CRISC IT Risk Assessment Practice Question
A financial services firm is evaluating the risk of insider threat in its trading department. The risk team has identified that a small number of traders have elevated privileges that allow them to execute trades and access sensitive market data. The team must determine the MOST effective control to reduce the likelihood of unauthorized trading activity. Which control should they prioritize?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is choosing detective controls like mandatory vacations or background checks, which do not prevent a trader from executing unauthorized trades in the first place.
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
✓
Enforcing separation of duties between trade execution and trade confirmation
Unauthorized trading often involves a single individual exploiting their privileges to execute and conceal trades. Separation of duties between trade execution and confirmation ensures that at least two people are involved in the process, making it much harder for one person to conduct unauthorized activity without detection. This preventive control directly reduces the likelihood of the risk. Other controls may help but are less direct or timely.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increasing the number of security cameras in the trading floor
Why it's wrong here
Security cameras can deter and detect physical security incidents, but unauthorized trading is typically conducted through electronic systems, not physical actions. Cameras do not prevent a trader from executing unauthorized trades via their workstation. They are not an effective control for this specific risk, which requires logical access and process controls.
- ✗
Conducting regular background checks on all traders
Why it's wrong here
Background checks are useful for screening employees before hiring, but they do not prevent an existing employee from engaging in unauthorized trading. They are a preventive control at the hiring stage, not an ongoing operational control. For active traders with elevated privileges, separation of duties is a more direct and continuous safeguard against misuse of those privileges.
- ✓
Enforcing separation of duties between trade execution and trade confirmation
Why this is correct
Separation of duties ensures that no single individual can execute and confirm a trade, which directly reduces the likelihood of unauthorized or fraudulent trading. By requiring a second person to confirm trades, the control prevents a trader from acting alone. This is the most effective preventive control for reducing the likelihood of unauthorized trading activity in this scenario.
- ✗
Implementing mandatory vacation and job rotation policies
Why it's wrong here
Mandatory vacation and job rotation can help detect and deter fraud by ensuring that another person performs the trader's duties, but they do not directly prevent unauthorized trading in real time. They are detective and deterrent controls that may reduce likelihood over time, but they are not as immediate or effective as separation of duties for preventing the activity itself.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official ISACA exam blueprint
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.