CGRC – Governance, Risk and Compliance Certification Practice Exam
CGRC – Governance, Risk and Compliance Certification Practice Exam
About CGRC – Governance, Risk and Compliance Certification Exam
The Certified in Governance, Risk and Compliance (CGRC) exam is developed for candidates working as information security practitioner. They serve as advocates for security risk management, aiming to secure information system authorization to uphold an organization's mission and operations while adhering to legal and regulatory standards. Candidates develop competency in the given performance areas including -
- Ability to run Information Security Risk Management Program
- Good knowledge of the Information System
- Understanding the selection and approval of Security and Privacy Controls
- Ability to implement of Security and Privacy Controls
- Expertise of Assessment/Audit of Security and Privacy Controls
- Knowledge Authorization/Approval of Information System
- Learn about continuous monitoring
Experience Required
The candidates taking the CGRC – Governance, Risk and Compliance Certification exam are required to have at least 2 years cumulative work experience in one or more of the seven domains of the CGRC CBK.
Note - A candidate lacking the necessary experience for CGRC certification can attain Associate status with ISC2 by passing the CGRC exam. Subsequently, Associates have a three-year window to acquire the requisite two years of relevant experience.
Exam Details
- Exam Duration: 3 hours
- Total Questions: 125 Questions
- Type of Questions: Multiple choice
- Passing Score: 700 out of 1000 points
- Exam language: English
Course Outline
The CGRC – Governance, Risk and Compliance Certification exam covers the following topics
Domain 1: Security and Privacy Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance Program
1.1 Demonstrate understanding of governance, risk, and compliance programs
- Core concepts of governance, risk management, and compliance
- Risk and compliance frameworks based on national and international security and privacy standards (e.g., NIST, Cybersecurity Framework, COBIT, ISO/IEC)
- System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) phases (requirements, design, development, testing, operations, maintenance, disposal)
- Information lifecycle management for all data types processed, stored, or transmitted (retention, destruction, data flows, labeling)
- Key principles: confidentiality, integrity, availability, non-repudiation, and privacy
- Identification of system assets and boundary definitions
- Security and privacy control requirements
- Roles and responsibilities related to compliance activities and supporting frameworks
1.2 Demonstrate knowledge of governance, risk, and compliance program processes
- Establishing a compliance program aligned with the applicable framework
1.3 Demonstrate knowledge of legal, regulatory, and compliance requirements
- Awareness of major compliance frameworks and regulations (e.g., ISO/IEC, FedRAMP, PCI-DSS, Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification)
- Familiarity with national and international privacy and security laws (e.g., FISMA, HIPAA, executive orders, GDPR)
Domain 2: System Scope Definition
2.1 Describe the system
- Documented system name and defined scope
- System purpose and intended functionality
2.2 Identify required security compliance
- Types of information processed, stored, or transmitted
- Security objectives defined for each information type based on relevant compliance standards (e.g., FIPS, ISO/IEC, data protection impact assessments)
- Determination of system risk impact level according to the selected framework
Domain 3: Framework, Security, and Privacy Control Selection and Approval
3.1 Identify and record baseline and inherited controls
3.2 Select and customize controls
- Determining applicable baseline and inherited controls
- Selecting appropriate control enhancements (e.g., overlays, mitigating measures, strengthened practices)
- Identifying specific data handling and marking requirements
- Documenting control selection decisions
- Defining an ongoing compliance strategy (continuous monitoring, vulnerability management)
- Assigning controls and obtaining stakeholder agreement
Domain 4: Security and Privacy Control Implementation
4.1 Develop an implementation approach
- Building an implementation plan including resources, funding, timelines, and effectiveness measures
- Ensuring controls align with organizational expectations and national/international compliance requirements
- Identifying control categories (management, technical, operational, common controls)
- Setting review and training frequency for compliance documentation
4.2 Implement chosen controls
- Applying controls according to compliance requirements
- Deploying compensating or alternative controls when needed
4.3 Document implemented controls
- Recording residual risks and planned actions (e.g., POA&M, risk register)
- Maintaining documentation aligned with organizational scope and risk profile (policies, procedures, plans)
Domain 5: Security and Privacy Control Assessment and Audit
5.1 Prepare for an assessment or audit
- Defining stakeholder roles and responsibilities
- Outlining objectives, scope, resources, schedule, deliverables, and logistics
- Scoping assets, methods, and required effort
- Auditing compliance evidence (prior reports, documentation, policies)
- Finalizing the assessment/audit plan
5.2 Conduct the assessment or audit
- Verifying compliance through interviews, examinations, and testing (penetration testing, vulnerability scans, control testing)
- Validating and confirming evidence
5.3 Develop the initial audit report
- Documenting identified risks
- Summarizing mitigation approaches
- Recording preliminary findings
5.4 Review the initial report and plan risk response
- Assigning risk treatment options (avoid, accept, share, mitigate, transfer)
- Coordinating responses with stakeholders
- Reassessing non-compliant findings after corrective actions
5.5 Produce the final assessment/audit report
- Documenting compliance outcomes (compliant, non-compliant, not applicable)
- Including recommendations where relevant
- Finalizing the report
5.6 Create the risk response plan
- Identifying residual risks and deficiencies
- Prioritizing risks
- Determining required resources (financial, technical, personnel) and remediation timelines
Domain 6: System Compliance
6.1 Review and submit security/privacy documentation
- Compiling, reviewing, and submitting required documentation for compliance decisions (authorizing officials, third-party assessors, agencies)
6.2 Determine system risk posture
- Defining risk acceptance criteria
- Evaluating residual risk levels
- Confirming stakeholder agreement on risk treatment decisions
- Recording residual risks formally
6.3 Document compliance status
- Issuing formal compliance decisions
- Communicating outcomes with stakeholders
Domain 7: Compliance Maintenance
7.1 Perform system change management
- Evaluating change impacts on risk, operations, and compliance requirements
- Documenting and approving changes through authorized boards (e.g., CCB, technical review board)
- Deploying changes with rollback planning across environments (test, dev, production)
- Tracking changes and enforcing compliance
7.2 Conduct ongoing compliance activities
- Establishing review frequency with stakeholders
- Monitoring systems and assets (logical, physical, personnel, change control)
- Performing incident response and contingency operations
- Applying security updates and tracking remediation efforts
- Collecting evidence, testing controls, updating documentation (SLAs, contracts, policies, procedures)
- Conducting and retaining awareness and training activities
- Updating monitoring strategies based on evolving legal, regulatory, supplier, and privacy requirements
7.3 Support audit activities
- Conducting required testing and vulnerability scans
- Performing personnel interviews
- Reviewing and updating compliance documentation
7.4 Decommission systems when necessary
- Reviewing decommissioning requirements with stakeholders
- Removing systems from operation and completing decommissioning
- Retaining and sharing final documentation with stakeholders
What do we offer?
- Full-Length Mock Test with unique questions in each test set
- Practice objective questions with section-wise scores
- In-depth and exhaustive explanation for every question
- Reliable exam reports to evaluate strengths and weaknesses
- Latest Questions with an updated version
- Tips & Tricks to crack the test
- Unlimited access
What are our Practice Exams?
- Practice exams have been designed by professionals and domain experts that simulate real time exam scenario.
- Practice exam questions have been created on the basis of content outlined in the official documentation.
- Each set in the practice exam contains unique questions built with the intent to provide real-time experience to the candidates as well as gain more confidence during exam preparation.
- Practice exams help to self-evaluate against the exam content and work towards building strength to clear the exam.
- You can also create your own practice exam based on your choice and preference
