Certified Information Systems Auditor 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The lack of encryption on sensitive electronic work papers primarily poses a risk to the confidentiality of the work papers. When sensitive data is not encrypted, it becomes vulnerable to unauthorized access and potential data breaches. Encryption serves as a protective measure that scrambles the data, making it unreadable to anyone who does not have the decryption key.

Without encryption, confidential information contained within work papers, such as personal data, financial records, or proprietary business information, may be exposed to cyber threats, such as hacking or interception during transmission. This exposure could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, resulting in significant legal, financial, and reputational consequences for an organization.

The other risks mentioned, such as availability, integrity, and usability, are important in their own right, but they do not directly reflect the specific impact of lacking encryption. While availability refers to ensuring that the work papers are accessible when needed and integrity pertains to the accuracy and trustworthiness of the information within, these factors are not primarily affected by encryption alone.