ISC Leadership And Organizational Management Practice Question
An organization is conducting a risk assessment and identifies a critical vulnerability in a legacy system that cannot be patched. Which of the following is the most appropriate risk management strategy to address this vulnerability?
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
✓
Implement compensatory controls to reduce the risk.
When patching is not possible, implementing compensatory controls (such as network segmentation or enhanced monitoring) is the standard approach to reduce the residual risk to an acceptable 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.
- ✗
Transfer the risk to a third-party vendor without further assessment.
Why it's wrong here
Transferring risk does not eliminate it, and the organization remains accountable; transferring without assessment is negligent.
- ✗
Decommission the system immediately regardless of business impact.
Why it's wrong here
Decommissioning is a valid option, but it must be based on a business impact analysis, not just the existence of a vulnerability.
- ✓
Implement compensatory controls to reduce the risk.
Why this is correct
Compensatory controls are designed to mitigate risk when the primary control (patching) cannot be implemented.
- ✗
Accept the risk without implementing any additional controls.
Why it's wrong here
Accepting a critical risk without mitigation is not an acceptable risk management strategy.
About these practice questions
This ISC question is part of Courseiva's 219-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official (ISC)² exam blueprint
This ISC practice question is part of Courseiva's free (ISC)² 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 ISC exam.