You have been hired by a large public university as the lead of IT security. The university has adopted Microsoft technologies for most of the IT applications. The Chief Information Officer has asked you to create a process for IT security risk assessment reviews for all IT purchases. Respond to the following questions:
> What are some key activities that managers need to be mindful of when creating a risk assessment policy?
> How would you start a ground up risk assessment process? Who should be involved?
> What will you need to review all applications purchased for IT?
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1. When creating a risk assessment policy, managers need to be mindful of the following key activities:
- Identifying the specific objectives and goals of the risk assessment process.
- Determining the scope and boundaries of the risk assessment, including the systems and processes to be assessed.
- Defining the risk assessment methodology, which should include the criteria for assessing and prioritizing risks.
- Ensuring that the risk assessment process is performed by skilled and knowledgeable individuals who are trained in security risk assessment techniques.
- Establishing a clear communication plan to ensure that relevant stakeholders are kept informed throughout the process.
- Documenting all the findings, recommendations, and actions resulting from the risk assessment process.
- Periodically reviewing and updating the risk assessment policy to account for changes in technology, threats, or the organization's objectives.
2. To start a ground-up risk assessment process, the following steps can be taken:
- Establish a cross-functional team consisting of representatives from IT, security, procurement, legal, and other relevant departments. This team will be responsible for designing and implementing the risk assessment process.
- Define the scope of the risk assessment, including the types of IT purchases to be reviewed.
- Identify and analyze potential risks associated with IT purchases, considering factors such as data breaches, system vulnerabilities, compliance, and financial impacts.
- Develop a risk assessment framework, including assessment criteria and risk rating scales.
- Create a process for assessing and documenting risks, involving all relevant stakeholders.
- Assign roles and responsibilities to team members, ensuring clear accountability for risk assessment activities.
- Implement the risk assessment process by reviewing IT purchase requests against the established criteria.
- Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the risk assessment process and make improvements as necessary.
3. To review all applications purchased for IT, the following aspects should be considered:
- Conduct a thorough assessment of the applications' security features, such as authentication mechanisms, access controls, encryption, and data protection capabilities.
- Review the applications' compliance with relevant industry standards and regulations, such as ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA, etc.
- Evaluate the applications' vulnerability management processes, including patch management, security updates, and response to security incidents.
- Analyze the applications' integration capabilities, both internally with existing systems and externally with third-party services or vendors.
- Assess the applications' overall reliability, performance, and availability, considering factors like uptime, scalability, and disaster recovery capabilities.
- Review the applications' vendor reputation and track record, including their security practices, incident response history, and commitment to ongoing security improvements.
- Verify that the applications align with the university's IT security policies, guidelines, and best practices.
- Engage with relevant stakeholders, such as IT managers, business owners, and end-users, to gather their feedback and experiences with the applications.
- Consider the applications' total cost of ownership, including licensing, maintenance, upgrades, and potential future investments.
By conducting a comprehensive review of these aspects, the university can ensure that all applications purchased for IT meet the required security standards and align with the university's risk appetite.
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