CISM Certified Information Security Manager Interview Questions

Well, once you have passed an exam successfully, you are just an interview away from getting your dream job. This makes the preparation for an interview a crucial step towards accomplishing what you want. Talking about the Certified Information Security Manager interview, it’s important to understand the significance of practical knowledge besides theoretical skills. Information security management is about your knowledge of the concepts and your ability to apply that knowledge rationally. Hence, we have combined the best possible Certified Information Security Manager interview questions so as to give you a fair idea about the type of questions asked in the interview. This tutorial has expert-reviewed, frequently asked questions that will help you prepare well for the interview and ace it with flying colors.

Remember, apt knowledge accompanied by reasonable confidence will help you ace the interview. So, go through the following questions vigilantly and make sure that you present your answers with conciseness and assertion on the interview day. Now, let’s look at the top Certified Information Security Manager Interview Questions.

What is the primary goal of risk management?

The primary goal of risk management is to identify, assess, and prioritize potential risks to an organization and to implement strategies to mitigate or minimize those risks. This helps to protect the organization’s assets, reputation, and ability to achieve its objectives.

What is the difference between a threat, vulnerability and a risk?

A threat is a potential event or agent that could cause harm to an organization or system. A vulnerability is a weakness in a system or organization that could be exploited by a threat. A risk is the likelihood that a threat will exploit a vulnerability and the potential impact to the organization or system. In summary, a threat is something that has the potential to cause harm, a vulnerability is a weakness that could be exploited by a threat, and a risk is the potential impact of a threat exploiting a vulnerability.

What are the four steps of the risk management process?

The risk management process typically involves four steps:

1. Risk Identification: This step involves identifying potential risks that could negatively impact an organization or system. This can include identifying threats, vulnerabilities, and the likelihood of a potential incident occurring.
2. Risk Assessment: This step involves analyzing the potential impact of identified risks and determining the likelihood of them occurring. This can include evaluating the potential financial, operational, or reputational impact of a risk.
3. Risk Mitigation: This step involves implementing actions to reduce or eliminate the identified risks. This can include implementing security controls, creating incident response plans, or implementing business continuity plans.
4. Risk Monitoring and Review: This step involves continuously monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness of the implemented risk mitigation controls, and updating them as needed. This can include reviewing logs, analyzing security incident data, and assessing the impact of changes to the organization or its environment.

Please note that the risk management process is dynamic and cyclical, and the steps are not necessarily linear. It’s often an iterative process that requires continuous review, monitoring and updating.

What is the purpose of a Business Impact Analysis (BIA)?

A Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is a process used to identify and evaluate the potential impacts to an organization that could result from disruptions to critical business functions. The purpose of a BIA is to help organizations understand the potential consequences of a disruption, and to identify and prioritize the critical functions and resources that are essential for the organization to continue operating.

The BIA process typically includes the following steps:

1. Identifying critical business functions and the resources required to support them.
2. Analyzing the potential impact of disruptions to those functions, including the financial, operational, and reputational consequences.
3. Prioritizing the critical functions and resources based on the potential impact of a disruption.
4. Developing recovery strategies and plans to minimize the impact of disruptions and restore critical functions as quickly as possible.

The outcome of a BIA is a set of prioritized critical functions and resources, as well as recovery strategies and plans that can be used to guide the development of business continuity and disaster recovery plans. The BIA is also useful for identifying potential vulnerabilities, and help organizations to take proactive steps to mitigate the risks of disruptions.

What are the key components of an incident response plan?

An incident response plan (IRP) is a document that outlines the procedures and protocols that an organization will follow in the event of a security incident. The key components of an IRP typically include:

1. Activation and notification procedures: This section outlines the process for activating the incident response team and notifying relevant parties, including senior management, legal counsel, and any regulatory bodies that may need to be notified.
2. Roles and responsibilities: This section defines the roles and responsibilities of the incident response team, including incident commander, incident assessors, and incident responders.
3. Communication plan: This section outlines the communication channels that will be used to disseminate information during an incident, including internal and external communication protocols.
4. Containment, eradication and recovery procedures: This section outlines the procedures for containing an incident, eradicating the cause of the incident, and recovering systems and data.
5. Post-incident activities: This section outlines the procedures for conducting a post-incident review, documenting the incident, and updating the incident response plan.
6. Contact list: This section contains a list of all internal and external stakeholders who should be notified in case of an incident.
7. Training and exercises: This section outlines the training and exercises that will be conducted to ensure that the incident response team is prepared to respond to an incident in a timely and effective manner.
8. Legal requirements: This section outlines the legal requirements that the organization must follow in case of an incident, including regulatory compliance and data privacy laws.

It’s important to note that incident response plans should be tailored to the specific needs of an organization, and should be tested and updated regularly to ensure they remain effective.

How can organizations protect against social engineering attacks?

Social engineering attacks are a type of security threat that rely on manipulating or tricking individuals into revealing sensitive information or performing certain actions. Organizations can protect against social engineering attacks by implementing a combination of technical, administrative, and educational controls.

1. Technical controls: These controls include anti-phishing software, firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and email filtering. These tools can help detect and block malicious emails, websites, and other types of social engineering attacks.
2. Administrative controls: These controls include policies and procedures that govern employee behavior and provide guidance on how to handle suspicious communications. This can include guidelines for verifying the identity of individuals who contact the organization, and procedures for reporting suspicious activity.
3. Educational controls: These controls include training and awareness programs that educate employees about the different types of social engineering attacks and how to identify and respond to them. This can include training on how to recognize phishing emails, how to avoid falling for scams, and how to identify suspicious phone calls or visitors.
4. Implementing a “security culture” within the organization: This means creating an organizational culture where employees are aware of security risks and are motivated to act in a secure manner. This can include making security a regular topic of conversation and regularly reminding employees of the importance of security.
5. Encouraging employees to be skeptical and take time to verify any request for sensitive information.

It’s important to note that social engineering is a constantly evolving threat. Organizations should regularly assess and update their controls, and educate employees accordingly. Also, it’s a good practice to do regular phishing simulations to test employee awareness and response to social engineering attacks.

What are the best practices for incident management?

Incident management is the process of identifying, assessing, and responding to security incidents. Best practices for incident management include:

1. Establishing an incident response team: Having a dedicated incident response team that is responsible for identifying, assessing, and responding to security incidents is critical. The team should be composed of individuals with the appropriate skills, knowledge, and authority to respond to incidents.
2. Developing an incident response plan: A well-written incident response plan is a critical component of incident management. The plan should outline the procedures and protocols that the incident response team will follow during an incident.
3. Regularly testing and updating the incident response plan: Regularly testing and updating the incident response plan is crucial to ensure that it remains effective. This can include conducting regular table-top exercises and simulated incident scenarios.
4. Identifying and prioritizing critical assets: Identifying and prioritizing critical assets is essential for incident management. This includes understanding the assets that are essential for the organization to function and determining the impact of a disruption to those assets.
5. Implementing incident detection and response controls: Implementing incident detection and response controls can help to quickly identify and respond to security incidents. These controls include intrusion detection and prevention systems, security information and event management systems, and security incident and event management software.
6. Communicating effectively: Effective communication is critical during an incident. The incident response team should have a clear communication plan in place that outlines the communication channels that will be used to disseminate information during an incident.

It’s important to note that incident management is a continuous process that requires regular review and improvement. Organizations should regularly assess and update their incident management processes to ensure they remain effective.

What is the purpose of a disaster recovery plan?

A disaster recovery plan (DRP) is a document that outlines the procedures and protocols that an organization will follow in the event of a disaster or other disruptive event. The purpose of a DRP is to minimize the impact of a disaster and to restore critical business operations as quickly as possible.

The DRP typically includes the following elements:

1. Business Impact Analysis (BIA): A BIA is a process used to identify and evaluate the potential impacts to an organization that could result from disruptions to critical business functions. The outcome of a BIA is a set of prioritized critical functions and resources, which forms the foundation of the DRP.
2. Risk assessment: A risk assessment is a process used to identify the potential risks to an organization, including natural disasters, cyber-attacks, and human-caused incidents. The outcome of a risk assessment is a list of potential threats and vulnerabilities that the organization must be prepared to respond to.
3. Recovery strategies: Recovery strategies are the plans and procedures that the organization will follow to minimize the impact of a disaster and restore critical business operations. These strategies may include procedures for data backup and recovery, failover and failback, and the use of alternate sites or facilities.
4. Test and exercise: Regularly testing and exercising the DRP is crucial to ensure that it remains effective. This can include conducting regular table-top exercises and simulated disaster scenarios.
5. Communication plan: The DRP should have a communication plan in place that outlines the communication channels that will be used to disseminate information during a disaster, including internal and external communication protocols.

The outcome of a disaster recovery plan is a set of procedures and protocols that the organization can follow to minimize the impact of a disaster and restore critical business operations as quickly as possible.

What is the difference between a vulnerability assessment and a penetration test?

A vulnerability assessment and a penetration test are both security assessment techniques that are used to identify potential vulnerabilities and weaknesses in an organization’s systems and networks. However, there are key differences between the two.

A vulnerability assessment is a process of identifying, classifying, and prioritizing potential vulnerabilities in an organization’s systems and networks. The goal of a vulnerability assessment is to identify any potential weaknesses that could be exploited by an attacker and provide recommendations for mitigating those vulnerabilities. A vulnerability assessment is usually conducted using automated tools that scan the organization’s systems and networks for known vulnerabilities.

A penetration test, also known as a pen test, is a simulated cyber attack against a computer system, network, or web application to evaluate the security of the system. It is an attempt to exploit vulnerabilities found during a vulnerability assessment. The goal of a penetration test is to identify exploitable vulnerabilities, assess the potential impact of an attack, and provide recommendations for improving the organization’s security. Penetration testing is usually conducted by security professionals who use manual techniques to try to gain unauthorized access to the organization’s systems and networks.

In summary, a vulnerability assessment is a non-invasive process that looks for potential vulnerabilities in an organization’s systems and networks, while a penetration test is a more invasive process that simulates a real-world attack to see if vulnerabilities can be exploited.

What are the key components of a security awareness and training program?

A security awareness and training program is a set of activities and resources that are designed to educate employees about security risks, best practices, and their roles and responsibilities in protecting an organization’s assets.

The key components of a security awareness and training program include:

1. Policy and procedure review: Employees should be familiar with the organization’s security policies and procedures, including those related to data protection, incident response, and acceptable use of systems and networks.
2. Risk identification and mitigation: Employees should be trained to identify and mitigate common security risks, such as phishing, social engineering, and malware.
3. Best practices and secure behaviors: Employees should be familiar with best practices for maintaining the security of systems and networks, such as maintaining strong passwords, securing mobile devices, and reporting suspicious activity.
4. Incident response and reporting: Employees should be trained on the incident response procedures, including how to recognize and report security incidents, and how to follow established incident response protocols.
5. Testing and evaluation: The security awareness and training program should include testing and evaluation mechanisms to ensure that employees are retaining the information and are able to apply the knowledge in real-world scenarios.
6. Ongoing training and education: The security awareness and training program should be ongoing, and employees should be periodically reminded of their responsibilities and provided with additional training as needed.

An effective security awareness and training program can help to create a culture of security within an organization and ensure that employees understand their roles in protecting the organization’s assets.

Q1. What does ISRM stand for?

ISRM stands for information security and risk management strategy that provides a road map for information and information infrastructure protection with goals and objectives to an organization ensuring capabilities provided are aligned with the goals of the business and the organization’s risk profile.

Q2. What are the phases of an ISRM strategy?

The five phases of ISRM strategy are:

• Firstly, Business awareness
• Secondly, Strategy Definition
• Thirdly, Strategy Development
• Then, Metrics And Benchmarking
• Lastly, Implementation and Operation

Q3. What is the role of organizational interactions?

Well, organizational interactions make sure that proper communication is there between the ISRM group and supporting business functions. However, organizational interactions are different from training, communication, and awareness capabilities in that they are opposite in nature instead of a projection from the ISRM group.

Q4. Define consequence management.

Consequence management is basically the enforcement element for the problems of noncompliance or nonalignment. Moreover, it can range from a simple risk waiver removing liability for actions from the ISRM group all the way to corrective actions against employees who do not align to ISRM directives.

Q5. What are the sections of an executive management report?

An executive management report contains the following three sections:

• Elaboration of strategy and a security program.
• Operational efficiency of a security organization.
• Cost of the security deliveries.

Q6. What is the security balanced scorecard?

The security balanced scorecard is a popular method used for monitoring performance and the progress towards the goals fixed to endorse the strategy of the enterprise. Also, this tool is well known to management and enables security teams to communicate the findings on a formal basis.

Q7. Name the two features that describe a risk culture?

Two features used to describe a risk culture are as follows:

• Risk appetite
• Reaction towards negative outcomes

Q8. Define accounting.

The process of recording financial transactions pertaining to a business is called accounting. Moreover, the accounting process is inclusive of summarizing, analyzing, and reporting these transactions to regulators, oversight agencies, and tax collection entities. 

Q9. Explain financial auditing.

Well, financial auditing is the process of examining the financial records of an organization so as to determine if they are correct and in accordance with any applicable rules, regulations, and laws.

Q10. What does risk management refer to?

In project management, risk management is the process of identifying, evaluating, and preventing risks to a project that have the power to alter the desired outcomes. Moreover, project managers are typically responsible for overseeing the risk management process during the duration of a given project

Q11. What do you mean by risk audit?

Risk audit is basically the examination of the effectiveness of risk responses while dealing with the identified risk and their root causes along with the effectiveness of the risk management process. Hence, conducting a risk audit is a significant component of developing an event management plan.

Q12. Define risk report.

A risk report is the summary of project risks as well as opportunities, the recent status of treatment actions, and an indication of the ongoing trends in the incidence of risks. The risk register and the supporting risk treatment action plan are the basis for generating project risk status reports.

Q13. What is the purpose of risk management plan?

Well, the risk management plan shows how are you going to handle the risk in a project. Moreover, it documents how you’ll assess risk, who is responsible for getting that done, and how frequently will you do the risk planning.

Q14. What does regular risk monitoring do?

Well, regular risk monitoring helps provide the management and the board with assurance that established controls are functioning well. The comprehensive MIS reports are essential tools for justifying that the IT operations are performing within the parameters that are established.

Q15. What are the types of audits?

The three types of audits are:

• External Audit
• Internal Audit
• Internal Revenue Service Audits

Q16. What is an internal audit?

An internal audit is usually done in-house, laying emphasis on the process assessments, the safety of assets, control assessments, and legal compliance. It has been designed in a way that enhances an organization’s operations and also adds value to the company. The business leader begins the exercise, which is performed further by an audit team. However, the scope of the audit is determined by directors with equivalence authorization or the audit committee.

Q17. What do you mean by risk analysis?

Risk analysis is the examination of how project outcomes and objectives may change because of the impact of a risk event. Once these risks are found, they are analyzed to identify the qualitative and quantitative consequences of the risk on the project so that relevant steps can be followed to mitigate them.

Q18. What are the dimensions of project risk management?

• Risk avoidance.
• Sharing risk.
• Risk reduction.
• Transfer of risk.

Q19. What is EA?

EA is a rational combination of all the methods, principles, and models used in the designing and realization of the organizational structure of an enterprise, business processes, information systems as well as infrastructure.

Q20. What is the purpose of organizational structure?

A project operates with the people, process, and technology of an organization. Projects have an impact on the culture, policies, procedures, and other aspects of an organization. The organizational structure has a major impact on the execution of the project. Moreover, it decides the resources, communication methods, and other important aspects of project management.

Q21. Mention the types of organizational structures.

Organizational structure is of the following types:

• Functional
• Matrix
• Projectized
• Smart StudyOrganic
• Multi-divisional
• Virtual

Q22. What are the goals of EA?

• Understanding the organization
• Optimization of operations
• Developing systems, products and services according to the goals of business.
• Optimizing the resources of an organization.
• Offering alignment between all the layers of an organization.

Q23. Mention the key-steps in the risk metrics program.

• First, selecting and developing metrics.
• Second, collecting metrics data.
• Then, analyzing metrics data.
• At last, reporting metrics results.

Q24. Explain project communication management.

Project communication management is a set of phases or processes that help in ensuring that the right messages are sent, received, and understood by the right people. 

Q25. How do we determine a risk profile?

We can determine our risk profile by-

1. Understanding the risk profiles of asset classes.
2. Matching investments to our investment horizon.
3. Spreading risk.

Q26. What are the processes of project communication management?

The three processes of project communications management are planning communication management, managing communications, and controlling communications.

Q27. Define risk appetite.

Risk appetite is the amount and type of risk that an organization is willing to accept in pursuit of the objectives of the business.

Q28. What is the role of a stakeholder?

Stakeholder has the rights to make legal decisions and control project scheduling and budgetary issues. Moreover, most of the project stakeholders are responsible for businesses that include educating developers, creating scheduling parameters, financing projects, and setting milestone dates.

Q29. What is a baseline?

A baseline is a set of basic rules which provide the direction for particular implementation or configuration standards. Moreover, these can be specific to a platform, network, system, or device type, with the goal to be uniform and consistent.

Q30. What are the regulatory benefits of information security?

• Safeguards the data of employees.
• Supports the privacy laws and regulations.
• Shows compliance with the information security rules and regulations.
• Protectss the sensitive data of the organization.

Q31. Define risk mitigation.

Risk mitigation enables the generation of a sound control environment that decreases the internal and external threats to the tolerance level of institutions and builds a structured environment for IT operations.

Q32. What is incident management?

Incident management is the emergency operations part of risk management. Thus, activities that take place as an outcome of unanticipated attacks, thefts, losses, accidents, or any other unexpected adverse events occur as an outcome of the failure of controls.

Q33. In which areas does the audit program examine assurance?

The audit program examines the assurance across the following areas:

• Program design and implementation
• Reporting best practices
• Tools and technologies
• Lessons learned

Q34. What do you mean by strategic risk?

Strategic risk is dependent on the uniqueness along with the volume of the transactions offered by the third party. Moreover, this risk occurs when the value to the enterprise is highly aligned with the technology risk management. 

Q35. What are the basic components of RACI model?

The basic components of the RACI model are:

• Accountable
• Consulted
• Responsible
• Informed

Q36. What is SABSA?

SABSA is a business-driven security framework for those enterprises which are based on the risk and opportunities in association with it. Moreover, SABSA does not provide any specific control and relies on others, like the International Organization for Standardization or COBIT processes. Thus, it is a pure methodology to assure business alignment.

Q37. Mention the end-point controls.

The end-point controls are:

• Host security
• Authentication
• Mobile security

Q38. What are procedural controls?

• Risk management framework
• Security governance
• User awareness
• Security standards and policies

Q39. What does ROSI stand for?

ROSI stands for return on security investment calculation. This is a general business practice for important investments. However, the practice is not free from controversy when we apply it to information security.

Q40. Which tools are used to access the state of security?

We use the following tools to access the state of security:

• Security balanced scorecard
• Maturity modeling
• Risk management
• Diagnostic methodology

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