The answer is risk acceptance, along with risk avoidance, mitigation, and transfer. These four options are the standard risk treatment categories defined in the NIST risk management framework, where each represents a deliberate decision to handle identified risk—whether by accepting the potential impact, avoiding the activity entirely, reducing the likelihood or consequence, or shifting the risk to a third party. On the ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity CC exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish between the core treatment strategies and common distractors like risk identification, which is a preliminary step in the risk management process, not a treatment option. A frequent trap is confusing risk duplication with risk transfer, but duplication is not a recognized NIST term. To lock this in, remember the mnemonic “A-M-T-A” for Accept, Mitigate, Transfer, and Avoid—each is a valid path, and acceptance is always on the list.
ISC2 CC Security Principles Practice Question
This CC practice question tests your understanding of security principles. 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.
Which THREE of the following are acceptable risk treatment options according to NIST risk management framework?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Risk mitigation
Risk avoidance, mitigation, transfer, and acceptance are standard. Risk identification is a step, not treatment. Risk duplication is not a term.
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.
✓
Risk mitigation
Why this is correct
Risk mitigation involves implementing controls to reduce risk.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Risk duplication
Why it's wrong here
Duplication is not a standard risk treatment; it may refer to redundancy but not recognized.
✓
Risk transfer
Why this is correct
Risk transfer shifts risk to another party, e.g., insurance.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Risk identification
Why it's wrong here
Risk identification is part of the risk assessment process, not a treatment option.
✓
Risk acceptance
Why this is correct
Risk acceptance is acknowledging the risk without mitigation.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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 security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this CC question in full detail.
Identify which CC exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Security Principles — This question tests Security Principles — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Risk mitigation — Risk avoidance, mitigation, transfer, and acceptance are standard. Risk identification is a step, not treatment. Risk duplication is not a term.
What should I do if I get this CC question wrong?
Identify which CC exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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This CC practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 CC exam.
Question Discussion
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