This CRISC practice question tests your understanding of it risk identification. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A financial institution is migrating its core banking system from an on-premises data center to a public cloud infrastructure. The migration is planned in phases over 18 months. The IT risk manager is tasked with identifying risks during the transition. During the first phase, the team moves non-critical applications to the cloud. A vulnerability assessment of the cloud environment reveals that several virtual machines have default administrative credentials enabled. Additionally, the cloud security group configuration for the application tier allows inbound SSH from the entire internet (0.0.0.0/0). The risk manager also learns that the cloud provider's shared responsibility model is not fully understood by the operations team, who believe the provider is responsible for all security controls. The institution's risk appetite statement allows for moderate risk tolerance but prohibits any exposure that could lead to unauthorized access to customer financial data. Which of the following risk scenarios should the risk manager identify as the MOST critical to address immediately?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "first"
Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
Clue: "immediately / without restart"
Why it matters: Time or reboot constraint — the correct answer must take effect right away without requiring a reboot or reload.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Default credentials on virtual machines combined with unrestricted inbound SSH from the internet
Correct: C. The combination of default credentials and open SSH access creates an immediate and exploitable vulnerability that could lead to unauthorized access to the application tier, potentially compromising customer data. This directly violates the risk appetite. A is a general issue but less immediate. B is important but not as critical as C. D is correct but not the most immediate.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
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 operations team's misunderstanding of the shared responsibility model
Why it's wrong here
Long-term risk but not an immediate threat; can be addressed through training.
✗
The cloud provider may not have adequate security controls for the institution's data
Why it's wrong here
Important but based on assumption; the actual misconfiguration is more critical.
✗
The phased migration introduces complexity that may cause configuration drift
Why it's wrong here
Relevant but not as critical as an exposed vulnerability.
✓
Default credentials on virtual machines combined with unrestricted inbound SSH from the internet
Why this is correct
Direct and immediate risk of unauthorized access to systems handling sensitive data.
Clue confirmation
The clue words "first", "immediately / without restart" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
→Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
→Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
→Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related CRISC NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
IT Risk Identification — This question tests IT Risk Identification — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Default credentials on virtual machines combined with unrestricted inbound SSH from the internet — Correct: C. The combination of default credentials and open SSH access creates an immediate and exploitable vulnerability that could lead to unauthorized access to the application tier, potentially compromising customer data. This directly violates the risk appetite. A is a general issue but less immediate. B is important but not as critical as C. D is correct but not the most immediate.
What should I do if I get this CRISC question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related CRISC NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "first", "immediately / without restart". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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