ISC · domain
Governance Risk And Compliance
This domain covers how security architects align security with business goals, legal obligations, and risk appetite. Questions present multi-region cloud designs, customer-managed key requirements, multi-cloud GRC platforms, and enterprise risk frameworks, asking you to select the governance controls, tracking services, and framework that satisfy compliance and oversight objectives.
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What this domain covers
What to know about Governance Risk And Compliance
A candidate must map business objectives and compliance obligations to concrete cloud governance controls, key management services, and GRC capabilities. The single most important thing is proving data residency and customer-managed key compliance with auditable, centralized evidence.
Defining data residency, sovereignty, and cross-border transfer rules for multi-region cloud deployments
Using AWS CloudTrail, Config, and KMS key policies to track customer-managed key usage and prove encryption compliance
Centralizing policy management, control assessment, and compliance reporting across multi-cloud GRC platforms
Applying COBIT to align IT capabilities with enterprise business objectives and governance requirements
Watch out for
Common Governance Risk And Compliance exam traps
- ▸Treating encryption at rest as sufficient for data residency; residency also requires location, transfer, and sovereignty controls.
- ▸Assuming provider-managed keys satisfy customer-managed key mandates; architects must configure and audit customer-controlled key policies.
- ▸Confusing risk frameworks: COBIT governs IT-business alignment, while ISO 31000 and NIST RMF address risk process, not enterprise IT capability alignment.
Question index
All Governance Risk And Compliance questions (29)
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When establishing a Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) process, which THREE factors must be considered during the initial due diligence?
Medium2When designing a secure multi-region cloud architecture, which THREE governance aspects must be clearly defined for data residency compliance?
Hard3Which governance model is characterized by decision-making being centralized at the corporate level to ensure consistency across the entire organization?
Easy4A firm wants to implement an 'Infrastructure-as-Code' security gate. Using AWS CloudFormation, which feature should be utilized to perform security checks on templates before they are provisioned?
Hard5To implement governance for containerized workloads, which Kubernetes feature should an architect use to enforce that only images from a trusted registry are deployed?
Medium6Which TWO factors are critical when establishing a Risk Appetite statement for a new cloud-native architecture?
Easy7Which TWO actions should be taken when integrating a new cloud service into an existing GRC program?
Medium8When using Google Cloud, which service is the primary point of integration for security policies to be applied across the entire organization hierarchy?
Medium9An architect is deploying a global application and needs to ensure that all HTTP traffic is redirected to HTTPS. Which service in AWS should be used to enforce this compliance globally?
Medium10Which document is considered the authoritative 'System Security Plan' (SSP) for an information system undergoing a formal authorization process?
Easy11An organization is migrating sensitive workloads to Azure. The compliance team mandates that all storage account keys be rotated automatically. Which service should the architect configure to meet this requirement?
Medium12Which THREE components are critical for an ISSAP architect when designing an audit trail that meets the legal requirements for non-repudiation?
Medium13A firm needs to ensure that only approved machine images (AMIs) are used in production. Which AWS service should be used to create a golden image pipeline that enforces compliance before images are shared?
Hard14In the context of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0, which newly introduced function focuses on managing the supply chain and third-party risk?
Easy15Which risk management framework is most commonly used for aligning business objectives with IT capabilities in large enterprises?
Easy16When designing an architecture for GDPR compliance, which THREE technical controls should be prioritized to satisfy the 'Right to be Forgotten' requirement?
Medium17Which document is the primary foundational document in the COBIT framework that provides a governance perspective on how information technology should support business objectives?
Easy18An ISSAP architect is designing a system that must be compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Which THREE technical safeguards should be implemented to ensure data confidentiality?
Hard19An organization is using Azure to host sensitive data. To prevent data exfiltration, the architect needs to restrict storage account access to only the corporate network. Which feature should be used?
Hard20An ISSAP architect is designing a cloud environment that must comply with PCI-DSS 4.0. Which specific AWS feature should be configured within the AWS Control Tower to ensure that all new member accounts automatically inherit the necessary preventative guardrails for non-compliant S3 bucket configurations?
Medium21Which THREE criteria are most important when selecting a Cloud Service Provider (CSP) based on the Shared Responsibility Model for an ISSAP architect?
Medium22What is the primary function of an Information Security Steering Committee (ISSC) in the context of enterprise security governance?
Easy23When using Azure Policy to enforce governance, which effect type should be used if the architect wants to log non-compliance without blocking the deployment of resources?
Medium24An organization requires that all cloud storage assets are encrypted using customer-managed keys. Which service should the architect configure to track the key usage and verify compliance?
Hard25An architect is evaluating compliance for an enterprise multi-cloud environment. Which THREE capabilities must be included in a centralized GRC platform for it to be effective?
Hard26An ISSAP architect is working with developers to ensure that the code repository is compliant with secure coding standards. Which tool within the GitHub ecosystem is specifically designed to detect secrets (e.g., API keys) before they are committed?
Medium27When designing an architecture to meet NIST 800-53 controls, which AWS service should be used to enforce resource tagging for all assets to ensure proper cost and compliance tracking?
Medium28What is the primary objective of a 'Compliance Gap Analysis' in a cloud migration project?
Easy29What is the primary role of a 'Compliance Liaison' in an enterprise architecture team?
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Frequently asked questions
- What does the Governance Risk And Compliance domain cover on the ISC exam?
- A candidate must map business objectives and compliance obligations to concrete cloud governance controls, key management services, and GRC capabilities. The single most important thing is proving data residency and customer-managed key compliance with auditable, centralized evidence.
- How many questions are in this domain?
- This page lists all 29 Governance Risk And Compliance questions in the ISC question bank. The actual exam draws from this domain proportionally to its weighting in the official exam blueprint.
- What is the best way to practise this domain?
- Start with a short focused session (10 questions) to identify gaps, then work through explanations. Repeat with a longer session once the weak areas feel solid.
- Can I practise only Governance Risk And Compliance questions?
- Yes — the session launcher on this page filters questions to this domain only. Choose any session length for inline explanations and scoring.