hardMultiple Choice
CRISC Practice Question: A technology startup is developing a mobile…
A technology startup is developing a mobile payment application. During a risk identification workshop, the team identifies a risk that the application may not comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements. What is the BEST way to categorize this risk?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse the primary risk category (compliance) with the potential business impact (reputational or operational), but CRISC expects the root cause—failure to meet a regulatory standard—to be classified as compliance risk.
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
✓
Compliance risk.
Non-compliance with PCI DSS is a direct violation of regulatory requirements, making it a compliance risk. For a mobile payment application handling cardholder data, PCI DSS mandates specific security controls (e.g., encryption of PAN, access controls, logging). Failure to meet these standards exposes the startup to fines, legal sanctions, and potential loss of the ability to process payments.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Compliance risk.
Why this is correct
PCI DSS is a mandated external standard, so failing to meet it is a regulatory obligation breach. Compliance risk specifically covers violations of laws, regulations and standards, which is the precise axis here rather than operational or strategic risk.
- ✗
Strategic risk.
Why it's wrong here
Strategic risk concerns long-term direction, market positioning and business-model choices; failing a mandated PCI DSS standard is a compliance obligation, not a strategy decision. Strategic is tempting because the startup's product roadmap depends on the app, and would be correct if the risk were choosing the wrong payment market.
- ✗
Operational risk.
Why it's wrong here
Operational risk covers failed processes, people and systems, whereas PCI DSS non-compliance is a legal and regulatory obligation, making compliance risk the precise category. Operational is tempting because payment processing is operational, and would be correct if the risk were a processing outage rather than a standards breach.
- ✗
Reputational risk.
Why it's wrong here
Reputational risk covers brand and customer-trust damage following an incident; non-compliance with PCI DSS is a regulatory obligation failure, so it belongs under compliance risk. Reputational categorisation is tempting because breaches do harm brand image, and would be correct if the stem described customer backlash rather than a standards gap.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.