CRISC Risk Response and Reporting Practice Question
An organization notices a spike in failed authentication attempts over the past week. This metric is best classified as which type of risk indicator?
⚠ Common exam trap
In the CRISC exam, candidates often confuse KRIs and KCIs. The trap here is that failed authentication attempts directly measure risk exposure (KRI) rather than control performance (KCI), even though a control like account lockout might influence the metric.
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
✓
Key Risk Indicator (KRI)
A spike in failed authentication attempts is a direct measure of a risk condition (e.g., brute-force attacks or credential stuffing) that can lead to unauthorized access. This metric is best classified as a Key Risk Indicator (KRI) because it tracks changes in risk exposure over time, enabling proactive risk response. Unlike a KCI, which measures control effectiveness, or a lagging indicator, which reports past incidents, this metric signals an evolving threat in near real-time.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Key Control Indicator (KCI)
Why it's wrong here
KCIs measure control effectiveness, not changes in risk level.
- ✗
Lagging indicator
Why it's wrong here
Lagging indicators show past incidents, not leading changes.
- ✓
Key Risk Indicator (KRI)
Why this is correct
KRIs are leading indicators that risk level is changing; failed authentication spike indicates potential attack.
- ✗
Compliance metric
Why it's wrong here
Compliance metrics measure adherence to policies, not risk changes.
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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.