CRISC Risk Response and Reporting Practice Question
Which TWO of the following are leading indicators that could be used as KRIs for information security risk? (Select TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse lagging indicators (like incident counts or audit findings) with leading indicators, failing to recognize that KRIs must be predictive and forward-looking to proactively manage risk rather than merely report on past events.
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
✓
Patch lag (average time to apply critical patches)
Option C (patch lag, the average time to apply critical patches) is a leading indicator because it measures an exposure window that predicts future compromise likelihood — the longer critical patches remain unapplied, the greater the chance an attacker exploits a known CVE — so it signals risk before incidents occur. Option D (a spike in failed authentication attempts) is a leading indicator because it reflects anomalous activity such as brute-force or credential-stuffing attempts that typically precede a breach, giving early warning of an imminent attack. The unmarked options are lagging or outcome metrics: A (number of security incidents in the past quarter) and B (number of audit findings from the last audit) both report events that have already happened, and E (percentage of employees who completed security awareness training) is a compliance/training completion metric rather than a predictive signal of attack activity.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Number of security incidents in the past quarter
Why it's wrong here
Incidents already occurred, so counting them measures realised loss and reports backwards; a leading indicator must predict future risk exposure. It is tempting because incident volume is easy to collect and clearly security-related, and it would be correct as a lagging KRI or as evidence when validating whether earlier risk responses actually reduced impact.
- ✗
Number of audit findings from the last audit
Why it's wrong here
Audit findings describe control weaknesses identified during past reviews, so they are lagging outputs rather than forward-looking predictors of risk. They are tempting because findings highlight genuine control gaps and are readily available from auditors, and they would be correct as a lagging KRI or as input when assessing control effectiveness after remediation.
- ✓
Patch lag (average time to apply critical patches)
Why this is correct
Patch lag measures how long critical vulnerabilities remain unpatched, exposing the organisation to exploitation. Because it tracks a condition that precedes a potential breach, it functions as a leading indicator, unlike lagging metrics such as incident counts that record harm already realised.
- ✓
Spike in failed authentication attempts
Why this is correct
A spike in failed authentication attempts signals attempted credential attacks or misconfiguration before any breach succeeds. Tracking this activity provides early warning of hostile probing, making it a leading indicator rather than a lagging measure of incidents already materialised.
- ✗
Percentage of employees who completed security awareness training
Why it's wrong here
Awareness training completion measures past attendance, not whether behaviour or susceptibility will change, so it is a lagging compliance metric rather than a predictive KRI. It is tempting because completion percentages are simple to track and often cited in security reporting, and it would be correct for demonstrating regulatory training compliance to an auditor.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,062 original CRISC practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.