CRISC Risk Response and Reporting Practice Question
An organization uses a KRI that tracks the average time to patch critical vulnerabilities. The metric has been increasing over the past three months. What does this indicate from a risk perspective?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse a rising KRI metric with improved security posture, failing to recognize that longer remediation times increase exposure and risk of exploitation.
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
✓
The risk of exploitation is increasing
An increasing average time to patch critical vulnerabilities indicates that the organization is taking longer to remediate known security weaknesses. From a risk perspective, this directly increases the window of exposure, making it more likely that an attacker will exploit a vulnerability before a patch is applied. Therefore, the risk of exploitation is increasing.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The control effectiveness is improving
Why it's wrong here
A rising patch time means remediation is slower, so control effectiveness is deteriorating, not improving. It is tempting because faster patching would indicate improvement, and a decreasing metric would be the correct indicator of that.
- ✓
The risk of exploitation is increasing
Why this is correct
Longer patch times leave critical vulnerabilities exposed for extended windows, so the likelihood that an attacker exploits a known flaw rises. The KRI measures exposure duration, and a sustained upward trend signals deteriorating risk posture requiring escalation or remediation.
- ✗
The risk appetite has been reduced
Why it's wrong here
Risk appetite is a governance-set tolerance, not something a patch-time metric changes. It is tempting because rising risk exposure sometimes prompts appetite review, and this option would be correct if leadership had formally redefined acceptable risk levels.
- ✗
The risk of exploitation is decreasing
Why it's wrong here
Rising patch times leave critical vulnerabilities exposed longer, so exploitation risk grows rather than falls. This option inverts the KRI's meaning. Decreasing exploitation risk would be evidenced by shortening patch durations, not lengthening ones. The metric measures exposure window, and a widening window cannot signal reduced likelihood of attacker exploitation.
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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.