Quick Answer
The answer is to accept the risk. This is the correct risk response strategy because when a risk has very high impact but very low likelihood, the cost of mitigation, avoidance, or transfer would almost certainly exceed the expected benefit, making acceptance the most cost-effective and aligned choice with the organization’s risk appetite. On the Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control CRISC exam, this scenario tests your understanding of cost-benefit analysis within risk response strategies; a common trap is to choose “mitigate” due to the high impact, but the key is the extremely low probability. A useful memory tip is to think of the “low probability, high impact” pairing as a “black swan” event—you acknowledge it exists and monitor it, but you do not spend resources trying to prevent the nearly impossible.
This CRISC practice question tests your understanding of it risk assessment. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.
An organization's risk register contains a risk with a very high impact but very low likelihood. The risk response strategy should be:
Mitigate
Why wrong: Mitigation might not be cost-justified.
Avoid
Why wrong: Avoidance eliminates the activity, which may not be necessary.
Transfer
Why wrong: Transfer may be costly for low-likelihood risks.
Accept
Acceptance is common for low-likelihood, high-impact risks.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Accept
When a risk has very high impact but very low likelihood, the most cost-effective response is often acceptance, because the probability of occurrence is so low that the cost of mitigation, avoidance, or transfer would exceed the expected benefit. Accepting the risk means the organization formally acknowledges it and monitors it, but does not allocate resources to reduce or transfer it. This aligns with the principle of risk appetite and cost-benefit analysis in IT risk management.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Mitigate
Why it's wrong here
Mitigation might not be cost-justified.
Avoid
Why it's wrong here
Avoidance eliminates the activity, which may not be necessary.
Transfer
Why it's wrong here
Transfer may be costly for low-likelihood risks.
Accept
Why this is correct
Acceptance is common for low-likelihood, high-impact risks.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates mistakenly choose 'Mitigate' or 'Transfer' for any high-impact risk, failing to weigh the low likelihood against the cost of the response, which is a core concept in risk treatment decisions.
Detailed technical explanation
In practice, risk acceptance is often documented with a formal acceptance sign-off from senior management, and the risk is placed on a watch list with periodic review triggers (e.g., quarterly or when threat intelligence changes). For example, a cloud provider might accept the risk of a once-in-a-decade regional outage because the cost of building a fully redundant multi-region architecture exceeds the expected loss from the outage. The decision hinges on the annualized loss expectancy (ALE) calculation: if the cost of the response exceeds the ALE, acceptance is the rational choice.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A practitioner preparing for the CRISC exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
IT Risk Assessment — study guide chapter
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FAQ
IT Risk Assessment — This question tests IT Risk Assessment — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Accept — When a risk has very high impact but very low likelihood, the most cost-effective response is often acceptance, because the probability of occurrence is so low that the cost of mitigation, avoidance, or transfer would exceed the expected benefit. Accepting the risk means the organization formally acknowledges it and monitors it, but does not allocate resources to reduce or transfer it. This aligns with the principle of risk appetite and cost-benefit analysis in IT risk management.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. Which THREE of the following are effective risk treatment strategies?
hardWhy B: Option B is correct because avoiding risk by discontinuing the activity is a recognized risk treatment strategy under the ISACA Risk IT framework. By ceasing the activity that introduces the risk, the organization eliminates the possibility of the risk event occurring, which is a valid and often necessary response when the risk exceeds the organization's risk appetite and cannot be cost-effectively mitigated or transferred.
Last reviewed: Jun 25, 2026
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.
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