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CRISC Practice Question: During a risk assessment, a risk owner is unsure…
During a risk assessment, a risk owner is unsure about the likelihood rating for a specific threat. Which of the following is the BEST source of information to determine the likelihood?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISACA often tests the misconception that the risk owner's personal experience or vendor claims are sufficient for likelihood determination, but the correct approach relies on objective, historical data from industry sources to avoid bias and ensure repeatable risk scoring.
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
✓
Historical incident data from industry reports
Historical incident data from industry reports provides empirical evidence of threat frequency and impact across similar environments, making it the most objective and reliable source for determining likelihood. Unlike subjective opinions or unrelated financial data, industry reports aggregate real-world occurrences, enabling a data-driven risk assessment that aligns with the organization's threat landscape.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Vendor documentation
Why it's wrong here
May not reflect real-world incident frequency.
- ✗
The risk owner's personal opinion
Why it's wrong here
Subjective and not evidence-based.
- ✗
The organization's financial statements
Why it's wrong here
Irrelevant to threat likelihood.
- ✓
Historical incident data from industry reports
Why this is correct
Provides objective data on actual occurrences.
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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.