CISA Sample Questions With Full Explanations
Here are 8 multiple-choice questions designed to mirror the difficulty, style, and domain coverage of the actual CISA exam. The questions focus on application of concepts, scenario-based reasoning, and the "best answer" nuance that ISACA is known for.
Question 1
An IS auditor is reviewing an organization's incident response plan. Which of the following is the MOST critical factor for the plan to be effective during a major security breach? This topic pairs well with CKS Sample Questions With Full Explanations.
A. The plan includes detailed technical steps for eradicating malware.
B. The plan has been tested through tabletop exercises within the last year.
C. The plan designates a single point of contact for all external communications.
D. The plan is stored in a cloud-based repository accessible to all employees.
Answer: B
Explanation: An untested plan is merely theoretical. Regular testing (e.g., tabletop exercises) validates the plan's assumptions, identifies gaps in roles/responsibilities, and ensures staff are familiar with procedures under pressure. While technical steps (A), communication roles (C), and accessibility (D) are important, they are ineffective if the plan has not been validated through testing.
Question 2
During a post-implementation review of a new ERP system, the IS auditor discovers that user acceptance testing (UAT) was signed off by the business process owner, but there is no evidence that critical interfaces with the legacy payroll system were tested. Which of the following is the auditor's BEST course of action?
A. Conclude that the implementation was successful based on the UAT sign-off.
B. Report the lack of interface testing as a finding and recommend a remediation plan.
C. Perform the interface testing on behalf of the business to ensure data integrity.
D. Accept the risk because the system is already in production and working.
Answer: B
Explanation: The absence of testing for critical interfaces represents a significant control gap that could lead to data corruption or financial loss. The auditor must report this finding and recommend immediate remediation (e.g., compensating controls or retroactive testing). The auditor should not perform the testing (C) as this compromises independence, and ignoring the gap (A, D) violates professional skepticism.
Question 3
An organization is migrating its customer database to a new cloud provider. Which of the following controls is MOST important to verify BEFORE the data migration begins?
A. The cloud provider has a valid SOC 2 Type II report.
B. The data is encrypted in transit and at rest during the migration.
C. The contract includes a right-to-audit clause for the cloud provider.
D. The migration team has signed non-disclosure agreements.
Answer: B See also Cisco CyberOps Associate Sample Questions With Full Explanations for a complementary perspective.
Explanation: Ensuring data confidentiality and integrity during the actual transfer is the primary control for a migration. Encryption in transit (and at rest) protects against interception and unauthorized access during this high-risk phase. While SOC 2 reports (A) and contracts (C) are important governance controls, they do not directly protect the data during the physical migration process itself. NDAs (D) are administrative and do not protect data.
Question 4
Which of the following is the PRIMARY objective of implementing a "defense in depth" security strategy?
A. To ensure that a single security control failure does not compromise the entire system.
B. To reduce the total cost of ownership of the security infrastructure.
C. To simplify the management of security policies across the organization.
D. To comply with regulatory requirements for multi-factor authentication.
Answer: A
Explanation: Defense in depth is fundamentally about layering independent security controls (e.g., firewall, IDS, access controls, encryption). The primary goal is resilience—if one layer is bypassed, another will stop the threat. It does not inherently reduce costs (B) or simplify management (C); in fact, it often increases complexity. Compliance (D) is a byproduct, not the primary objective.
Question 5
An IS auditor is evaluating the logical access controls of a mainframe application. Which of the following findings should be considered the HIGHEST risk?
A. Terminated employees' user IDs are not disabled within 24 hours.
B. The password policy requires a minimum length of 8 characters but does not require complexity.
C. Generic user accounts are used by the IT operations team for batch processing.
D. The system administrator's activity logs are not reviewed by a supervisor.
Answer: D
Explanation: The lack of independent review of the system administrator's (superuser) activity is the highest risk because it represents a failure of the compensating control for the most privileged access. Without review, malicious or erroneous actions by an admin can go undetected indefinitely. While A, B, and C are weaknesses, they are less critical than the absence of oversight over the most powerful user account.
Question 6
A business continuity plan (BCP) for a financial institution designates a recovery time objective (RTO) of 4 hours for its core transaction processing system. Which of the following is the MOST appropriate testing strategy to validate this requirement?
A. A full interruption test where the primary site is shut down and operations are moved to the alternate site.
B. A checklist review of all critical hardware and software components at the alternate site.
C. A simulation test where a mock disaster is presented to the recovery team in a meeting room. You can explore this further in CompTIA A+ Core 2 Sample Questions With Full Explanations.
D. A parallel test where the alternate site processes live transactions alongside the primary site.
Answer: A
Explanation: A full interruption test is the only method that truly validates the RTO, as it requires the actual shutdown of the primary site and the successful relocation of operations within the 4-hour window. Checklist reviews (B) and simulations (C) do not prove operational readiness under real pressure. Parallel testing (D) validates data processing but does not test the actual failover time or the team's ability to operate without the primary site.
Question 7
In a risk-based audit approach, an IS auditor is assessing the inherent risk of a new mobile banking application. Which of the following factors would MOST likely increase the inherent risk rating?
A. The application was developed using a modern, object-oriented programming language.
B. The application processes high-volume, high-value financial transactions and is accessible via the public internet.
C. The development team has implemented automated code review tools in the CI/CD pipeline.
D. The application is hosted on a private cloud infrastructure dedicated solely to the organization.
Answer: B
Explanation: Inherent risk is the risk before considering controls. High transaction value/volume coupled with public internet exposure creates a large attack surface and significant financial impact potential. This combination dramatically increases the likelihood and impact of threats. The programming language (A) and tools (C) are mitigating factors that reduce residual risk, not inherent risk. Private cloud (D) reduces exposure compared to public cloud, but the app's public availability is the key driver.
Question 8
Which of the following is the BEST indicator that an organization's information security governance is effective?
A. The organization has achieved ISO 27001 certification.
B. The security strategy is aligned with business objectives and is reviewed by the board of directors.
C. The organization has deployed a next-generation firewall and endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools.
D. The number of security incidents has decreased by 20% compared to the previous year.
Answer: B
Explanation: Effective governance ensures that security investments and strategies are directly tied to business goals and have top-level sponsorship. Board review and alignment with business objectives demonstrate that security is treated as a business enabler, not just a technical issue. Certifications (A) and tools (C) are tactical measures, and a decrease in incidents (D) could be due to luck or reporting changes; governance is about the direction and oversight that drives sustainable performance.
These questions represent the critical thinking and multi-domain knowledge required for the CISA exam. Remember to focus on the primary objective, the highest risk, and the best action, rather than just a technically correct one.
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