The MOST important thing for an IS auditor to consider in an assessment of the potential risk factors when a cloud service provider has not adequately secured its application programming interface (API) is the impact on the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the cloud service. An API is a set of rules and protocols that allows communication and interaction between different software components or systems. An API is often used by cloud service providers to enable customers to access and manage their cloud resources and services. However, if an API is not adequately secured, it can expose the cloud service provider and its customers to various threats,such as unauthorized access, data breaches, tampering, denial-of-service attacks, or malicious code injection.

Key risk indicators (KRIs) are metrics that can provide an early signal of increasing risk exposures for an organization. KRIs are designed to measure and predict potential losses, and they help in identifying trends that could lead to future risks. They aredifferent from Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which measure the performance related to the achievement of strategic goals. KRIs, on the other hand, are specifically focused on risk and are used to monitor changes in the level of risk exposure.

References: The information is supported by ISACA’s resources, which state that KRIs with thresholds and corresponding trigger actions can enable companies to gain visibility into risks before they occur. These metrics best position enterprises to deal with substantial cyber risks associated with digital transformation and implementing emerging technologies1.

In a teaming exercise, the purple team is responsible for integrating the defensive tactics and controls from the blue team (defensive) with the threats and vulnerabilities found by the red team (attacking). The purple team’s role is to ensure that the defense mechanisms are effective against the identified threats and to improve the overall security posture of the organization. They work collaboratively with both the red and blue teams to provide a comprehensive view of the organization’s security readiness1.

References: The concept of red, blue, and purple teams in cybersecurity is well-documented in ISACA’s resources. The purple team is described as a group of cybersecurity professionals who play the roles of both the red team and blue team in an ongoing and integrated manner. Their objective is to provide reliable cyber assurance by collecting intelligence on tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by adversaries (as a red team) and then analyzing these TTPs to configure, tune, and improve the incident detection and response capability (as a blue team)1.

During the containment phase, the immediate response to an incident involves limiting its scope and magnitude, which includes preserving evidence. This is crucial for a subsequent forensic analysis and for learning lessons from the incident to prevent future occurrences.

References = The containment phase is part of the incident response process as outlined in ISACA’s resources, which include steps such as detection and analysis, containment, eradication, recovery, and post-incident activities12.

The device that is at GREATEST risk from activity monitoring and data retrieval is mobile devices. This is because mobile devices are devices that are portable, wireless, and connected to the Internet or other networks, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc. Mobile devices are at greatest risk from activity monitoring and data retrieval, because they can be easily lost, stolen, or compromised by attackers who can access or extract the data stored or transmitted on the devices. Mobile devices can also be subject to activity monitoring and data retrieval by third-party applications or services that may collect or share the user’s personal or sensitive information without their consent or knowledge. The other options are not devices that are at greatest risk from activity monitoring and data retrieval, but rather different types of devices that may have different levels of risk or protection from activity monitoring and data retrieval, such as cloud storage devices (B), desktop workstations C, or printing devices (D).

When defining actions for an IDS policy, the most important consideration is the level of risk to the organization’s data. This involves assessing the potential impact of the intrusion on the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data, which guides the prioritization and response efforts.

References = ISACA’s guidance on cybersecurity incident response highlights the importance of understanding the risk to data as a key factor in shaping the response to intrusions. This includes evaluating the severity of the threat and the sensitivity of the affected data to determine the appropriate actions123.

 The BEST indication of mature third-party vendor risk management for an organization is that the organization maintains vendor security assessment checklists. This is because vendor security assessment checklists help the organization to evaluate and monitor the security posture and performance of their third-party vendors, based on predefined criteria and standards. Vendor security assessment checklists also help the organization to identify and mitigate any gaps or issues in the vendor’s security controls or processes. The other options are not as indicative of mature third-party vendor risk management for an organization, because they either involve following or mimicking the security program of either party without considering their own needs or risks (A, D), or relying on the vendor’s self-assessment without independent verification or validation C.