Managing Risk in Information Systems
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JONES & BARTLETT LEARNING INFORMATION SYSTEMS SECURITY & ASSURANCE SERIES
LABORATORY MANUAL TO ACCOMPANY
VERSION 2.0
INSTRUCTOR VERSION
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49
Introduction
Identifying and assessing risks is challenging, but treating them is another matter entirely.
Treating risks means making changes based on a risk assessment and probably a few hard
decisions. When treating even the most straightforward of risks, practice due diligence by
documenting what steps you are taking to mitigate the risk. If you don’t document the change
and the reasoning behind it, it’s possible that your organization could reverse the mitigation and
reintroduce the risk based on the notion of “but that’s how we always did it before.”
After you’ve addressed a risk, appoint someone to make certain that the risk treatment is being
regularly applied. If a security incident arises even with the change in place, having a single
person in charge will ensure that any corrective action aligns with the risk-mitigation plan.
You’re not appointing someone so you can blame that person if things go wrong; you are instead
investing that individual with the autonomy to manage the incident effectively. The purpose of a
risk-mitigation plan is to define and document procedures and processes to establish a baseline
for ongoing mitigation of risks in the seven domains of an IT infrastructure.
In this lab, you will identify the scope for an IT risk-mitigation plan, you will align the plan’s
major parts with the seven domains of an IT infrastructure, you will define the risk-mitigation
steps, you will define procedures and processes needed to maintain a security baseline for
ongoing mitigation, and you will create an outline for an IT risk-mitigation plan.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this lab, you will be able to:
Identify the scope for an IT risk-mitigation plan focusing on the seven domains of a typical
IT infrastructure.
Align the major parts of an IT risk-mitigation plan in each of the seven domains of a typical
IT infrastructure.
Define the tactical risk-mitigation steps needed to remediate the identified risks, threats, and
vulnerabilities commonly found in the seven domains of a typical IT infrastructure.
Define procedures and processes needed to maintain a security baseline definition for
ongoing risk mitigation in the seven domains of a typical IT infrastructure.
Create an outline for an IT risk-mitigation plan encompassing the seven domains of a typical
IT infrastructure.
Lab #6 Developing a Risk-Mitigation Plan Outline for an IT Infrastructure
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Copyright © 2015 by Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC, an Ascend Learning Company. All rights reserved.
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Hands-On Steps
Note: This is a paper-based lab. To successfully complete the deliverables for this lab, you will need access to Microsoft® Word or another compatible word processor. For some labs, you may also need access to a graphics line drawing application, such as Visio or PowerPoint. Refer to the Preface of this manual for information on creating the lab deliverable files.
3. Review the seven domains of a typical IT infrastructure (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 Seven domains of a typical IT infrastructure
4. Using the following table, review the results of your assessments in the Performing a Qualitative Risk Assessment for an IT Infrastructure lab in this lab manual. In addition,
review the results of how you categorized and prioritized the risks for the IT infrastructure in that lab:
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52 | LAB #6 Developing a Risk-Mitigation Plan Outline for an IT Infrastructure
Risks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities Primary Domain Impacted
Risk Impact/ Factor
Unauthorized access from public Internet
User destroys data in application and deletes all files
Hacker penetrates your IT infrastructure and gains access to your internal network
Intraoffice employee romance gone bad
Fire destroys primary data center
Service provider service level agreement (SLA) is not achieved
Workstation operating system (OS) has a known software vulnerability
Unauthorized access to organization- owned workstations
Loss of production data
Denial of service attack on organization Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and e-mail server
Remote communications from home office
Local Area Network (LAN) server OS has a known software vulnerability
User downloads and clicks on an unknown e-mail attachment
Workstation browser has a software vulnerability
Mobile employee needs secure browser access to sales-order entry system
Service provider has a major network outage
Weak ingress/egress traffic-filtering degrades performance
User inserts CDs and USB hard drives with personal photos, music, and videos on organization-owned computers
Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunneling between remote computer and ingress/egress router is needed
Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access points are needed for LAN connectivity within a warehouse
Need to prevent eavesdropping on WLAN due to customer privacy data access
Denial of service (DoS)/distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack from the Wide Area Network (WAN)/Internet
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Copyright © 2015 by Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC, an Ascend Learning Company. All rights reserved.
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5. Organize the qualitative risk assessment data according to the following:
Review the executive summary from the Performing a Qualitative Risk Assessment for an IT Infrastructure lab in this lab manual.
Organize all of the critical “1” risks, threats, and vulnerabilities identified throughout the seven domains of a typical IT infrastructure.
Fighting Fear In the real world, some managers will accept risk rather than make changes to mitigate it. If they offer up only vague reasons for sticking with the status quo, then their decision is likely based on fear of change. Don’t let their fear stop you from treating the risk.
Here are two tips to fight a manager’s fear:
Prepare for your manager’s “What if?” questions. Example of a manager’s question: “What if we apply the firewall but it also stops network traffic we want, such as from our applications?” Your answer: “We’ve tested nearly all applications with the chosen firewall. And we’re prepared to minimize unforeseen outages.”
Know, in concrete terms, what will happen if the risk is not treated. Example of a manager’s question: “What is supposed to happen that hasn’t happened already?” Your answer will come from the risk assessment you’ve performed, which will calculate the risk’s likelihood and consequences.
6. On your local computer, open a new Internet browser window.
7. In the address box of your Internet browser, type the URL http://www.mitre.org/publications/systems-engineering-guide/acquisition-systems- engineering/risk-management/risk-impact-assessment-and-prioritization and press Enter to open the Web site.
8. Read the article titled “Risk Impact Assessment and Prioritization.”
9. Describe the purpose of prioritizing the risks prior to creating a risk-mitigation plan.
10. Describe the elements of an IT risk-mitigation plan outline by covering the following major topics:
Executive summary
Prioritization of identified risks, threats, and vulnerabilities organized into the seven
domains
Critical “1” risks, threats, and vulnerabilities identified throughout the IT
infrastructure
Short-term remediation steps for critical “1” risks, threats, and vulnerabilities
Long-term remediation steps for major “2” and minor “3” risks, threats, and
vulnerabilities
Ongoing IT risk-mitigation steps for the seven domains of a typical IT infrastructure
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54 | LAB #6 Developing a Risk-Mitigation Plan Outline for an IT Infrastructure
Cost magnitude estimates for work effort and security solutions
Implementation plans for remediation
11. Create a detailed IT risk-mitigation plan outline by inserting appropriate subtopics and sub-bullets.
Note: This completes the lab. Close the Web browser, if you have not already done so.
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