CISSP · domain
Asset Security
Practise Certified Information Systems Security Professional CISSP Asset Security practice questions — original exam-style scenarios with answer choices, explanations, and analysis of common mistakes.
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What to know about Asset Security
Asset Security questions test whether you can apply the concept in context, not just recognise a definition.
How the topic appears in realistic exam-style scenarios.
Which detail in the question changes the correct answer.
How to eliminate plausible but wrong options.
How to connect the question back to the wider exam objective.
Watch out for
Common Asset Security exam traps
- ▸Answering from memory before reading the full scenario.
- ▸Missing a constraint such as cost, availability, security, scope or command context.
- ▸Choosing a broad answer when the question asks for the most specific fix.
- ▸Ignoring why the wrong options are tempting.
Question index
All Asset Security questions (42)
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An organization uses full disk encryption on all laptops containing sensitive data. A laptop is to be decommissioned, and the data must be sanitized. The laptop's SSD cannot be overwritten reliably due to wear-leveling. Which method is most appropriate?
Hard2An organization is developing a new application that collects and processes European customers' personal data. To comply with the privacy by design principles under GDPR, which THREE measures should be implemented? (Select THREE.)
Medium3A company's software asset management team discovers an unauthorized copy of a licensed application installed on several employee workstations. What is the primary risk associated with this finding?
Medium4A data custodian is responsible for implementing controls to protect data. Which TWO of the following are typical responsibilities of a data custodian? (Select 2)
Medium5A healthcare organization must decommission an old server containing patient health information (PHI) stored on solid-state drives (SSDs). Standard overwriting techniques are ineffective for SSDs due to wear-leveling and bad block mapping. Which sanitization method is most appropriate for these drives?
Medium6Which phase of the data lifecycle involves the removal of data from active storage and placement into long-term storage for potential future use?
Easy7A government contractor handles data classified as 'Secret'. According to government data classification levels, which of the following is the correct order from most restrictive to least restrictive?
Medium8A government contractor handles classified information up to the Secret level. The company's data classification policy recently changed, requiring that all documents marked as 'Confidential' be reclassified as 'Secret' after review. Who is ultimately accountable for ensuring that reclassification is performed correctly?
Medium9A company has a data retention policy requiring customer transaction records to be kept for 7 years. After 7 years, the data should be destroyed. Which phase of the data lifecycle governs this action?
Hard10An organization uses a configuration management database (CMDB). Which of the following is the PRIMARY purpose of a CMDB?
Medium11A security administrator needs to ensure that data stored on a server is unrecoverable after decommissioning. The server uses SSDs. Which sanitization method is MOST appropriate?
Medium12A security professional is tasked with sanitizing a set of hard drives that contain sensitive corporate data. The organization wants to ensure that data cannot be recovered, even by advanced forensic methods. According to NIST SP 800-88, which THREE methods are considered appropriate for sanitization? (Select THREE.)
Hard13Which term describes the process of modifying data so that it cannot be attributed to a specific individual without additional information that is kept separately?
Easy14An organization is developing a privacy program. Which THREE of the following are core principles of privacy by design? (Select 3)
Hard15An organization is implementing privacy by design in a new application that collects user location data. Which practice best aligns with the data minimization principle?
Hard16A company is implementing a data classification scheme. Which category should be assigned to internal memos about employee benefit plans that are not intended for public disclosure?
Medium17An organization is required to declassify a document that was previously classified as 'Secret' under government guidelines. What process must be followed before the document can be released to the public?
Medium18An organization wants to ensure that data is protected throughout its lifecycle. Which step in the data lifecycle is most critical for enforcing data retention policies?
Hard19An organization is decommissioning a server containing magnetic hard drives that stored sensitive data. The data has been backed up to tape and the drives are to be reused. Which media sanitization method is most appropriate to ensure data cannot be recovered while preserving the drives for reuse?
Medium20What is the primary purpose of a configuration management database (CMDB) in asset management?
Easy21Which phase of the data lifecycle includes the act of securely deleting data that is no longer needed, in accordance with retention policies?
Easy22A financial institution stores customer PII, including Social Security numbers (SSNs). Under privacy regulations, SSNs are considered sensitive PII. Which of the following techniques would best reduce the risk of re-identification while preserving the utility of the data for statistical analysis?
Hard23Which type of data is considered sensitive PII and requires enhanced protection?
Easy24An organization is reviewing its media sanitization procedures. Which TWO methods are considered acceptable for sanitizing solid-state drives (SSDs) according to NIST SP 800-88 guidelines?
Hard25A data breach has occurred involving a database that contains personally identifiable information (PII). As part of incident response, the organization needs to identify all roles responsible for data protection. Which TWO roles are primarily accountable for data classification and protection requirements according to typical data governance frameworks?
Medium26A company is designing a database that will contain personally identifiable information (PII). To reduce privacy risk, they decide to add controlled noise to query results. This technique is known as:
Hard27A company uses differential privacy to release aggregate statistics from a dataset containing sensitive employee information. Which of the following is true regarding differential privacy?
Hard28During an audit, it is discovered that a database containing personally identifiable information (PII) has been retained for 10 years beyond the regulatory requirement. The data owner has not approved the retention extension. Which data lifecycle principle is primarily being violated?
Hard29Under GDPR, a company processes personal data on behalf of a data controller. Which role does the company fulfill?
Medium30Which role is ultimately accountable for the classification of data within an organization?
Easy31A data warehouse contains anonymized customer transaction data used for analytics. The anonymization process removed direct identifiers and applied k-anonymity with k=10. An attacker obtains the dataset and attempts to re-identify individuals using auxiliary information. Which of the following best describes the residual privacy risk?
Hard32A company wants to ensure that data labeled 'Internal Use Only' is not inadvertently disclosed to unauthorized parties. What is the most effective way to communicate handling requirements to employees?
Medium33A company collects PII from European customers for order processing. Under GDPR, they engage a third-party logistics provider to handle shipping. Which role does the logistics provider typically assume in this scenario?
Hard34A data owner has classified a dataset as 'Confidential' in a commercial organization. Which of the following best describes the primary responsibility of the data owner for this dataset?
Easy35A company must destroy a set of hard drives containing sensitive customer data. The drives are magnetic (HDDs). Which destruction method provides the highest assurance of data irrecoverability?
Medium36A multinational corporation is implementing a data classification policy for commercial data. Which TWO labels are commonly used in commercial classification schemes? (Select TWO.)
Medium37Which of the following is the primary purpose of a configuration management database (CMDB) in asset management?
Easy38An organization is implementing privacy by design for a new application that processes PII. Which practice BEST aligns with the data minimization principle?
Hard39An organization's data retention policy specifies that customer records must be retained for five years after the end of the business relationship. After that period, what should be done with the data according to best practices?
Medium40An organization's data retention policy requires that financial records be kept for seven years. After that period, the records must be destroyed in a manner that prevents reconstruction. Which of the following is the best sanitization method for paper records containing sensitive financial data?
Easy41A database administrator (DBA) is responsible for implementing access controls and backup procedures for a customer database containing PII. The DBA reports to the data owner regarding security measures. Which role best describes the DBA's responsibilities?
Medium42Under the GDPR, which role is responsible for determining the purposes and means of processing personal data?
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Frequently asked questions
- What does the Asset Security domain cover on the CISSP exam?
- Asset Security questions test whether you can apply the concept in context, not just recognise a definition.
- How many questions are in this domain?
- This page lists all 42 Asset Security questions in the CISSP 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 Asset Security questions?
- Yes — the session launcher on this page filters questions to this domain only. Choose any session length for inline explanations and scoring.