Incident Response and Business Continuity Report

Assignment Brief

Case Study on Incident Response & Business Continuity

THE ASSIGNMENT TASK: This is an individual assessment. Case Study ISMC Ltd is involved in designing hundreds of small electronic products. These carry a minimal intellectual property value as there are hundreds of other companies in this field designing similar products. Over the last 3 years, the company has been exploring the South American markets and is about to bid for a highly ambitious contract which will have a huge impact on the organisation.

The contract is for the Colombian government to design different cutting edge electronic products for the Colombian secret services. Up to now there has been little or no consideration of Information Security, however this will need to change significantly. Amongst the various presentations and reports that ISMC Ltd will have to make in the bidding process, there is a specific requirement by the contract awarding body that the bidders demonstrate a highly effective and sound approach towards information security. This will be demonstrated by ISMC Ltd through a report to the contract awarding body. You have been assigned by your company to review the current situation at the company, respond and prepare the initial Incident Response and Business Continuity report. You had a meeting with the IT director who provided you with the following information in relation to the Incident Response and Business Continuity situation in ISMC Ltd.

She informed you there was an attempt a year ago to draft an Incident Response and Business Continuity policy, but it was difficult to identify a member of staff or department that should be responsible for developing and maintaining it. In fact, the IT department suggested the HR department is responsible for developing the policy, while the HR department supported they don’t have the technical background to write such a policy. Therefore, the policy was never implemented. However, she reassured you for the following items:

• All corporate servers are backed up at least once a month onto external portable hard drive systems.
• Requirements are being set for data storage to be outsourced on the cloud abroad as a more efficient and cost-effective way to backup data.
• It is the responsibility of the employees to ensure that they backup data regularly.
• Staff training sessions were used to inform employees of the requirement to backup data and the consequences of losing data

Based on the current practice data can be backed up in

• Staff local machine hard disks
• External drives
• Company’s central storage system

Task

You are required to produce a report which identifies the technical problems relating to the current situation, which also highlights the best practise in relation to Incident Response and Business Continuity. You should identify 3 priority security risks in relation to the current practise; discuss the threat by providing an adequate background to each of the risks and then a solution. The background should be your interpretation of the problem. You should also research on Incident Response and Business Continuity (technical, practise, policies, procedures, standards) for you to be able to expand on the topic and recommend the good practise for ISMC Ltd. Your report should be professionally formatted and approximately 1500 words.

MODULE LEARNING OUTCOMES ASSESSED BY THIS ASSIGNMENT:

1. A range of current security management techniques and of how the principles of information risk assessment, incident management and information assurance methods are embodied therein;
2. Essential facts, concepts and principles of Security controls and IT security development and management;
3. National and international information security standards, government policies, and compliance laws to data protection.
4. Detailed knowledge and understanding of information risk assessment and security management;
5. Confidence and flexibility in security standards, managing security incidents and related IT security problems in systems development and implementation;
6. Methods of security controls, disaster recovery and business continuity management and to exercise critical evaluation of information sources

Sample Answer

Incident Response and Business Continuity Report for ISMC Ltd

Introduction

ISMC Ltd is a company that designs many small electronic products. Up to now, the organisation has not placed much importance on information security. However, as the company is preparing to bid for a major contract with the Colombian government, the ability to show a strong approach to information security, incident response, and business continuity has become essential. This report reviews ISMC Ltd’s current practices, identifies weaknesses, and highlights best practices in incident response and business continuity. It also considers three priority risks that the company currently faces and offers solutions based on recognised international standards and good practices.

Current Situation at ISMC Ltd

The IT director has confirmed that the company has some limited measures in place. Corporate servers are backed up once a month using external portable drives, and there are plans to use cloud storage abroad for more efficient and cost-effective data management. Employees are expected to back up their data themselves, either on their local machine hard disks, external drives, or the company’s central storage system. Staff have been trained to understand the importance of backing up data and the consequences of losing it.

Despite these efforts, ISMC Ltd does not currently have an official Incident Response or Business Continuity policy. Previous attempts failed because there was no clear responsibility between IT and HR departments. This lack of ownership and accountability leaves the company highly vulnerable, especially when aiming for a contract with sensitive government security services.

Technical Problems in Current Practice

The current situation presents several technical and organisational problems:

1. Irregular and insufficient backups – Monthly server backups and optional employee backups are inadequate for a company dealing with sensitive projects. Data loss between backup cycles can be severe. Furthermore, depending on staff responsibility for backups is unreliable and inconsistent.

2. Lack of policy and governance – There is no clear Incident Response and Business Continuity policy, which means that in the event of a security breach or system failure, staff would not know what steps to follow. This increases recovery time and raises the risk of further damage.

3. Unclear accountability – The debate between IT and HR about who should manage the policy indicates a cultural and governance issue. Security and continuity require collaboration across departments, but leadership responsibility must be clear.

4. Insecure backup methods – External portable hard drives, while simple, pose risks of theft, damage, or corruption. Storing data abroad in the cloud also introduces issues around compliance with international data protection laws, such as GDPR.

These weaknesses show that ISMC Ltd is not yet prepared for the responsibilities of a high-security contract.

Continued...