Pass the IIBA Cybersecurity Analysis IIBA-CCA Questions and answers with ExamsMirror

Privileged account management refers to the governance and operational controls used to administer accounts that haveelevated permissionsbeyond standard user access. Privileged accounts can change system configurations, create or modify users, access sensitive datasets, disable security tools, and administer core infrastructure such as servers, databases, directories, network devices, and cloud consoles. Because misuse of privileged access can quickly lead to large-scale compromise, cybersecurity frameworks treat privileged access as a high-risk area requiring stronger safeguards than normal accounts.

The definition in option A is correct because it captures the core purpose of privileged account management:establishing and maintaining access rights and controlsspecifically for roles that must perform administrative or support functions. In practice, this includes ensuring privileges are granted only when justified, scoped to the minimum necessary, and reviewed regularly. It also includes controls such as separation of duties, approval workflows, time-bound elevation, credential vaulting, rotation of privileged passwords and keys, multifactor authentication, and detailed logging of privileged sessions for monitoring and audit.

Option B is too broad because privileged account management is a specialized subset of identity and access management focused on elevated access. Option C is incorrect because privilege is defined by permissions, not job title. Option D describes an authentication concept, not the full management lifecycle of privileged access.

Information classificationis the formal process of evaluating the data an organization creates or holds and assigning it a sensitivity level so the organization can apply the right safeguards. Cybersecurity policies describe classification as the foundation for consistent protection because it links thepotential harm from unauthorized disclosure, alteration, or lossto specific handling and control requirements. Typical classification labels include Public, Internal, Confidential, and Restricted, though names vary by organization. Once data is classified, required protections can be specified, such as encryption at rest and in transit, access restrictions based on least privilege, approved storage locations, monitoring requirements, retention periods, and secure disposal methods.

This is not avulnerability assessment, which focuses on identifying weaknesses in systems, applications, or configurations. It is also not aninternal audit, which evaluates whether controls and processes are being followed and are effective. Option D,information categorization, is often used in some frameworks to describe assigning impact levels (for example, confidentiality, integrity, availability impact) to information types or systems, mainly to drive control baselines. While related, the question specifically emphasizes assessing data and deciding thelevel of protectionbased on risk from disclosure, which aligns most directly withclassificationprograms used to govern labeling and handling rules across the organization.

A strong classification program improves security consistency, supports compliance, reduces accidental exposure, and helps prioritize controls for the most sensitive information assets.

The OSISession Layer(Layer 5) is responsible forestablishing, managing, and terminating sessionsbetween communicating applications. A session is the logical dialogue that allows two endpoints to coordinate how communication starts, how it continues, and how it ends. This includes controlling the “conversation” state, such as who can transmit at what time, maintaining the session so it stays active, and closing it cleanly when it is no longer needed. Because of this, option A best matches the Session Layer’s core responsibilities.

In contrast,presenting data to the receiver in a recognizable formis the job of thePresentation Layer(Layer 6), which deals with formatting, encoding, compression, and often cryptographic transformation concepts.Adding appropriate network addresses to packetsaligns to theNetwork Layer(Layer 3), where logical addressing and routing decisions occur, typically associated with IP addressing.Transmitting the data on the mediumis handled at thePhysical Layer(Layer 1), which concerns signals, cabling, and the actual movement of bits.

From a cybersecurity perspective, session management is important because weaknesses can enablesession hijacking, replay, or fixation, especially when session identifiers are predictable, not protected, or not properly invalidated. Controls commonly include strong authentication, secure session token generation, timeout and reauthentication rules, and proper session termination to reduce exposure.

In a data warehouse, information from multiple operational sources is consolidated, transformed, and related through keys, joins, and business rules. When a Business Analyst defines processes and procedures that describehow data sets interrelate, they are primarily controlling the risk created bydata aggregation. Aggregation risk arises when combining multiple datasets produces a new, richer dataset that can change the meaning, sensitivity, or trustworthiness of the information. If relationships and transformation rules are poorly defined or inconsistently applied, the warehouse can generate misleading analytics, incorrect roll-ups, duplicated records, or invalid correlations—directly harminginformation integritybecause decisions are made on inaccurate or improperly combined data.

Well-defined interrelation procedures specify authoritative sources, master data rules, key management, referential integrity expectations, transformation and reconciliation steps, and data lineage. These controls help ensure the warehouse preserves correctness when data is integrated across systems with different formats, definitions, and update cycles. They also support governance by enabling validation checks (for example, balancing totals to source systems, exception handling, and data-quality thresholds) and by making it clear which dataset should be trusted for specific attributes.

Unauthorized access and confidentiality are important warehouse risks, but they are addressed mainly through access controls and encryption. Cross-site scripting is a web application vulnerability and is not the core issue in describing dataset relationships. Therefore, the correct answer isData Aggregation.

Business analysts support cybersecurity compliance primarily by ensuring that security and privacy expectations are translated into clear, testable requirements that are built into the solution. This includes eliciting applicable organizational security policies, standards, and control objectives, then mapping them into functional and non-functional requirements such as authentication methods, role-based access, logging and audit trail needs, encryption requirements, session controls, data retention, and segregation of duties. When security policies are reflected in the solution requirements, they become part of the delivery lifecycle: they can be designed, implemented, validated in testing, and verified during acceptance. This creates traceability from policy to requirement to control implementation, which is essential for audits and for demonstrating due diligence.

Option A is typically the responsibility of governance, risk, and compliance functions or internal audit, not the BA. Option C is usually performed by security testing specialists, QA teams, or application security engineers using techniques like SAST, DAST, and penetration testing. Option D is largely an operational management and compliance enforcement function, supported by training, monitoring, and disciplinary processes. The BA’s distinct contribution is ensuring policy-driven security controls are captured in requirements and embedded into the solution design and delivery artifacts.

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Business analysis is responsible for ensuring the solution is correctly understood in terms of business purpose, process flows, data handling, user roles, integrations, and non-functional requirements such as security and privacy. If the solution is not understood well enough, security risks will be missed early, leading to gaps that are expensive and difficult to correct later. This is why option C is the best answer: inadequate understanding prevents reliable identification of threats, sensitive data paths, trust boundaries, and misuse cases during requirements and design stages.

Cybersecurity documents emphasize “security by design” and “shift-left” practices, meaning risks should be identified and addressed before build and test. Business analysis contributes by eliciting and documenting security requirements, clarifying data classification and retention needs, defining user access and privilege expectations, identifying regulatory and policy constraints, and ensuring interfaces and third-party dependencies are known and assessed. BA also supports threat modeling inputs by providing accurate context about actors, workflows, and data movement, which are essential for identifying where controls like authentication, authorization, logging, encryption, and validation must exist.

Other options align to different roles or stages: budgets are governance and project management constraints, QA limitations are testing risks, and coding-introduced vulnerabilities are primarily addressed through secure coding standards, code review, and developer practices. BA’s key cybersecurity risk is incomplete understanding that prevents correct security requirements and risk identification.

Directory management is important because it provides a centralized way to define identities, groups, roles, and permissions, which directly determines who can access network resources. In most enterprises, directory services store user and service accounts and then integrate with file servers, applications, email platforms, VPN, and cloud services. This integration enables consistent enforcement of authorization rules such as group-based access to shared folders and files, role-based access control, and least privilege. Option D captures this core security purpose: directory management is a foundational control mechanism for governing access to networked resources.

From a cybersecurity controls perspective, directory management supports secure onboarding and offboarding, ensuring that new users receive only appropriate permissions and that departing users are disabled promptly to reduce insider and external risk. It also strengthens authentication by enabling enterprise-wide policies such as password rules, account lockouts, multi-factor authentication integration, and conditional access. In addition, centralized directories improve auditability: administrators can review memberships and entitlements, monitor privileged group changes, and generate logs that support investigations and compliance reporting.

The other options are either too broad or not primarily about directory management. While directories help protect confidential information indirectly, their direct function is not “preventing outside agents” by itself; it is enforcing access rules. They also do not manage all application security through one interface, and preventing outsiders from knowing employee personal information is a privacy objective, not the main purpose of directory management.

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Creating a fake website to trick individuals into entering usernames and passwords is a classic example of phishing. Phishing is a social engineering technique where an attacker impersonates a trusted entity to deceive a victim into disclosing sensitive information (credentials, personal data, payment details) or taking an action that benefits the attacker (downloading malware, approving an MFA prompt, wiring funds). A counterfeit login page is commonly used in credential-harvesting campaigns: the victim believes they are authenticating to a legitimate service, but the credentials are captured by the attacker and later used for account takeover. This is not necessarily a breach yet because the question describes an attempt to acquire credentials; a breach would be confirmed unauthorized access or disclosure. While phishing is a kind of threat, “threat” is too broad compared to the specific described behavior. It is also not ransomware, which focuses on encrypting or locking data and demanding payment. Cybersecurity documentation emphasizes layered defenses against phishing: user awareness training, email and web filtering, domain and certificate validation, anti-spoofing controls, strong authentication (especially MFA resistant to prompt fatigue), password managers that reduce credential entry on lookalike domains, and monitoring for suspicious logins. Because the attack relies on deception through a fake website to steal credentials, the best match is phishing.

Digital Rights Management is a set of technical mechanisms used to enforce the permitted uses of digital content after it has been delivered to a user or device. Its primary purpose is tocontrol how copyrighted works are accessed and used, including restricting copying, printing, screen capture, forwarding, offline use, device limits, and redistribution. DRM systems commonly apply encryption to content and then rely on a licensing and policy enforcement component that checks whether a user or device has the right to open the content and under what conditions. These conditions can include time-based access (expiry), geographic limitations, subscription status, concurrent use limits, or restrictions on modification and export.

This aligns precisely with option B because DRM is fundamentally aboutusage control of copyrighted digital works, such as music, movies, e-books, software, and protected media streams. In cybersecurity documentation, DRM is often discussed alongside content protection, anti-piracy measures, and license compliance. It differs from general access control and audit logging: access control determines who may enter a system or open a resource, while auditing records actions for accountability. DRM extends beyond simple access by enforcing what a legitimate user can do with the content once accessed.

Option A describes audit logging, option C describes general authorization and data access control, and option D is closer to broad information rights management goals but is less precise than the standard definition focused on controlling use and distribution of copyrighted works.

A cybersecurity infrastructure business case is typically driven by theRiskfunction because the justification for security investments is grounded in reducing enterprise risk to an acceptable level and aligning with the organization’s risk appetite and regulatory obligations. Risk-focused teams (often working with the CISO and security governance) translate threats, vulnerabilities, and control gaps into business impact terms such as likelihood of adverse events, potential operational disruption, financial exposure, regulatory penalties, and reputational harm. This framing is what a formal business case requires: a clear problem statement, quantified or prioritized risk scenarios, expected risk reduction from proposed controls, and how residual risk compares to tolerance thresholds.

WhileITusually leads implementation and provides architecture, sizing, and operational cost estimates, IT alone does not typically “drive” the business case without the risk rationale that explains why the investment is necessary and what enterprise outcomes it protects.Legalcontributes requirements related to compliance, contracts, and breach handling, but it generally supports rather than owns investment prioritization.Financeevaluates budgeting, funding options, and return-on-investment assumptions, yet it relies on risk inputs to understand why the spend is warranted and what loss exposure is being reduced.

Therefore, the organizational area most responsible for driving a cybersecurity infrastructure business case—by defining the risk problem, articulating risk-based benefits, and enabling executive decision-making—isRisk.

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