CISM Information Security Risk Management Practice Question
You are the CISM for a mid-sized e-commerce company that processes credit card transactions. The company recently experienced a security incident where an attacker exploited a vulnerability in the web application to gain access to the customer database containing payment card information. The incident response team contained the breach, but the root cause analysis revealed that the vulnerability had been identified in a penetration test six months ago but was not remediated due to competing priorities. The company's risk management framework defines risk appetite as 'moderate' for information security risks. The board is concerned and has asked you to recommend improvements to prevent recurrence. The company has a limited budget and cannot implement all possible controls. Current environment: web application developed in-house, hosted on-premises, with a mix of virtual and physical servers. The security team consists of three people responsible for monitoring, incident response, and vulnerability management. The development team follows an agile methodology with bi-weekly sprints. The company has cyber liability insurance that covers breach response costs up to $2 million. Based on this scenario, what is the most effective course of action?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISACA often tests the misconception that increasing insurance or hiring more staff is the primary solution to a risk management failure, when in fact the core issue is the lack of a process to enforce remediation of known vulnerabilities within the organization's risk appetite.
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
✓
Implement a formal vulnerability management program with defined remediation SLAs based on risk severity.
A formal vulnerability management program with defined remediation SLAs directly addresses the root cause: the known vulnerability was not patched due to competing priorities. By tying remediation timelines to risk severity (e.g., critical vulnerabilities patched within 7 days, high within 30 days), the company operationalizes its 'moderate' risk appetite and ensures that penetration test findings are acted upon before they can be exploited. This is the most cost-effective approach given the limited budget, as it leverages existing staff and processes rather than requiring new hires or expensive rewrites.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Hire two additional security analysts to improve monitoring and incident response.
Why it's wrong here
More staff can help but does not ensure vulnerabilities are remediated.
- ✓
Implement a formal vulnerability management program with defined remediation SLAs based on risk severity.
Why this is correct
This directly addresses the failure to remediate known vulnerabilities, ensuring timely fixes.
- ✗
Increase cyber liability insurance coverage to $5 million to cover potential breach costs.
Why it's wrong here
Insurance does not prevent breaches; it only provides financial compensation.
- ✗
Rewrite the web application using a secure development framework to eliminate vulnerabilities.
Why it's wrong here
While beneficial, it is not the most immediate or cost-effective fix for the process gap.
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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.