The primary risk of a daily full backup strategy is that the Recovery Time Objective (RTO) may be exceeded due to the long restore time. This happens because a full backup contains every bit of data, so restoring it requires reading and writing the entire dataset from scratch, which can take hours or even days for large environments. In contrast, incremental or differential backups reduce restore time by only applying changed blocks, but with full backups alone, there is no shortcut. On the ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity CC exam, this question tests your understanding of the critical difference between RTO and RPO—many candidates mistakenly focus on the 24-hour RPO as the main risk, but the exam trap is that RPO is actually acceptable here while RTO is the real danger. A useful memory tip: “Full backup fills the clock”—the bigger the backup, the longer the restore, so always check if your RTO can survive a full restore.
ISC2 CC Business Continuity, DR & Incident Response Practice Question
This CC practice question tests your understanding of business continuity, dr & incident response. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.
A company's backup strategy involves daily full backups only. What is the primary risk associated with this approach?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "primary"
Why it matters: Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
Why wrong: A daily full backup gives an RPO of up to 24 hours, which might be acceptable depending on requirements; the primary risk is restore time, not RPO.
B
Recovery Time Objective (RTO) may be exceeded due to long restore
Restoring a full backup takes significant time, which may violate the RTO.
C
High cost of backup storage
Why wrong: While full backups use more storage, the primary risk is not cost but restore time.
D
Data corruption could spread across backups
Why wrong: Corruption risk exists but is not the primary risk of a full-backup-only strategy.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Recovery Time Objective (RTO) may be exceeded due to long restore
With daily full backups only, the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is effectively 24 hours, which may be acceptable depending on business requirements. However, the primary risk is that restoring from a single full backup can take a very long time, especially for large datasets, potentially exceeding the Recovery Time Objective (RTO). This is because full backups contain all data and must be restored entirely, unlike incremental or differential backups that allow faster recovery by restoring only changed blocks.
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.
✗
Recovery Point Objective (RPO) may be too long
Why it's wrong here
A daily full backup gives an RPO of up to 24 hours, which might be acceptable depending on requirements; the primary risk is restore time, not RPO.
✓
Recovery Time Objective (RTO) may be exceeded due to long restore
Why this is correct
Restoring a full backup takes significant time, which may violate the RTO.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "primary" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
High cost of backup storage
Why it's wrong here
While full backups use more storage, the primary risk is not cost but restore time.
✗
Data corruption could spread across backups
Why it's wrong here
Corruption risk exists but is not the primary risk of a full-backup-only strategy.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
ISC2 often tests the distinction between RPO and RTO, and the trap here is that candidates assume the primary risk is a long RPO (Option A) because they think daily backups mean losing a day of data, but the question specifically asks about the primary risk of this approach, which is the long restore time impacting RTO.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In practice, restoring a full backup of a 10 TB database from tape or even disk can take hours or days due to sequential read and write speeds, whereas a strategy using incremental backups (e.g., daily incremental after a weekly full) allows the restore to apply only changed blocks, significantly reducing recovery time. The RTO is often more critical than RPO in many business continuity plans, and a full-only strategy forces a linear restore of all data, which can violate strict RTOs (e.g., 4 hours). This is why modern backup solutions like Veeam or Commvault use synthetic full backups or incremental-forever methods to balance RPO and RTO.
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 SOC analyst notices unusual lateral movement in the network at 2 AM. The IR playbook dictates: identify and contain (isolate the affected machine), then eradicate (remove the malware), then recover (restore from backup), then document. Skipping containment before eradication risks the attacker regaining access. Questions like this test the sequence and rationale of incident response phases.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this CC question in full detail.
Business Continuity, DR & Incident Response — This question tests Business Continuity, DR & Incident Response — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Recovery Time Objective (RTO) may be exceeded due to long restore — With daily full backups only, the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is effectively 24 hours, which may be acceptable depending on business requirements. However, the primary risk is that restoring from a single full backup can take a very long time, especially for large datasets, potentially exceeding the Recovery Time Objective (RTO). This is because full backups contain all data and must be restored entirely, unlike incremental or differential backups that allow faster recovery by restoring only changed blocks.
What should I do if I get this CC 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: "primary". Asks for the main purpose or function, not a secondary benefit. Eliminate answers that describe side-effects or partial functions.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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