation, but the question says the system cannot be patched; however, compensating controls can still reduce risk. The key is that the vulnerability cannot be fixed, so mitigation may not be fully effective. The best answer is acceptance if no controls are cost-effective.
✗
Risk transfer through cyber insurance
Why it's wrong here
Insurance transfers financial risk but not operational risk; the vulnerability remains.
✗
Risk avoidance by decommissioning the system
Why it's wrong here
Decommissioning would avoid risk but is not acceptable because the system is critical.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The CISM exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Risk acceptance with formal sign-off by senior managementCorrect answer▾✗Risk mitigation by implementing compensating controlsWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Compensating controls are a form of mitigation, but the question says the system cannot be patched; however, compensating controls can still reduce risk. The key is that the vulnerability cannot be fixed, so mitigation may not be fully effective. The best answer is acceptance if no controls are cost-effective.
✗Risk transfer through cyber insuranceWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Insurance transfers financial risk but not operational risk; the vulnerability remains.
✗Risk avoidance by decommissioning the systemWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Decommissioning would avoid risk but is not acceptable because the system is critical.
Analysis generated from the official CISMblueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose risk mitigation (compensating controls) because it seems proactive, but the question explicitly states the vulnerability 'cannot be patched' and the system is 'crucial for business operations,' making formal acceptance by senior management the required CISM answer when residual risk remains after all feasible controls.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In risk management frameworks like ISO 31000 and NIST SP 800-39, risk acceptance is a formal decision to tolerate residual risk after controls are applied, documented through a Risk Acceptance Form (RAF) or Exception to Policy. For legacy systems with unpatched vulnerabilities (e.g., CVE-2019-0708 in Windows Server 2003), compensating controls such as network segmentation, host-based firewalls, and strict access controls can reduce exploitability, but the residual risk of a zero-day or lateral movement remains. Senior management acceptance ensures accountability and aligns with the organization's risk appetite, often requiring periodic re-acceptance (e.g., every 90 days) to reassess the threat landscape.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Information Security Risk Management — This question tests Information Security Risk Management — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Risk acceptance with formal sign-off by senior management — When a critical vulnerability cannot be patched and the system must remain available for business operations, risk acceptance is the most appropriate strategy because it formally acknowledges the residual risk after all feasible controls have been considered. Senior management sign-off is required because the risk exceeds the organization's risk appetite, and acceptance documents the decision to operate with the known vulnerability. This approach aligns with the CISM principle that risk acceptance is a valid treatment when the cost of other treatments exceeds the benefit or when no other treatment is feasible.
What should I do if I get this CISM question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. Based on the exhibit, what is the MOST appropriate next step for the information security manager?
easy
✓ A.Recommend implementing multifactor authentication to reduce the risk
B.Accept the risk because the likelihood is only moderate
C.Reassess the risk with a higher risk appetite threshold
D.Transfer the risk by purchasing cyber insurance
Why A: Multifactor authentication (MFA) directly mitigates the most likely attack vector for the identified risk—credential theft or brute-force attacks—by requiring a second factor (e.g., a one-time password from a hardware token or biometric) in addition to the password. Since the exhibit (not shown) indicates a moderate likelihood but high impact, implementing MFA reduces the likelihood to a more acceptable level without requiring a change in risk appetite or transferring the risk. This aligns with the CISM principle of applying cost-effective controls to reduce residual risk to within the organization's risk tolerance.
Variation 2. During a risk assessment, a company discovers that its data backup process is incomplete: backups are performed daily but stored onsite without encryption. The risk owner proposes to accept this risk due to low likelihood of a physical breach. Which of the following is the BEST reason to challenge this acceptance?
medium
✓ A.The impact of losing both primary and backup data is unacceptably high
B.The risk owner does not have authority to accept risks
C.Encryption is not required as the facility is secure
D.The cost of implementing encrypted offsite backups is minimal
Why A: Option D is correct because a complete loss of backup integrity from a single event (e.g., fire) could be catastrophic, making the risk unacceptable. Option A is wrong because cost alone doesn't justify acceptance if impact is high. Option B is wrong because the risk owner's authority doesn't override risk committee. Option C is wrong because encryption is a mitigation, not a reason to challenge acceptance.
Variation 3. A financial institution is implementing a new online banking platform. The risk assessment identified that the authentication module has a high likelihood of exploitation due to weak password policies. The risk owner has decided to implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) to reduce the risk. This is an example of which risk response strategy?
medium
A.Risk avoidance
✓ B.Risk mitigation
C.Risk acceptance
D.Risk transfer
Why B: Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) reduces the likelihood or impact of a security risk by adding additional authentication factors (e.g., something you know, something you have, something you are) beyond a weak password. This directly aligns with risk mitigation, which seeks to decrease the residual risk to an acceptable level through controls. The decision does not eliminate the risk entirely (avoidance), accept it without action, or transfer it to a third party.
Variation 4. A multinational corporation is assessing the risk of data breaches from third-party vendors. The CISM is tasked with selecting a risk treatment strategy. The organization has a low risk appetite for data breaches. Which strategy should be prioritized?
medium
A.Mitigate the risk by conducting regular vendor audits.
✓ B.Avoid the risk by not engaging vendors that cannot meet security requirements.
C.Transfer the risk by requiring vendors to have cyber insurance.
D.Accept the risk because third-party risks are unavoidable.
Why B: Given the organization's low risk appetite for data breaches, the most appropriate strategy is to avoid the risk entirely by not engaging vendors that cannot meet security requirements. This aligns with the principle that when risk exceeds the acceptable threshold, avoidance is the prioritized treatment. Avoidance eliminates the risk source, whereas other strategies like mitigation or transfer still retain some residual risk that may be unacceptable.
Variation 5. A company is assessing the risk of a critical system outage. The system has a maximum tolerable downtime (MTD) of 2 hours, but the current recovery time objective (RTO) is 4 hours. What is the most appropriate risk treatment?
medium
✓ A.Mitigate by reducing the RTO to 1 hour through process automation
B.Transfer the risk by purchasing business interruption insurance
C.Accept the risk because the RTO is shorter than the MTD
D.Avoid the risk by replacing the system with a more reliable one
Why A: Since the current RTO exceeds the MTD, the organization is unable to meet its downtime tolerance. Reducing the RTO to 1 hour (below MTD) through process automation is the appropriate mitigation. Accepting the risk is not viable because the MTD is lower. Transfer via insurance does not address the RTO gap. Replacing the system is more drastic and may not be cost-effective.
Variation 6. During a risk assessment, a CISM identifies that the organization's data backup process has a single point of failure. The backup server is located in the same data center as the primary server. Which risk response is most appropriate?
easy
✓ A.Mitigate by moving the backup server to a geographically separate location.
B.Transfer the risk by purchasing business interruption insurance.
C.Avoid the risk by discontinuing the backup process.
D.Accept the risk because the cost of mitigation is high.
Why A: Moving the backup server to a geographically separate location directly eliminates the single point of failure by ensuring that a localized disaster (e.g., fire, flood, power outage) at the primary data center does not simultaneously destroy both the primary and backup data. This is a classic risk mitigation strategy that reduces the likelihood and impact of data loss, aligning with the principle of geographic redundancy for disaster recovery.
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