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The primary reason for sharing risk assessment reports with senior stakeholders is to support decision-making for risk response. Risk assessment reports are documents that summarize the results of the risk assessment process, such as the risk sources, causes, impacts, likelihood, and levels. Risk assessment reports also provide recommendations for risk response options, such as avoiding, reducing, transferring, or accepting the risk. Sharing risk assessment reports with senior stakeholders helps to inform them of the current risk situation, and to solicit their input, feedback, or approval for the risk response actions. The other options are not the primary reason for sharing risk assessment reports, although they may be secondary reasons or outcomes. References = Risk and Information Systems Control Study Manual, Chapter 4, Section 4.2.1, page 4-13.

Business Impact Analysis (BIA):

Purpose: A BIA is a systematic process to evaluate the potential effects of an interruption to critical business operations as a result of a disaster, accident, or emergency.

Identification of Consequences: It identifies critical resources and the consequences of their loss, allowing an organization to determine the operational and financial impacts of such losses.

Steps Involved in BIA:

Identify Critical Functions: Determine which business functions and processes are essential to the organization's operations.

Assess Impact: Evaluate the impact of losing these functions on the organization’s ability to operate.

Estimate Downtime Tolerance: Determine the maximum allowable downtime for critical functions before significant harm occurs.

Identify Dependencies: Document dependencies between systems, processes, and resources to understand how disruptions to one part affect the whole.

Comparison with Other Options:

Risk Management Action Plans: These are detailed plans developed to address identified risks but do not specifically focus on the impact of losing critical resources.

What-if Technique: This is a brainstorming technique used to explore potential risks and their impacts but is not as structured as a BIA.

Tabletop Exercise Results: These exercises simulate disaster scenarios to test response plans but do not provide the comprehensive impact analysis that a BIA does.

Best Practices:

Regular Updates: Regularly update the BIA to reflect changes in the business environment and operational dependencies.

Integration with DR/BC Plans: Ensure that findings from the BIA are integrated into disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC) plans to enhance overall preparedness.

 The most important consideration when selecting an external service provider for outsourcing the payroll function is the internal controls to ensure data privacy. The payroll function involves processing and storingsensitive personal and financial information of the employees, such as salaries, taxes, benefits, bank accounts, etc. This information needs to be protected from unauthorized access, disclosure, modification, or loss, as it may result in legal, regulatory, reputational, or financial consequences for the organization and the employees. Therefore, the external service provider should have adequate internal controls, such as encryption, access control, backup, logging, monitoring, etc., to ensure data privacy and compliance with the organization’s policies and standards. Disaster recovery plan, right to audit, and transparency ofKPIs are also important considerations when selecting an external service provider, but they are not as important as internal controls to ensure data privacy. References = Risk and Information Systems Control Study Manual, 7th Edition, Chapter 5, Section 5.2.1.2, page 2461

1: ISACA Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC®) Exam Guide, Answer to Question 648.

The greatest concern for a risk practitioner when reviewing the findings of a security awareness program assessment is that the program uses non-customized training modules. Non-customizedtraining modules are generic and may not address the specific security needs, issues, and challenges of the organization. They may also fail to engage and motivate the employees to follow the security policies and procedures, and to enhance their security knowledge and skills. The program not decreasing threat counts, not considering business impact, or being significantly revised are other possible findings, but they are not as concerning as the program using non-customized training modules. References = ISACA Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) Certification Exam Question and Answers, question 7; CRISC Review Manual, 6th Edition, page 202.