CRISC IT Risk Assessment Practice Question
A retail company is conducting a risk assessment for its point-of-sale (POS) systems. The risk team determines that the inherent risk of a malware attack is high. The company implements endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools and network segmentation. After these controls, the risk is re-evaluated. What is this re-evaluated risk called?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse residual risk with inherent risk or control risk, especially when a scenario describes both before and after control states.
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
✓
Residual risk
Residual risk is the risk that remains after controls are implemented. In this scenario, the company applied EDR and network segmentation to reduce the high inherent risk of malware. The re-evaluated risk is the residual risk, which should be compared to the organization's risk appetite to determine if further action is needed.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Control risk
Why it's wrong here
Control risk is not a standard term in CRISC terminology. It might be confused with the risk that controls may fail, but the scenario describes the risk that remains after controls are applied. The correct term for that is residual risk, not control risk.
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Detection risk
Why it's wrong here
Detection risk refers to the risk that a control fails to detect an error or incident. While EDR tools are detective controls, the overall risk remaining after all controls is residual risk. Detection risk is a component of control risk, not the total risk after mitigation.
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Inherent risk
Why it's wrong here
Inherent risk is the level of risk before any controls or mitigation efforts are applied. In this scenario, the high risk of malware attack before implementing EDR and segmentation is the inherent risk. The question asks for the risk after controls, so inherent risk is not the correct term.
- ✓
Residual risk
Why this is correct
Residual risk is the remaining risk after controls have been implemented. After deploying EDR tools and network segmentation, the risk of a malware attack is reduced but not eliminated. The re-evaluated risk level is therefore the residual risk, which reflects the effectiveness of the controls.
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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.