This CRISC practice question tests your understanding of it risk identification. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
You are a risk analyst for a financial institution that uses a legacy mainframe system for core banking transactions. The mainframe is critical for daily operations, but it is no longer supported by the vendor. The system has known vulnerabilities that cannot be patched due to compatibility issues. The institution has a risk appetite that is very low for any disruption to core banking services. Recently, there was a minor outage caused by a hardware failure, which was resolved quickly, but it highlighted the system's fragility. The IT director proposes to migrate to a modern system, but the migration will take 2 years and cost $5 million. The board is concerned about the cost and timeline. You need to recommend an immediate risk treatment to reduce the likelihood of a major outage while the migration is underway. Which of the following is the BEST course of action?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Implement redundant hardware for critical components and conduct regular failover testing.
Option B is correct because implementing redundant hardware for critical components and conducting regular failover testing directly reduces the likelihood of a major outage by addressing the single point of failure exposed by the recent hardware failure. This is an immediate risk treatment that does not depend on the 2-year migration timeline, and it aligns with the institution's very low risk appetite for core banking disruption.
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.
✗
Accept the risk because the migration plan is in place.
Why it's wrong here
Acceptance is not appropriate given very low risk appetite for disruption.
✓
Implement redundant hardware for critical components and conduct regular failover testing.
Why this is correct
Redundancy reduces the likelihood of a single point of failure and testing ensures readiness.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Negotiate with the vendor for extended support.
Why it's wrong here
The vendor no longer supports the system; extended support may not be available or address hardware failures.
✗
Purchase business interruption insurance to cover potential losses.
Why it's wrong here
Insurance transfers financial risk but does not prevent outages.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may choose option D (insurance) because it seems like a quick financial fix, but CRISC emphasizes that risk treatment must first address likelihood reduction before considering financial transfer, especially when the risk appetite is very low.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Redundant hardware, such as dual power supplies, mirrored disks (RAID 1), and hot-standby CPUs, eliminates single points of failure in the mainframe's critical path. Regular failover testing, including automated scripts that simulate component failures, validates that the standby systems take over within the required recovery time objective (RTO) and without data loss, which is critical for core banking transactions that demand ACID compliance.
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.
IT Risk Identification — This question tests IT Risk Identification — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Implement redundant hardware for critical components and conduct regular failover testing. — Option B is correct because implementing redundant hardware for critical components and conducting regular failover testing directly reduces the likelihood of a major outage by addressing the single point of failure exposed by the recent hardware failure. This is an immediate risk treatment that does not depend on the 2-year migration timeline, and it aligns with the institution's very low risk appetite for core banking disruption.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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