Exactprep CISA Questions

The best way to provide assurance that a project is adhering to the project plan is to conduct compliance audits at major system milestones. A compliance audit is a systematic and independent examination of the project’s activities, documents, and deliverables to determine whether they conform to the project plan and its specifications, standards, and requirements1. A major system milestone is a significant point or event in the project’s life cycle that marks the completion of a phase, stage, or deliverable2.

By conducting compliance audits at major system milestones, the auditor can provide assurance that the project is adhering to the project plan by:

Verifying that the project’s scope, schedule, budget, quality, and risks are aligned with the project plan and its objectives1

Identifying any deviations, discrepancies, or non-compliances that may affect the project’s performance or outcome1

Recommending and monitoring corrective and preventive actions to address the identified issues and improve the project’s compliance1

Reporting and communicating the audit findings, conclusions, and recommendations to the relevant stakeholders1

The other options are not as effective as conducting compliance audits at major system milestones for providing assurance that the project is adhering to the project plan. Requiring design reviews at appropriate points in the life cycle is a useful technique for ensuring that the project’s design meets the user and business requirements and follows the design standards and best practices3. However, design reviews are not sufficient for providing assurance that the project is adhering to the project plan, as they do not cover other aspects of the project such as schedule, budget, quality, or risks. Having an IS auditor participate on the steering committee is a possible way for providing assurance that the project is adhering to the project plan, as the auditor can provide independent advice and oversight to the steering committee on quality management issues and remediation efforts4. However, this may not be feasible or appropriate for every project, as it may create a conflict of interest or compromise the auditor’s objectivity and independence. Having an IS auditor participate on the quality assurance (QA) team is another possible way for providing assurance that the project is adhering to the project plan, as the auditor can assist the QA team in implementing procedures to facilitate adoption of quality management best practices5. However, this may also not be feasible or appropriate for every project, as it may create a conflict of interest or compromise the auditor’s objectivity and independence. Therefore, option D is the correct answer.

The best evidence to determine whether transactions have been executed by authorized employees is audit trails. Audit trails are secure records that catalog events or procedures to provide support documentation. They are used to authenticate security and operational actions, mitigate challenges, or provide proof of compliance and operational integrity2. Audit trails can track and trace the following information related to transactions:

Who initiated, approved, modified, or deleted a transaction

When a transaction occurred (date and time)

Where a transaction took place (location or device)

What type of transaction was performed (action or operation)

Why a transaction was executed (purpose or reason)

By analyzing audit trails, an IS auditor can verify whether transactions have been executed by authorized employees or not. Audit trails can also identify any unauthorized, fraudulent, or erroneous transactions that may have occurred. Audit trails can also help to resolve any disputes or discrepancies that may arise from transactions.

Automated version control systems are the best method to maintain an audit trail of changes made to the source code of a program. They automatically track and manage changes to the source code over time, allowing you to see what changes were made, when they were made, and who made them1. This provides a clear and detailed audit trail that can be invaluable for debugging, understanding the evolution of the code, and ensuring accountability23.

Machine shredding is the process of using a shredding machine to physically destroy the media and make the data unrecoverable. This is more effective than software formatting, which only erases the data logically and may leave traces that can be recovered by special tools1. Encrypting and destroying keys may prevent unauthorized access to the data, but it does not erase the data from the media. Wiping and rewriting three times is unnecessary and may reduce the lifespan of the media, especially for solid state drives2. Machine shredding is also recommended by various security standards and guidelines for media disposal345.