hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
CRISC Practice Question: A company's internal audit function reports that…
A company's internal audit function reports that a detective control (manual review of transactions) is operating effectively based on a sample of 50 transactions showing no issues. However, the continuous monitoring system shows that 100 suspicious transactions were not reviewed during the same period. The control owner argues the control is effective. What is the BEST conclusion?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often assume a clean sample proves control effectiveness, but CRISC tests the understanding that sample size and population coverage are critical—a small sample can miss a high failure rate, especially when continuous monitoring reveals a significant gap.
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
✓
The control is ineffective because the audit sample size is too small to detect the actual failure rate.
The detective control (manual review) is ineffective because the audit sample of 50 transactions is statistically insufficient to detect a failure rate of 100 suspicious transactions out of the total population. The continuous monitoring system provides near-real-time visibility into all transactions, revealing a significant gap that the small sample missed. A control cannot be deemed effective when a larger, more comprehensive monitoring system shows a high volume of unaddressed suspicious activity.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The control is effective because the monitoring system is too sensitive.
Why it's wrong here
There is no indication the monitoring system is overly sensitive.
- ✗
The control is ineffective because the monitoring system is unreliable.
Why it's wrong here
The monitoring system likely provides accurate data.
- ✓
The control is ineffective because the audit sample size is too small to detect the actual failure rate.
Why this is correct
The large number of unreviewed suspicious transactions indicates a control weakness that the sample missed.
- ✗
The control is effective because the sample showed no issues.
Why it's wrong here
The sample is not representative of the entire population.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CRISC 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 CRISC exam.