SSCP Risk Identification, Monitoring, and Analysis Practice Question
Which TWO of the following are examples of technical threat sources that should be considered during risk identification?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse threat categories, mistakenly classifying human-based threats like social engineering or insider actions as technical threat sources, when the SSCP exam strictly separates technical threats (hardware/software failures) from human and environmental threats.
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
✓
Hardware failure
Hardware failure (B) is a technical threat source because it involves the physical degradation or malfunction of IT infrastructure components such as hard drives, power supplies, or network interfaces. During risk identification, hardware failures are considered technical threats as they can directly cause data loss, service disruption, or system unavailability, requiring specific controls like redundancy and monitoring.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Earthquake
Why it's wrong here
Environmental threat.
- ✓
Hardware failure
Why this is correct
Technical threat.
- ✗
Unauthorized access by employee
Why it's wrong here
Human threat.
- ✓
Software bug
Why this is correct
Technical threat.
- ✗
Social engineering
Why it's wrong here
Human 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.