CISSP Practice Question: A multinational technology company is conducting an enterprise-wide asset inventory. The CISO…

Correct Answer: D. Desktop workstations and servers

Explanation (CISSP Manager Logic):

Managers must distinguish between physical and non-physical assets to apply appropriate security controls and financial tracking. Desktop workstations and servers are tangible assets because they possess physical substance, require environmental protections, and follow hardware lifecycle management.

By identifying tangible assets, you:

• Enable accurate physical inventory and financial depreciation tracking.
• Determine requirements for physical access controls and site security.
• Facilitate hardware maintenance and secure disposal planning.

While the other options are relevant, they fall short because:

• A: Trade secrets are intellectual property, which are intangible assets requiring logical and legal protections.
• B: Licenses and patents are legal rights and contractual assets that lack physical form.
• C: Personnel records are information assets where the value lies in the data rather than the medium.

Think like a manager:

Effective asset management requires categorizing assets by their nature to ensure the correct balance of physical, technical, and administrative safeguards is applied across the enterprise.