ISC2 CC Business Continuity, DR & Incident Response Practice Question
Which TWO are phases of the NIST incident response life cycle? (Select exactly 2.)
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the distinction between the official NIST phase names and common but incorrect terms like 'Assessment' or 'Documentation', expecting candidates to recall that only 'Preparation' and 'Containment' (as part of Containment/Eradication/Recovery) are explicitly listed phases.
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
✓
Preparation
Preparation is the first phase of the NIST SP 800-61 incident response life cycle, focusing on establishing policies, tools, and training before an incident occurs. This phase ensures the organization is ready to detect and respond to security events effectively.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Preparation
Why this is correct
Preparation is the first phase.
- ✗
Documentation
Why it's wrong here
Documentation is performed throughout but is not a standalone phase.
- ✗
Assessment
Why it's wrong here
Assessment is not a separate phase; it is part of Detection and Analysis.
- ✗
Authorization
Why it's wrong here
Authorization is not a phase; it may be part of decision-making.
- ✓
Containment
Why this is correct
Containment is a key phase to limit damage.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to Security Principles
Key term
Incident response
Incident response is the structured approach an organization uses to identify, contain, and recover from cybersecurity incidents like data breaches or ransomware attacks.
Key term
Organization
An Organization is a top-level container in Google Cloud that represents your company or entities and serves as the root node for all your cloud resources, policies, and access control.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.