This CRISC practice question tests your understanding of it risk identification. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 manufacturing company uses IoT sensors on the factory floor to monitor equipment performance. The sensors transmit data to a central server via Wi-Fi. During a risk identification workshop, the operations manager reveals that some sensors are operating on outdated firmware with known vulnerabilities. The IT director proposes replacing all sensors at a high cost. The risk team notes that a breach could cause production downtime but the sensors only collect non-sensitive operational data. The company has a low tolerance for downtime. What should the risk team identify as the most critical risk?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Operational disruption from a potential cyber attack exploiting sensor vulnerabilities.
The most critical risk is operational disruption from a cyber attack exploiting the known vulnerabilities in the outdated IoT sensor firmware. Since the company has a low tolerance for downtime, any breach that causes production stoppage directly impacts business continuity, outweighing the non-sensitive nature of the data collected. The sensors' Wi-Fi connectivity provides an attack surface for lateral movement or denial-of-service, making exploitation a high-probability, high-impact event.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Operational disruption from a potential cyber attack exploiting sensor vulnerabilities.
Why this is correct
Downtime is a key impact for the company.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Legal liability from non-compliance with safety standards.
Why it's wrong here
No safety standard issue mentioned.
✗
Reputational damage from a data leak.
Why it's wrong here
Data is non-sensitive, so leak unlikely to harm reputation.
✗
Financial loss from replacing sensors.
Why it's wrong here
This is a cost, not the risk itself.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates focus on data sensitivity (reputation or legal liability) instead of operational impact, failing to recognize that for a manufacturing company with low downtime tolerance, production disruption is the most critical risk even if the data is non-sensitive.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
IoT sensors with outdated firmware often lack patches for known vulnerabilities such as CVE-2021-44228 (Log4Shell) or default credentials, which can be exploited via Wi-Fi to gain initial access. Once inside the factory network, an attacker could pivot to industrial control systems (ICS) or launch a ransomware attack, causing prolonged production downtime. The risk team must prioritize risks based on impact to critical business operations, not just data sensitivity, aligning with the CRISC focus on business impact analysis.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
IT Risk Identification — This question tests IT Risk Identification — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Operational disruption from a potential cyber attack exploiting sensor vulnerabilities. — The most critical risk is operational disruption from a cyber attack exploiting the known vulnerabilities in the outdated IoT sensor firmware. Since the company has a low tolerance for downtime, any breach that causes production stoppage directly impacts business continuity, outweighing the non-sensitive nature of the data collected. The sensors' Wi-Fi connectivity provides an attack surface for lateral movement or denial-of-service, making exploitation a high-probability, high-impact event.
What should I do if I get this CRISC question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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