Thus, risk analysis assesses the likelihood that a security incident will happen, by analyzing and assessing the factors that are related to its occurrence, namely the threats and the vulnerabilities. The focus on protection of sensitive or critical data, such as intellectual property and personal data, is a result of growing cyber risks and increasingly stringent data security regulations. Definitely not the first day Jane was expecting. We can break data security risks into two main categories: The following security solutions can be handy in minimizing data security risks: Data discovery and classification — Data discovery technology scans data repositories and reports on the findings so you can avoid storing sensitive data in unsecured location. This is due to the fact that the final report and related derivative information (e.g. It supports the general concepts specified in ISO/IEC 27001 and is designed to assist the satisfactory implementation of information security based on a risk management approach. Focusing on information security she obtained her CISSP designation and built up the security program at her company by aligning with well-known information security frameworks. Data security refers to protective digital privacy measures that are applied to prevent unauthorized access to computers, databases and websites. The nature and extent as well as the likelihood of a threat successfully exploiting the three former classes of vulnerabilities can be estimated based on information on past incidents, on new developments and trends, and on experience. She received a battlefield promotion to the role of information security officer at the financial organization she worked for (ACME Financials) after a data breach occurred. Thus, impact valuation is not performed separately but is rather embedded within the asset valuation process. The international guidance standard for auditing an … Product Evangelist at Netwrix Corporation, writer, and presenter. If a three-value scale is used, the value low can be interpreted to mean that the vulnerability is hard to exploit and the protection in place is good. Dynamic data masking (DDM) — This technology supports real-time masking of data in order to limit sensitive data exposure to non-privileged users while not changing the original data. The value medium can be interpreted to mean that it is possible that the threat will occur, there have been incidents in the past or statistics or other information that indicate that this or similar threats have occurred sometime before, or there is an indication that there might be some reasons for an attacker to carry out such action. Sokratis K. Katsikas, in Computer and Information Security Handbook (Second Edition), 2013, Information security risk “is measured in terms of a combination of the likelihood of an event and its consequence.”8 Because we are interested in events related to information security, we define an information security event as “an identified occurrence of a system, service or network state indicating a possible breach of information security policy or failure of safeguards, or a previously unknown situation that may be security relevant.”9 Additionally, an information security incident is “indicated by a single or a series of unwanted information security events that have a significant probability of compromising business operations and threatening information security.”10 These definitions actually invert the investment assessment model, where an investment is considered worth making when its cost is less than the product of the expected profit times the likelihood of the profit occurring. No organization can provide perfect information security that fully assures the protection of information and information systems, so there is always some chance of loss or harm due to the occurrence of adverse events. Information Security Risk Management Must Occur At and Between All Levels of the Organization to Enable Pervasive Risk Awareness and to Help Ensure Consistent Risk-Based Decision Making Throughout the Organization [6]. Risk treatment pertains to controlling the risk so that it remains within acceptable levels. The need to prioritize information security comes from the risks that businesses are facing. 5.5.1 Overview. Senior leaders that recognize the importance of managing information security risk and establish appropriate governance structures for managing such risk. Because security is often one of several competing alternatives for capital investment, the existence of a cost–benefit analysis that would offer proof that security will produce benefits that equal or exceed its cost is of great interest to the management of the organization. This includes identifying a strong executive sponsor or sponsors, regular follow-ups with all involved groups, building strong relationships with system owners and contacts, proper asset scoping, leveraging automated data collection mechanisms, identifying key people with strong organizational knowledge, and use of a standard control framework. A list of some of these is given in Section 5.1. We emphasize the word appropriateness in your communications since providing too much or too little information may impair your ability to effectively interact with the individuals or groups that you will rely on for data collection. Effective execution of risk management processes across organization, mission and business, and information systems tiers. The cornerstone of an effective information security risk assessment is data. With all of that in mind, instead of going up and enumerating risks from out of the air, Jane decided to start with a conciliatory note: “Each one of us here would most likely have their own ideas of what the “primary” risks are. Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. or its licensors or contributors. An ISMS is a documented system that describes the information assets to be protected, the Forensic Laboratory’s approach to risk management, the control objectives and controls, and the degree of assurance required. These considerations should be reflected in the asset values. A better, more encompassing definition is the potential loss or harm related to technical infrastructure, use of technology or reputation of an organization. Throughout this book we will keep coming back to Jane’s situation and see how risk assessments play a role in her journey to keep her new company, and frankly her new job, safe! Of even more interest to management is an analysis of the investment opportunity costs: that is, its comparison with other capital investment options.10 However, expressing risk in monetary terms is not always possible or desirable, because harm to some kinds of assets (human life) cannot (and should not) be assessed in monetary terms. Sokratis K. Katsikas, in Computer and Information Security Handbook (Third Edition), 2013, Information security risk “is measured in terms of a combination of the likelihood of an event and its consequence.” Because we are interested in events related to information security, we define an information security event as “an identified occurrence of a system, service or network state indicating a possible breach of information security policy or failure of safeguards, or a previously unknown situation that may be security relevant.”8 In addition, an information security incident is “indicated by a single or a series of unwanted information security events that have a significant probability of compromising business operations and threatening information security.” These definitions actually invert the investment assessment model, in which an investment is considered worth making when its cost is less than the product of the expected profit times the likelihood of the profit occurring. In the world of risk management, risk is commonly defined as threat times vulnerability times consequence. What things to do you have in place to protect from hackers?”, Applications Manager: “Hmmm. To measure risk, we adopt the fundamental principles and the scientific background of statistics and probability theory, particularly of the area known as Bayesian statistics, after the mathematician Thomas Bayes (1702–1761), who formalized the namesake theorem. Usually, a three-value scale (low, medium, and high) or a five-value scale (negligible, low, medium, high, and very high) is used.11. A threat is “any circumstance or event with the potential to adversely impact organizational operations (including mission, functions, image, or reputation), organizational assets, individuals, other organizations, or the Nation through an information system via unauthorized access, destruction, disclosure, modification of information, and/or denial of service.” NIST guidance distinguishes between threat sources—causal agents with the capability to exploit a vulnerability to cause harm—and threat events: situations or circumstances with adverse impact caused by threat sources [15]. But she wasn’t going to let this rattle her. A botnet is a collection of Internet-connected devices, including PCs, mobile devices, … Maintaining compliance with regulations is essential to an organization’s reputation and financial well-being. Harm, in turn, is a function of the value of the assets to the organization. This is one of the main things that I plan to start with, a formal risk assessment process for information security. Data risk is the potential for a loss related to your data. Data security software of this type help detect multiple types of insider threats, bad actors and hackers, as well as advanced threats that include malware and ransomware. In qualitative or semi-quantitative risk analysis approaches such as the method prescribed in Special Publication 800-30, likelihood determinations focus less on statistical probability and more often reflect relative characterizations of factors such as a threat source’s intent and capability and the visibility or attractiveness of the organization as a target [6]. Despite the acknowledged importance of enterprise risk management, NIST explicitly limits the intended use of Special Publication 800-39 to “the management of information security-related risk derived from or associated with the operation and use of information systems or the environments in which those systems operate” [5]. Subsequently, it combines this likelihood with the impact resulting from the incident occurring to calculate the system risk. Threats can be classified as deliberate or accidental. Without data to support an assessment there is very little value to the risk assessment and the assessment you perform can be construed as mere guesswork. A model for information security risk specifies the dependence of a security parameter on one or more risk factors. Many organizations do this with the help of an information security management system (ISMS). Information such as social security number, tax identification number, date of birth, driver’s license number, passport details, medical history, etc. Since all of the subsequent phases of the assessment will rely on the information gathered in this phase, not properly planning the data collection phase will have significant repercussions. Identify threats and their level. The value high can be interpreted to mean that it is easy to exploit the vulnerability and there is little or no protection in place.18. Risk management is a subjective process, and many of the elements used in risk determination activities are susceptible to different interpretations. As we mentioned at the beginning of this chapter each field or discipline has its own definition of risk because each field has their own perception of what risk is. Sounds familiar? Data security is an essential aspect of IT for organizations of every size and type. Note that with all reports; you need to be cognizant of who the reader may be. For example, for audit, you would probably be concerned about the possibility of a lack of compliance to HIPAA. Interest in DDM is especially high in big data projects. I think we’ll want to look more into that. Quantitative risk analysis sometimes uses formal statistical methods, patterns of historical observations, or predictive models to measure the probability of occurrence for a given event and determine its likelihood. Impact is considered as having either an immediate (operational) effect or a future (business) effect that includes financial and market consequences. The legal and business requirements are also taken into account, as are the impacts to the asset itself and to the related business interests resulting from a loss of one or more of the information security attributes (confidentiality, integrity, availability). The value medium can be interpreted to mean that the vulnerability might be exploited but some protection is in place. She did run into some snags, one of the attendees was adamant that the risk assessment could be done in a day and was under the impression that the meeting they were having was the risk assessment, not understanding why the process would actually take some time and require meetings with multiple groups. 2. All of these are valid risks and all could produce a negative impact to our organization. Data risk is the potential for business loss due to: 1. It is also influenced by factors attributed to other categories of risk, including strategic, budgetary, program management, investment, political, legal, reputation, supply chain, and compliance risk. The definition of data security is broad. Risk is an interesting subject, linked to psychology, sociology and mathematics. Security of data involves a wide and complex set of protective measures against both accidental and intentional unauthorized access, use and modification that can lead to data corruption or loss. Information security risk is the potential for unauthorized use, disruption, modification or destruction of information. But I guess hackers might be able to get into our hospital website?”, Jane: “That’s is worth looking into. The main output for this phase is a data container with relevant information about the organization, environment, systems, people, and controls that will be used in the various analyses throughout the project. The existence of these and other factors will be good predicators of how successful your data collection phase will be. She also knew that with this diverse group of people, they would probably come to the meeting with their own preset ideas on the definition of risk in the context of their specific department or field. ISO 27001 requires the organisation to produce a set of reports, based on the risk assessment, for audit and certification purposes. Risk can be reduced by applying security measures; it can be shared, by outsourcing or by insuring; it can be avoided; or it can be accepted, in the sense that the organization accepts the likely impact of a security incident. Harm, in turn, is a function of the value of the assets to the organization. This is why asset valuation (particularly of intangible assets) is usually done through impact assessment. © 2020 Netwrix Corporation. Besides the website is just html and I don’t think they’ll be able to use anything there.”, Jane: “But they can deface the website right?”, Applications Manager: “Right. In our case, risk R is defined as the product of likelihood L of a security incident occurring times impact I that will be incurred to the organization owing to the incident: that is, R = L × I.9. The likelihood of a security incident occurring is a function of the likelihood that a threat appears and of the likelihood that the threat can successfully exploit the relevant system vulnerabilities. Apart from imposing fines, authorities can issue warnings and reprimands, and — in extreme cases — ban the organization from processing personal data. Information security risk management is the systematic application of management policies, procedures, and practices to the task of establishing the context, identifying, analyzing, evaluating, treating, monitoring, and communicating information security risks. NIST Defines an Integrated, Iterative Four-Step Risk Management Process That Establishes Organizational, Mission and Business, and Information System-Level Roles and Responsibilities, Activities, and Communication Flows [11]. One of the primary tasks that the CIO has for Jane is to build up the information security program. Legislation addressing federal information resources management consistently directs government agencies to follow risk-based decision-making practices when investing in, operating, and securing their information systems, obligating agencies to establish risk management as part of their IT governance [3]. Applying information security controls in the risk assessment Compiling risk reports based on the risk assessment. Figure 1.5 shows how to apply them to our risk components illustration. “Information risk”, in contrast, is self-evident but, if the committee feels the desperate need for an explicit definition, I suggest something as simple as “risk relating to or involving information” or even “risk pertaining to information”, where both risk and information are adequately defined in dictionaries (whereas the ISO27k definition of risk is unhelpful). It’s good to know the basics since if push comes to shove you can fall back onto basics to guide a productive conversation about risk. These considerations should be reflected in the asset values. As Jane waits for a response from the group she is met with blank stares! It’s important because government has a duty to protect service users’ data. In other words, organizations need to: Identify Security risks, including types of computer security risks. Many of the tools that we’ve developed to make this process easier for us are available as a companion for this publication at http://booksite.syngress.com/9781597497350. Figure 13.1. Basically, just ease into her new job and allow hereself to adjust and get a feel for the organization. Whether your objective is to forecast budget items, identify areas of operational or program improvement, or meet regulatory requirements we believe this publication will provide you with the tools to execute an effective assessment and more importantly, adapt a process that will work for you. This is why asset valuation (particularly of intangible assets) is usually done through impact assessment. Financial losses, legal issues, reputational damage and disruption of operations are among the most devastative consequences of a data breach for an enterprise. The use of standardized rating scales for the severity of threats and vulnerabilities, likelihood of occurrence, impact levels, and risk offers enormous value to organizations seeking consistent application of risk management practices, but the subjective nature of the definitions corresponding to numeric rating scores can produce a false sense of consistency. The consequences of the occurrence of a security incident are a function of the likely impact the incident will have on the organization as a result of the harm that the organization assets will sustain. The value high can be interpreted to mean that it is easy to exploit the vulnerability and there is little or no protection in place. But we do have a firewall. 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