IPA FE Subject A 2026 Question 15

A question IPA Japan published in 令和８年度基本情報技術者試験科目A 公開問題問15, translated into English. ITPEC is based on the same exams.

When the internal audit department is instructed by management to perform a system audit of the information systems department, which of the following is an appropriate action of the system auditor?

a)Formulates an improvement plan for the improvement proposals described in the audit report, and then executes it.b)Entrusts the system audit concerned to the external contractor that developed and maintains the core system.c)Determines the objectives and scope of the system audit after fully understanding what needs management has.d)Selects persons who belong to the information systems department as audit members.

Explanation

Determine the objectives and scope after understanding management's needs — the audit is commissioned by management, so what it covers starts from what management wants assured.

The system audit is carried out on management's instructions, and its report goes back to management. The auditor therefore first establishes what management needs from it, for example assurance about a risk or advice on improving a system, and sets the audit's objectives and scope to meet that need. The auditor must also be independent of the audited department, in appearance and in fact, and stay objective.

Answer (c)

Why not others:

•(a) — the auditor recommends improvements; drawing up and carrying out the improvement plan is the audited department's job, and an auditor who did it would later be auditing their own work
•(b) — the contractor that develops and maintains the core system is an interested party; giving it the audit destroys the independence the audit relies on
•(d) — members of the information systems department would be auditing their own department, which breaks the auditor's independence

Key rule: A system auditor plans the audit around the needs of whoever commissioned it, recommends but never implements improvements, and stays independent of the audited party.

System Audit · AI-written, may contain errors

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This question comes from the past questions IPA Japan publishes, translated into English by ITPEC Practice. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with IPA or ITPEC. See the original paper (PDF) or Report an issue.