Chapter 1: IT Risk Identification Flashcards
IT Risk Management Good Practices
- COBIT 5
- ISO/IEC 27005: 2011 - IT - Security techniques-Information security risk management
- ISO31000:2009- Risk Management Principles and Guidelines
- NIST Special Publication 800-30 Revision 1: Guide for Conducting Risk Assessments
- NIST Special Publication 800-39: Managing Information Security Risk
Enumerate the ISO/IEC27005 Process Steps
- Context Establishment
- Risk Assessment
- Risk Identification
- Risk Analysis
- Risk Evaluation
- Risk Treatment
- Risk Acceptance
- Risk Communication and Consultation
- Risk Monitoring and Review
The IT Risk Management program should be:
- Comprehensive
- Complete
- Auditable
- Justifiable
- Legal
- Monitored
- Up to date
- Managed
Ways to identify risk
- Historical or evidence-based methods
- Systematic approach (expert opinion)
- Inductive approach (theoretical analysis)
Enumerate the business related IT risk types
- Investment or expense risk
- Access or security risk
- Integrity risk
- Relevance risk
- Availability risk
- Infrastructure risk
- Project ownership risk
Investment or expense risk
Risk that the IT investment fails to provide value for money or is otherwise excessive or wasteful
Access or security risk
Risk that confidential or otherwise sensitive information may be divulged or made available to those without appropriate authority
Integrity risk
Risk that data cannot be relied on because they are unauthorized, incomplete, or inaccurate
Relevance risk
Risk associated with not getting the right information to the right people at the right time to allow the right action to be taken
Availability risk
Risk of loss of service or risk that data are not available when needed
Infrastructure risk
Risk that the enterprise does not have an IT infrastructure and systems that can effectively support the current and future needs of the business in an efficient,cost - effective, and well-controlled fashion
Project ownership risk
Risk of IT projects failing to meet objectives due to lack of accountability and commitment
Challenges in conducting interviews:
- Exaggeration
2. Inaccuracies
Important detail to obtain during the interview
the level of impact that previous incidents have had on the organization including how the incident was handled, results of post incident review and root cause analysis and current status of any noted remediation activities from prior activities
Risk culture
Reflects the balance between weighing the negative, positive, and regulatory elements of risk
Risk culture elements
- Behavior toward taking risk
- Behavior toward policy compliance
- Behavior toward negative outcomes
Symptoms of inadequate or problematic risk culture
- Misalignment between real risk appetite and translation into policies
- Existence of a blame culture
Consequences of poor communication on risk:
- A false sense of confidence at all levels of the enterprise
- Lack of direction or strategic planning
- Unbalanced communication to the external world on risk
- The perception that the enterprise is trying to cover up known risk from stakeholders
IT Risk is…
the IT-enabled business risk that stems from the use of IT
Senior management support
An important part of the risk management process
Risk management depends on
business goals and objectives
What is a critical component of risk management?
History
Merger or acquisition results in
emergence of new risks that creates uncertainty and stress. This can further result in poor judgment or inappropriate actions by personnel
What influences the effectiveness of the risk management effort?
The positioning of risk management function within the organizational structure.
In a large organization, the organization of the risk management group should follow…
the same model and the organization of the business continuity management team
RACI
Responsible
Accountable
Consulted
Infromed
4 Main Types of Roles involved in the risk management process:
- Individuals responsible for managing risk
- Individuals accountable for the risk management effort
- Individuals who provide support and assistance to the risk management effort (consulted)
- Individuals who evaluate or monitor the effectiveness of the risk management effort
How does the RACI model help?
It can assist in outlining the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders. The purpose of the RACI model is to clearly show the relationships between the various stakeholders, the interaction between the stakeholders and the roles that each stakeholder plays in the successful completion of the risk management effort.
What is risk culture?
Set of shared values and beliefs that govern attitudes toward risk taking, care and integrity, and determines how openly risk and losses are reported and discussed.
Ethics are related to…
An individual’s perception of right and wrong and are not necessarily linked to the law
Ethics also applies to…
How people believe they have been treated
Failure to comply with regulations may result in…
Financial penalties or loss of a license to operate as well as damage to the reputation of the organization
To ensure compliance, an organization must…
Have the ability to monitor and measure controls in use
In cases where there is noncompliance,
A justification for the reasons of noncompliance should be provided
When risk is considered on a system-by-system or project-by-project basis,
The result is a spotty risk solution that has many individually good efforts but no consistency or interoperability among the risk solutions that are implemented
The risk practitioner must be sensitive to the following before recommending a risk management approach or framework
- local departmental cultures
- priorities
- regulations
- restraints
- goals
A critical part of establishing the risk management process is
The development and approval of a risk management policy
What is information security?
Protecting of information and information systems (including technology) from risk events
What is likelihood?
Likelihood = Probability. The measure of frequency of which an event may occur and is used to calculate the level of risk facing an organization based on the number of risk events that may occur within a time period and is often measured on an annual basis
What are the factors that can affect likelihood?
- volatility
- velocity
- proximity
- interdependency
- motivation
- skill
- visibility
What is the relation of volatility to risk?
Volatility=how much the situation varies. Varies greatly, harder to predict likelihood. Risk will be higher priority because of higher unpredictability (dynamic range)
What is risk velocity?
Speed of onset. A measure of how much prior warning and preparation time an organization may have between the event’s occurrence and impact. Can be split into speed of reaction and speed of recovery.
What is proximity?
The time from the even occurring and the impact on the organization
What is interdependency?
Consideration of risk in various combinations. Materialization of two or more risks and their impact on the organization.
What is the relation of motivation to risk?
More motivated attacker = higher risk
What is the relation of skill to risk?
More skillful attacker = higher risk
What is visibility?
How well known a vulnerability is
What is risk impact?
The calculation of the amount of loss or damage that an organization may incur due to a risk event
How is loss measured?
- quantitative
- semi quantitative
- qualitative
Risk management should be based on
Calculated actions and justified controls, not on emotion and perception
One method of calculating risk is evaluating the impact of the event on…
The confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA) of information or information systems
Risk associated with information system is primarily about
Business risk and the impact that the failure or compromise of a system or information would have on the overall business
The factors that affect the impact of an event may be measured in two ways:
- The impact due a compromise or loss of information
2. The impact due to the loss or compromise of an information system
What will evaluate the impact of a breach according to a range of levels?
Qualitative risk assessment approach
What is confidentiality?
The requirement to maintain the secrecy and privacy of data
What is a breach of confidentiality?
Improper disclosure of information to an unauthorized party
What are some factors that could lead to disclosure of data?
- improperly managed access controls
- social engineering
- aggregation of data
What does need to know mean?
It means that individuals are given access only to information that is needed in order for them to perform their job functions
What is least privilege?
Restriction of data access of an individual or process to only the minimum level of access needed to perform their functions
What is integrity?
The guarding against improper information modification, exclusion, or destruction and includes ensuring information nonrepudiation and authenticity