CISSP Security Operations Practice Question
What is the primary purpose of a Change Advisory Board (CAB) in change management?
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
✓
To approve and oversee changes to IT systems
The CAB reviews and approves changes to ensure they are properly assessed and minimize risk.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
To conduct vulnerability assessments
Why it's wrong here
A Change Advisory Board (CAB) is not responsible for conducting vulnerability assessments. This critical security function falls under the purview of dedicated security teams or specialized auditors who systematically identify and evaluate security weaknesses in systems and applications. While a CAB considers security implications of changes, its mandate is not to perform the technical execution of vulnerability scanning or penetration testing, which requires specific tools and expertise distinct from change governance.
- ✓
To approve and oversee changes to IT systems
Why this is correct
The primary purpose of a Change Advisory Board (CAB) is to evaluate, prioritize, and authorize proposed changes to IT services and infrastructure, ensuring they align with organizational goals and minimize adverse impacts. The CAB meticulously reviews change requests, assessing potential risks, resource requirements, and dependencies before granting approval. Furthermore, it provides oversight throughout the change lifecycle, monitoring implementation progress and reviewing post-implementation reports to confirm successful deployment and address any unforeseen issues.
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To implement changes in the IT environment
Why it's wrong here
A Change Advisory Board (CAB) does not directly implement changes within the IT environment. Its role is strictly governance and decision-making, providing authorization and strategic direction for changes. The actual technical execution, deployment, and configuration of approved changes are performed by specialized operational teams, system administrators, or development teams, who possess the necessary technical skills and access rights to modify systems and applications.
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To respond to security incidents
Why it's wrong here
Responding to security incidents is not a function of the Change Advisory Board (CAB). Security incident response is a distinct process managed by a dedicated Incident Response Team (IRT) or Security Operations Center (SOC), focused on detecting, analyzing, containing, eradicating, and recovering from security breaches. While a CAB might approve emergency changes to mitigate an incident, its ongoing operational role is not to manage the incident response lifecycle itself, which demands immediate, specialized action.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Key term
Change management
Change management is the structured process of planning, approving, implementing, and reviewing changes to IT systems to minimize risk and disruption.
Key term
Risk
Risk is the possibility that an event or action will negatively affect an organization's ability to achieve its goals, often measured in terms of likelihood and impact.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CISSP 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 CISSP exam.