CRISC Risk Response and Reporting Practice Question
A company's IT risk manager is evaluating Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) for the cybersecurity function. Which TWO of the following are valid examples of leading KRIs?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse lagging indicators (which measure past events like downtime or audit findings) with leading indicators (which predict future risk), leading candidates to select outcome-based metrics like successful attacks instead of proactive measures like patch lag.
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
✓
Patch lag metric for critical systems
A patch lag metric measures the time taken to apply security patches to critical systems, which is a proactive indicator of potential vulnerability exposure before an exploit occurs. As a leading KRI, it predicts future security incidents by highlighting delayed remediation efforts, aligning with the CRISC focus on forward-looking risk indicators.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
System downtime due to security incidents
Why it's wrong here
Downtime is a lagging indicator of incident impact.
- ✓
Patch lag metric for critical systems
Why this is correct
Patch lag is a leading indicator of vulnerability risk.
- ✓
Failed authentication spike detection
Why this is correct
Spikes in failed logins may precede credential attacks.
- ✗
Number of audit findings related to access controls
Why it's wrong here
Audit findings are lagging, reflecting past issues.
- ✗
Number of successful cyber attacks in the past quarter
Why it's wrong here
This is a lagging indicator, not leading.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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