CRISC Risk Response and Mitigation Practice Question
A small retail company has determined that the risk of a point-of-sale (POS) system malware infection is high. The company decides to implement a whitelisting solution that only allows approved applications to run on POS terminals. This is an example of which risk response?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse mitigation with avoidance; avoidance would require stopping the use of POS systems, while mitigation reduces risk while continuing the activity.
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
✓
Risk mitigation
The company is implementing a whitelisting solution to prevent malware on POS terminals. This is a preventive control that reduces the likelihood of the risk occurring. Risk mitigation is the correct response because it involves taking action to reduce the probability or impact of a risk. Risk acceptance would mean doing nothing, risk transfer would involve shifting the financial impact, and risk avoidance would mean eliminating the activity. Since the company is actively reducing the risk while continuing the activity, it is mitigation.
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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Risk acceptance
Why it's wrong here
Risk acceptance involves acknowledging the risk and deciding not to take any action to mitigate it. In this scenario, the company is actively implementing a whitelisting solution to prevent malware, which is a deliberate effort to reduce risk. Therefore, it is not acceptance. Acceptance would be if they chose to do nothing and simply monitor the risk.
- ✓
Risk mitigation
Why this is correct
Risk mitigation involves implementing controls to reduce the likelihood or impact of a risk. The whitelisting solution prevents unauthorized applications from running, thereby reducing the likelihood of malware infection on POS terminals. This is a classic example of a preventive control that mitigates risk. The company is actively reducing the risk to an acceptable level, which aligns with the risk mitigation strategy.
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Risk avoidance
Why it's wrong here
Risk avoidance involves eliminating the risk by discontinuing the activity that causes it. For example, the company could stop using POS systems altogether. However, in this scenario, the company continues to use POS systems but adds a control to reduce risk. Therefore, it is not avoidance. Avoidance would mean ceasing the risky activity, which is not the case here.
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Risk transfer
Why it's wrong here
Risk transfer involves shifting the financial impact of a risk to a third party, such as through insurance or outsourcing. Here, the company is not transferring the risk; it is taking direct action to reduce the likelihood of malware infection. The whitelisting solution is a preventive control that mitigates the risk internally, so it does not fit the definition of transfer.
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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.