Free Practice Questions for Isaca Cybersecurity-Audit-Certificate Exam

The main objective of an intrusion detection system (IDS) policy is to establish the criteria for what constitutes an intrusion event and the reporting requirements once such an event is detected. This includes defining what activities are considered anomalies, ensuring that security breaches are identified, and specifying how and to whom these incidents should be reported. The policy sets the foundation for how intrusions are detected, assessed, and managed within an organization’s network infrastructure1.

References: ISACA’s resources on cybersecurity highlight the importance of having a clear IDS policy that outlines the detection and response procedures for security incidents. Such a policy is crucial for the effective monitoring and management of potential security breaches, ensuring that they are promptly identified and addressed1.

The BEST indication that an organization’s vulnerability management process is operating effectively is that remediation efforts are prioritized. This is because prioritizing remediation efforts helps to ensure that the most critical and urgent vulnerabilities are addressed first, based on their severity, impact, and exploitability. Prioritizing remediation efforts also helps to optimize the use of resources and time for mitigating vulnerabilities and reducing risks. The other options are not as indicative of an effective vulnerability management process, because they either involve communicating (A), approving (B), or reviewing C aspects that are not directly related to remediating vulnerabilities.

The document that contains the essential elements of effective processes and describes an improvement path considering quality and effectiveness is Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI). This is because CMMI is a framework that defines five levels of process maturity, from initial to optimized, and provides best practices and guidelines for improving the quality and effectiveness of processes across different domains, such as software development, service delivery, or cybersecurity. The other options are not documents that contain the essential elements of effective processes and describe an improvement path considering quality and effectiveness, but rather different types of documents or tools that provide guidance or recommendations for implementing policies or controls, such as Balanced Scorecard (B), ISO 27004:2009 C, or COBIT 5 (D).

HTTPS, or Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol, is an extension of HTTP that is protected by encryption via Transport Layer Security (TLS). This protocol ensures secure communication over a computer network by encrypting the data exchanged between a web server and a web browser, thereby protecting the integrity and confidentiality of the transmitted data.

References = While I cannot provide direct references from the Cybersecurity Audit Manual, the definition and workings of HTTPS are well-established in cybersecurity resources. HTTPS uses TLS (formerly SSL) to secure the data transfer, which is a fundamental concept covered in various cybersecurity literature, including ISACA’s materials123. For detailed information, please refer to the official ISACA resources and study guides.

The GREATEST advantage of using a virtual private network (VPN) over dedicated circuits and dial-in servers is that it is more cost effective. This is because a VPN is a technology that creates a secure and encrypted connection between a client and a server over an existing public network, such as the Internet. A VPN reduces the cost of establishing and maintaining a secure communication channel, as it does not require any additional hardware, software, or infrastructure, unlike dedicated circuits and dial-in servers, which require dedicated lines, modems, routers, switches, etc. The other options are not the greatest advantage of using a VPN over dedicated circuits and dial-in servers, because they either involve security (A), reliability (B), or speed C aspects that may not be significantly different or better than dedicated circuits and dial-in servers.

Standards define the minimum acceptable rules for policy compliance. They are established by consensus and approved by a recognized body that provides forcommon and repeated use, rules, guidelines, or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context.

References: The information aligns with the ISACA’s definitions and usage of terms related to cybersecurity audits, where standards are often referred to as the mandatory requirements that must be followed to ensure policy compliance12.

The FIRST phase of the ISACA framework for auditors reviewing cryptographic environments is inventory and discovery. This is because the inventory and discovery phase helps auditors to identify and document the scope, objectives, and approach of the audit, as well as the cryptographic assets, systems, processes, and stakeholders involved in the cryptographic environment. The inventory and discovery phase also helps auditors to assess the maturity and effectiveness of the cryptographic governance and management within the organization. The other phases are not the first phase of the ISACA framework for auditors reviewing cryptographic environments, but rather follow after the inventory and discovery phase, such as evaluation of implementation details (A), hands-on testing (B), or risk-based shakeout C.

The FIRST thing that an IS auditor should do to ensure cyber security-related legal and regulatory requirements are followed by an organization is to determine if the cybersecurity program is mapped to relevant legal and regulatory requirements. This is because mapping the cybersecurity program to relevant legal and regulatory requirements helps to ensure that the organization has identified and addressed all the applicable laws and regulations that affect its cybersecurity posture, such as data protection, privacy, breach notification, etc. Mapping the cybersecurity program to relevant legal and regulatory requirements also helps to evaluate the alignment and compliance of the organization’s cybersecurity policies, procedures, controls,and practices with the legal and regulatory requirements. The other options are not the first thing that an IS auditor should do to ensure cyber security-related legal and regulatory requirements are followed by an organization, but rather follow after determining if the cybersecurity program is mapped to relevant legal and regulatory requirements, such as reviewing the most recent legal and regulatory audit report (B), determining if there is a formal process to review changes in legal and regulatory requirements C, or obtaining a list of relevant legal and regulatory requirements (D).

The MOST important thing to verify when reviewing the effectiveness of an organization’s identity management program is whether the processes are aligned with industry best practices. Identity management is the process of managing the identities and access rights of users across an organization’s systems and resources. Industry best practices provide guidelines and standards for how to implement identity management in a secure, efficient, and compliant manner.

 Asymmetric algorithms are commonly used to securely distribute symmetric keys. The asymmetric encryption process involves a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption. This method ensures that even if the public key is intercepted, the encrypted data cannot be decrypted without the corresponding private key. Symmetric keys are then used for the bulk encryption of data due to their efficiency in processing large volumes of information.

References = The use of asymmetric algorithms for key distribution is a well-established practice in the field of cryptography. It is mentioned in various ISACA resources that asymmetric encryption, such as RSA and ECC, is crucial for secure communications, especially for the initial exchange of symmetric keys, which are then used for encrypting data streams or bulk data123.