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CISM Practice Question: Which TWO of the following are indicators of a…
Which TWO of the following are indicators of a potential security incident?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISACA often tests the distinction between operational issues (like low disk space) and true security incident indicators, trapping candidates who confuse performance alerts with signs of compromise.
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
✓
Multiple unexpected system reboots.
Multiple unexpected system reboots (B) are a strong indicator of a potential security incident because they may result from malware, kernel-level exploits, or denial-of-service attacks that crash the operating system. Unusual outbound network traffic from a server (E) often indicates data exfiltration, command-and-control (C2) communication, or a compromised service sending sensitive data to an external host. Both behaviors deviate from baseline operations and warrant immediate investigation under the Incident Management domain.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Low disk space on a file server.
Why it's wrong here
This is a capacity issue, not a security incident.
- ✓
Multiple unexpected system reboots.
Why this is correct
May indicate malware or unauthorized activity.
- ✗
A new version of a critical software released.
Why it's wrong here
Software updates are normal and not indicative of an incident.
- ✗
A successful login by an authorized user.
Why it's wrong here
Authorized logins are normal.
- ✓
Unusual outbound network traffic from a server.
Why this is correct
Could indicate data exfiltration or command and control.
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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.