CIA Question of the Day: Business continuity planning

Quiz Yazan Ibrahim
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CIA exam practice question — CIA Question of the Day: Business continuity planning

CIA exam practice question: daily practice for the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) exam — domain: Part 3: Business Knowledge for Internal Auditing.

Question

During the annual business continuity exercise, senior management asks the internal audit team to lead and coordinate the test to ensure it runs smoothly. As the chief audit executive, which approach best aligns with professional internal auditing standards and preserves objectivity?

  • A. Serve as an independent observer during the exercise and later provide objective assurance on the effectiveness of the plan.
  • B. Lead and coordinate the exercise to ensure efficiency, then report findings to senior management.
  • C. Develop and update the organization's continuity procedures before the test and evaluate test outcomes afterward.
  • D. Perform recovery tasks during the exercise to validate staff readiness, then include those activities in the audit report.
Show the answer and explanation

Correct answer: A. Serve as an independent observer during the exercise and later provide objective assurance on the effectiveness of the plan.

The best approach is to act as an independent observer and subsequently provide assurance, because auditors must avoid taking on management responsibilities that would impair objectivity. Leading, coordinating, developing procedures, or performing recovery tasks would involve management functions or operational execution and create a self-review or management-role conflict. Option 1 preserves independence while allowing auditors to assess design and effectiveness. Option 2 improperly assigns management duties to auditors. Option 3 combines creation and evaluation of the same work, creating a self-review threat. Option 4 has auditors executing operational tasks, which compromises their ability to provide unbiased assurance.

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