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
Longer patch times indicate control degradation.
- ✓
The risk of exploitation is increasing
Why this is correct
Longer patch times increase the window of vulnerability.
- ✗
The risk appetite has been reduced
Why it's wrong here
Risk appetite is a policy decision, not directly indicated by this metric.
- ✗
The risk of exploitation is decreasing
Why it's wrong here
Longer patch times increase risk.
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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.