CRISC Risk Response and Reporting Practice Question
A vendor risk manager is tiering vendors based on the criticality of services and data access. A vendor that processes sensitive customer data for a core business application should be classified as which tier?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse 'High' with 'Critical' because both imply significant risk, but CRISC defines Critical as the highest tier reserved for vendors whose failure would cause catastrophic business impact, often involving sensitive data and core processes simultaneously.
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
✓
Critical
A vendor processing sensitive customer data for a core business application poses the highest potential impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. This aligns with the definition of a Critical tier, where failure or breach would cause severe business disruption, regulatory penalties, and reputational damage. The classification is driven by the combination of sensitive data access and the application's essential role in business operations.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Critical
Why this is correct
Critical tier is for vendors with sensitive data and core services.
- ✗
Low
Why it's wrong here
Low tier is for non-critical services with minimal data access.
- ✗
Medium
Why it's wrong here
Medium tier is for moderate criticality.
- ✗
High
Why it's wrong here
High might be used, but critical is the highest tier.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every CRISC question from scratch — 983 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.