CRISC Risk Response and Mitigation Practice Question
During a review, a risk practitioner discovers that a key control for a high-risk process is not operating effectively. The risk owner is reluctant to invest in additional controls due to budget constraints. What should the risk practitioner do FIRST?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse 'documenting the deficiency' (Option B) with completing the risk management process, but CRISC requires active communication of risk exposure to the appropriate authority, not just passive recording.
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
✓
Communicate the risk exposure to senior management
The risk practitioner's primary duty is to ensure that senior management is aware of material risk exposures that could impact business objectives. When a key control for a high-risk process is ineffective and the risk owner refuses to remediate due to budget constraints, the practitioner must communicate the residual risk exposure to senior management, who have the authority to allocate resources and make strategic risk acceptance decisions. This aligns with the CRISC framework's emphasis on escalating risk information to the appropriate decision-making level when the risk owner's response is inadequate.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Accept the risk owner's decision
Why it's wrong here
Accepting without escalation may violate risk appetite.
- ✗
Document the deficiency and move on
Why it's wrong here
Documentation alone does not address the risk.
- ✓
Communicate the risk exposure to senior management
Why this is correct
Senior management needs to be aware of the risk and decide on additional funding.
- ✗
Escalate directly to the board
Why it's wrong here
Escalation should first go to senior management.
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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.