CompTIA Security+ Question L-44

A security administrator plans on replacing a critical business application in five years. Recently, there was a security flaw discovered in the application that will cause the IT department to manually re-enable user accounts each month at a cost of $2,000. Patching the application today would cost $140,000 and take two months to implement. Which of the following should the security administrator do in regards to the application?

A. Avoid the risk to the user base allowing them to re-enable their own accounts
B. Mitigate the risk by patching the application to increase security and saving money
C. Transfer the risk replacing the application now instead of in five years
D. Accept the risk and continue to enable the accounts each month saving money

Answer: D

Explanation:
This is a risk acceptance measure that has to be implemented since the cost of patching would be too high compared to the cost to keep the system going as is. Risk acceptance is often the choice you must make when the cost of implementing any of the other four choices (i.e. risk deterrence, mitigation, transference or avoidance) exceeds the value of the harm that would occur if the risk came to fruition.