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CRISC Practice Question: Which TWO of the following are examples of…
Which TWO of the following are examples of inherent risk?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse inherent risk with residual risk or control effectiveness; candidates often pick options that describe the result of controls (like risk reduction) or the state after controls (residual risk) instead of the raw, uncontrolled exposure.
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
✓
Risk of unauthorized access due to weak password policy
Inherent risk is the risk that exists in the absence of any controls or mitigations. Option A describes the risk of unauthorized access due to a weak password policy, which is a vulnerability present before any compensating controls (like multifactor authentication) are applied. Option B describes the risk of a data breach due to unencrypted sensitive data, which is a direct exposure that exists before encryption controls are implemented. Both represent the raw, uncontrolled risk level.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Risk of unauthorized access due to weak password policy
Why this is correct
This is a risk that exists without controls.
- ✓
Risk of data breach due to unencrypted sensitive data
Why this is correct
Unencrypted data is an inherent vulnerability.
- ✗
Residual risk after implementing firewalls
Why it's wrong here
Residual risk is after controls, not inherent.
- ✗
Risk appetite defined by the board
Why it's wrong here
Risk appetite is a threshold, not a risk itself.
- ✗
Risk reduction achieved by multifactor authentication
Why it's wrong here
This describes control effectiveness, not inherent risk.
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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.