CRISC IT Risk Assessment Practice Question
Which type of control is designed to reduce the likelihood of a risk event occurring?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse preventive controls with detective controls, mistakenly thinking that monitoring or alerting (detective) reduces the likelihood of an event, when in fact it only reduces the impact or detection time after the event has occurred.
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
✓
Preventive
Preventive controls are designed to stop a risk event from occurring in the first place. For example, implementing a firewall rule to block unauthorized inbound traffic reduces the likelihood of a network intrusion. This aligns with the CRISC definition of preventive controls as proactive measures that reduce the probability of a risk scenario.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Corrective
Why it's wrong here
Corrective controls act after an event to restore operations and limit damage, so they address impact rather than likelihood. This is tempting because corrective measures feel risk-reducing, but preventive controls are the category that lowers the probability of occurrence.
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Compensating
Why it's wrong here
Compensating controls substitute for a primary control that cannot be implemented, mitigating residual risk rather than reducing likelihood directly. They are tempting because they do lower overall risk exposure, but they address control gaps, not the probability of the event itself, which preventive controls handle.
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Preventive
Why this is correct
Preventive controls act before an event occurs, blocking or deterring it to lower likelihood. Detective and corrective controls address discovery or recovery after the fact, so they reduce impact rather than probability, which the stem specifically asks about.
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Detective
Why it's wrong here
Detective controls identify that a risk event has already occurred, enabling response after the fact; they do not reduce its likelihood. They are tempting because monitoring and alerting feel protective, but they are the correct choice when the goal is timely discovery, not prevention.
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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.