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 retail company uses a legacy inventory system that is no longer supported by the vendor. The IT department is planning to migrate to a modern cloud-based system. During risk identification, which of the following should be considered a PRIMARY risk?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Loss of data integrity during the data migration process.
Loss of data integrity during migration is the primary risk because the legacy system is unsupported, meaning there are no vendor patches or tools to validate or repair data inconsistencies. Corrupted or incomplete data transferred to the cloud-based system can lead to inaccurate inventory records, financial losses, and operational disruptions that are difficult to reverse without vendor support.
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.
✗
Inadequate training of staff on the new system.
Why it's wrong here
Training is a control measure; the risk is that untrained staff cause errors.
✗
Potential cost overrun due to migration complexity.
Why it's wrong here
Cost overrun is a financial risk, not the primary IT risk.
✓
Loss of data integrity during the data migration process.
Why this is correct
Data integrity loss directly impacts business operations and is a core IT risk.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Failure to decommission the legacy system after migration.
Why it's wrong here
Decommissioning is a project task; failure is a risk but less critical than data loss.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse operational risks (like training or decommissioning) with primary IT risks that directly impact data confidentiality, integrity, or availability during the migration itself.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Data integrity risks in legacy-to-cloud migrations often involve schema mismatches, character encoding differences (e.g., ASCII vs. UTF-8), and missing referential integrity constraints. For example, a legacy system might store dates in a proprietary format (e.g., 'YYMMDD') that the cloud system interprets as a string, leading to silent data corruption. Without vendor support, there is no official migration toolkit or data validation utility, so the IT team must rely on custom ETL scripts that may not handle edge cases like null values or duplicate keys.
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: Loss of data integrity during the data migration process. — Loss of data integrity during migration is the primary risk because the legacy system is unsupported, meaning there are no vendor patches or tools to validate or repair data inconsistencies. Corrupted or incomplete data transferred to the cloud-based system can lead to inaccurate inventory records, financial losses, and operational disruptions that are difficult to reverse without vendor support.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
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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