CISM Incident Management Practice Question
Which incident severity level requires executive notification and a 24/7 response?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse P2 (High) with P1 (Critical) because both involve significant business impact, but only P1 mandates executive notification and 24/7 response, as P2 incidents are typically managed by the incident response team without C-suite involvement unless they escalate.
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
✓
P1 — Critical
P1 — Critical incidents, such as a complete system outage or data breach, require immediate executive notification and a 24/7 response because they pose an imminent threat to business operations, legal compliance, or data integrity. This severity level triggers the highest escalation path, often involving the CEO, CISO, and legal counsel, with round-the-clock resource allocation to contain and remediate the issue.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
P3 — Medium
Why it's wrong here
P3 requires standard response, no executive notification.
- ✓
P1 — Critical
Why this is correct
P1 incidents require 24/7 response and executive notification.
- ✗
P4 — Low
Why it's wrong here
P4 requires scheduled remediation.
- ✗
P2 — High
Why it's wrong here
P2 requires management notification and business hours response.
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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.