The answer is to advise the CRO that the spike is likely a false positive due to the recent patch and recommend the system owner confirm and fix the misconfiguration. This is correct because the spike originates from a single system tracking failed VPN logins, and the risk owner has identified a misconfiguration from a recent patch as the root cause, making it a classic false positive KRI spike scenario where a technical anomaly generates an alert without evidence of lateral movement or coordinated attack. On the CRISC exam, this tests your ability to evaluate false positive KRI spikes by distinguishing between genuine threats and data quality issues, a common trap where candidates prematurely escalate or add controls instead of validating the source. Remember the memory tip: one system, one cause, one patch—if the spike is isolated and has a known technical trigger, confirm the fix before escalating.
CRISC Risk and Control Monitoring and Reporting Practice Question
This CRISC practice question tests your understanding of risk and control monitoring and reporting. Examine the command output carefully: the correct answer depends on what the output actually shows, not on general recall alone. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A global financial services firm has implemented a risk monitoring system that aggregates data from 50+ systems across three regions (Americas, EMEA, APAC). The system uses a centralized data lake and provides dashboards to regional risk committees. Recently, the APAC committee reported that their dashboard shows a spike in cyber risk indicators, but the Americas and EMEA dashboards show no change. The data source for the spike is a single system in APAC that tracks failed VPN logins. The risk owner for that system believes the spike is due to a misconfiguration during a recent patch. However, the APAC risk committee is concerned that this indicates a coordinated attack. The Chief Risk Officer (CRO) wants a clear assessment. Which course of action is most appropriate?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Advise the CRO that the spike is likely a false positive due to the recent patch and recommend the system owner confirm and fix the misconfiguration.
Option B is correct because the spike originates from a single system in APAC tracking failed VPN logins, and the risk owner has identified a misconfiguration from a recent patch as the cause. This is a classic false positive scenario where a technical anomaly (e.g., a patch altering authentication timeout or lockout thresholds) generates an alert spike without evidence of lateral movement or other indicators. The CRO needs a clear assessment, and the most appropriate action is to confirm the misconfiguration and fix it, rather than escalating or adding controls prematurely.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Recommend implementing additional monitoring controls across all regions to detect similar spikes.
Why it's wrong here
Reactive and may not address root cause.
✓
Advise the CRO that the spike is likely a false positive due to the recent patch and recommend the system owner confirm and fix the misconfiguration.
Why this is correct
Addresses the likely cause directly.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Suggest the APAC committee accept the risk based on the system owner's opinion.
Why it's wrong here
Should verify before simply accepting.
✗
Immediately escalate to the board and activate the incident response team.
Why it's wrong here
Premature without confirmation of an attack.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may overreact to a spike in risk indicators and choose escalation (Option D) or broad control additions (Option A), failing to recognize that a single-system anomaly with a plausible technical explanation (patch misconfiguration) should first be investigated and confirmed before any further action.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Failed VPN login spikes can be caused by misconfigured RADIUS or LDAP authentication timeouts, or by a patch that inadvertently changes the account lockout policy (e.g., from 5 to 3 attempts). In a centralized data lake, the spike is isolated to one system, which strongly suggests a local configuration issue rather than a distributed attack, as coordinated attacks typically show correlated indicators across multiple systems or regions. The risk owner's patch-related explanation should be validated by checking the patch changelog and comparing pre- and post-patch authentication logs.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Risk and Control Monitoring and Reporting — This question tests Risk and Control Monitoring and Reporting — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Advise the CRO that the spike is likely a false positive due to the recent patch and recommend the system owner confirm and fix the misconfiguration. — Option B is correct because the spike originates from a single system in APAC tracking failed VPN logins, and the risk owner has identified a misconfiguration from a recent patch as the cause. This is a classic false positive scenario where a technical anomaly (e.g., a patch altering authentication timeout or lockout thresholds) generates an alert spike without evidence of lateral movement or other indicators. The CRO needs a clear assessment, and the most appropriate action is to confirm the misconfiguration and fix it, rather than escalating or adding controls prematurely.
What should I do if I get this CRISC question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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