(ISC)2 Certified in Cybersecurity Practice Exam

What term describes a system's capacity to continue operating despite failures?

1. High Availability

2. Service Recovery

3. Resilience

4. Operational Continuity

The correct answer is: Resilience

The term that best describes a system's capacity to continue operating despite failures is resilience. In the context of cybersecurity and information technology, resilience refers to the ability of a system to absorb shocks from various failures or disruptions and continue functioning effectively. This encompasses not only the ability to recover from incidents but also the capacity to maintain operations during adverse conditions. Resilience is a crucial characteristic in system design as it typically involves redundancy, failover protocols, and the ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. This allows organizations to minimize downtime and ensure that critical services remain available, even when unexpected issues arise. While high availability also indicates a system's uptime and operational continuity focuses on maintaining essential functions, resilience encapsulates a broader and more dynamic capability. This includes anticipation of potential failures and the implementation of strategies to manage, mitigate, or recover from them. Thus, resilience should be seen as a holistic approach to maintaining operational effectiveness in the face of challenges.