CISM Incident Management Practice Question
Which component of an incident response program is most likely to include step-by-step technical actions for addressing a specific type of security incident?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISACA CISM often tests the distinction between a plan (strategic, high-level) and a playbook (tactical, step-by-step), causing candidates to mistakenly choose the incident response plan because it sounds more comprehensive.
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
✓
Incident response playbook
An incident response playbook provides detailed, step-by-step technical procedures for handling specific incident types (e.g., ransomware, DDoS, phishing). Unlike higher-level documents, playbooks contain actionable commands, tool-specific instructions, and decision trees that guide responders through containment, eradication, and recovery. This granularity ensures consistent and efficient execution during an active security event.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Incident response playbook
Why this is correct
Playbooks contain detailed, step-by-step procedures for specific incident types.
- ✗
Communication templates
Why it's wrong here
Communication templates are for stakeholder notifications, not technical actions.
- ✗
Incident response policy
Why it's wrong here
The policy defines high-level objectives, not technical steps.
- ✗
Incident response plan
Why it's wrong here
The plan outlines the overall approach and team structure, not specific technical actions.
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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.