CRISC IT Risk Assessment Practice Question
An organization has implemented a firewall (preventive), intrusion detection system (detective), and a backup restoration plan (corrective) to address a specific risk. The risk manager assesses the control effectiveness as follows: design adequacy is strong, but operating effectiveness is weak due to inconsistent patching. Which of the following best describes the residual 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
✓
Residual risk is lower than inherent risk but still significant due to weak operating effectiveness
Residual risk is inherent risk adjusted for control effectiveness. Weak operating effectiveness means controls are not fully effective, so residual risk remains relatively high.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Residual risk cannot be determined without a quantitative analysis
Why it's wrong here
Residual risk can be qualitatively assessed based on control effectiveness.
- ✗
Residual risk is negligible because multiple controls are in place
Why it's wrong here
Weak operating effectiveness means controls are not reliable.
- ✓
Residual risk is lower than inherent risk but still significant due to weak operating effectiveness
Why this is correct
Controls reduce risk but weak operating effectiveness limits the reduction.
- ✗
Residual risk is equal to inherent risk because controls are ineffective
Why it's wrong here
Controls still provide some reduction even with weak operating effectiveness, but not full.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This CRISC question is part of Courseiva's 983-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam 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.