CISM Incident Management Practice Question
Which of the following is the primary purpose of conducting a root cause analysis (RCA) after a security incident?
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
✓
To determine process and governance failures that allowed the incident to occur
RCA aims to identify underlying causes to prevent recurrence. While it may involve understanding the technical cause, the ultimate goal is to improve processes and controls.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
To identify the technical vulnerability that was exploited
Why it's wrong here
This is part of the RCA, but the primary purpose is broader: preventing recurrence.
- ✓
To determine process and governance failures that allowed the incident to occur
Why this is correct
RCA looks beyond technical causes to process and management failures.
- ✗
To satisfy regulatory reporting requirements
Why it's wrong here
Regulatory requirements may exist, but the primary purpose is improvement.
- ✗
To assign blame to responsible individuals
Why it's wrong here
RCA is not about blame; it's about systemic improvement.
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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.