CISM Information Security Governance Practice Question
Which of the following is the PRIMARY responsibility of the CISO in an organization?
⚠ Common exam trap
CISM often tests role boundaries — candidates confuse the CISO's strategic ownership with hands-on operational or audit duties, picking 'auditing security controls' or 'day-to-day operations' because those sound security-related, but governance exams reward the strategic answer.
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
✓
Owning the information security strategy and programme
The CISO is a senior executive whose primary accountability is owning and directing the information security strategy and programme, aligning it with business objectives and reporting to the board or CEO. This strategic ownership distinguishes the role from operational or assurance functions. Managing infrastructure, auditing controls, and running day-to-day operations are execution responsibilities delegated to IT, audit, and security operations teams respectively.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Managing the IT infrastructure
Why it's wrong here
Managing IT infrastructure is an operational technology function, typically the CIO's or IT director's remit, and conflicts with the CISO's governance and risk oversight role. Infrastructure management is the right responsibility for an IT operations leader, whereas the CISO sets security strategy and reports risk to the board.
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Auditing security controls
Why it's wrong here
Auditing security controls is performed independently by internal audit or assurance functions, preserving objectivity from those who design and operate the controls. The CISO may commission or respond to audits, but direct auditing is the correct responsibility of an independent audit function, not the executive who owns the control environment.
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Performing day-to-day security operations
Why it's wrong here
Day-to-day security operations belong to the security operations team, not the CISO, whose remit is strategy, governance and risk alignment with business objectives. Hands-on operational duties are the correct focus for a security operations manager or analyst role, not the executive accountable for the security programme.
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Owning the information security strategy and programme
Why this is correct
The CISO owns the information security strategy and programme, aligning security objectives with business goals and reporting to executive leadership. This satisfies the stem's demand for the primary responsibility, distinguishing strategic ownership from operational tasks such as incident response or control implementation delegated to security managers.
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About these practice questions
This CISM question is part of Courseiva's 924-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official ISACA exam blueprint
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.