Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) Practice Exam

The purpose of a business impact analysis (BIA) is to determine the potential effects of a disruption on business operations. A BIA focuses on identifying critical business functions and the impact that interruptions to those functions could have on the organization. This analysis allows businesses to prioritize their recovery strategies and allocate resources effectively in the event of a disruption, ensuring that essential operations can resume as quickly as possible.

Through performing a BIA, organizations gain insights into the financial and operational consequences of disruptions, which helps in strategic planning for business continuity. This understanding is crucial for decision-makers, as it informs them about the necessary measures to minimize risk and protect vital business processes.

In contrast, the other options focus on elements that, while relevant to risk management and security, do not encapsulate the specific objectives of a BIA. Developing a security control framework pertains to establishing protocols for information security, assessing encryption effectiveness explicitly concerns data protection methods, and evaluating risks quantitatively involves a numerical approach to identifying and measuring risks, none of which directly address the comprehensive assessment of impacts that a BIA provides.