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SSCP Practice Question: Wants to identify risks related to a new…
An organization wants to identify risks related to a new cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) system. Which approach would best identify threats and vulnerabilities specific to this system?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse vulnerability scanning (Option A) with threat modeling, assuming that scanning for known flaws is sufficient, when in fact threat modeling is required to identify design-level and cloud-specific threats that scanners cannot detect.
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
✓
Perform a threat modeling exercise such as STRIDE
Threat modeling with STRIDE is the best approach because it systematically identifies threats (Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information Disclosure, Denial of Service, Elevation of Privilege) specific to the CRM's architecture, data flows, and trust boundaries. Unlike generic scans or assessments, STRIDE focuses on the unique attack surface of a cloud-based system, such as API endpoints, multi-tenancy risks, and shared responsibility model gaps.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Run a vulnerability scan on the CRM
Why it's wrong here
Vulnerability scanning finds known vulnerabilities but may miss design-level threats.
- ✗
Execute a business impact analysis (BIA)
Why it's wrong here
BIA assesses criticality and recovery priorities, not threats.
- ✓
Perform a threat modeling exercise such as STRIDE
Why this is correct
Threat modeling is tailored to the system's architecture and identifies relevant threats.
- ✗
Conduct a qualitative risk assessment using a generic framework
Why it's wrong here
Generic frameworks may not capture cloud-specific threats.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SSCP 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 SSCP exam.