SSCP Risk Identification, Monitoring, and Analysis Practice Question
During a risk assessment, a bank identifies the following threats: flood, phishing attack, hardware failure, and power outage. Which TWO of these are considered environmental threat sources?
⚠ Common exam trap
The SSCP exam often tests the distinction between environmental and operational/technical threat sources, trapping candidates who classify hardware failure or power outage as environmental due to their physical nature, when only natural or utility-origin events qualify.
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
✓
Flood
Flood (C) is an environmental threat source because it originates from natural or physical conditions outside the organization's control, such as weather or geographic location. Power outage (D) is also an environmental threat source as it stems from utility infrastructure failures or natural events, not from human or system actions. Both are classified under environmental threats in risk assessment frameworks like NIST SP 800-30.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Hardware failure
Why it's wrong here
Hardware failure is a technical threat.
- ✗
Software bug
Why it's wrong here
Software bug is a technical threat.
- ✓
Flood
Why this is correct
Flood is a natural environmental threat.
- ✓
Power outage
Why this is correct
Power outage is an environmental threat (e.g., due to weather).
- ✗
Phishing attack
Why it's wrong here
Phishing is a human intentional threat.
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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.