How Does a BCP Mitigate an Organization’s Risk?
by Darril Gibson,
Andy Igonor
Managing Risk in Information Systems, 3rd Edition
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Brief Contents
- Contents
- Dedication
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- About the Authors
- CHAPTER 1 Risk Management Fundamentals
- CHAPTER 2 Managing Risk: Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Exploits
- CHAPTER 3 Understanding and Maintaining Compliance
- U.S. Compliance Laws
- Regulations Related to Compliance
- Organizational Policies for Compliance
- Standards and Guidelines for Compliance
- Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Generally Accepted Information Security Principles
- Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology
- International Organization for Standardization
- International Electrotechnical Commission
- Information Technology Infrastructure Library
- Capability Maturity Model Integration
- General Data Protection Regulation
- Department of Defense Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process
- CHAPTER SUMMARY
- KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
- CHAPTER 3 ASSESSMENT
- CHAPTER 4 Developing a Risk Management Plan
- Objectives of a Risk Management Plan
- Scope of a Risk Management Plan
- Assigning Responsibilities
- Describing Procedures and Schedules for Accomplishment
- Reporting Requirements
- Plan of Action and Milestones
- Charting the Progress of a Risk Management Plan
- Steps of the NIST Risk Management Framework
- CHAPTER SUMMARY
- KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
- CHAPTER 4 ASSESSMENT
- CHAPTER 5 Defining Risk Assessment Approaches
- CHAPTER 6 Performing a Risk Assessment
- Selecting a Risk Assessment Methodology
- Identifying the Management Structure
- Identifying Assets and Activities Within Risk Assessment Boundaries
- Identifying and Evaluating Relevant Threats
- Identifying and Evaluating Relevant Vulnerabilities
- Identifying and Evaluating Controls
- Selecting a Methodology Based on Assessment Needs
- Developing Mitigating Recommendations
- Presenting Risk Assessment Results
- Best Practices for Performing Risk Assessments
- CHAPTER SUMMARY
- KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
- CHAPTER 6 ASSESSMENT
- CHAPTER 7 Identifying Assets and Activities to Be Protected
- System Access and Availability
- System Functions: Manual and Automated
- Hardware Assets
- Software Assets
- Personnel Assets
- Data and Information Assets
- Asset and Inventory Management Within the Seven Domains of a Typical IT Infrastructure
- Identifying Facilities and Supplies Needed to Maintain Business Operations
- CHAPTER SUMMARY
- KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
- CHAPTER 7 ASSESSMENT
- CHAPTER 8 Identifying and Analyzing Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Exploits
- Threat Assessments
- Vulnerability Assessments
- Review of Documentation
- Review of System Logs, Audit Trails, and Intrusion Detection and Prevention System Outputs
- Vulnerability Scans and Other Assessment Tools
- Audits and Personnel Interviews
- Process Analysis and Output Analysis
- System Testing
- Best Practices for Performing Vulnerability Assessments Within the Seven Domains of a Typical IT Infrastructure
- Exploit Assessments
- CHAPTER SUMMARY
- KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
- CHAPTER 8 ASSESSMENT
- CHAPTER 9 Identifying and Analyzing Risk Mitigation Security Controls
- CHAPTER 10 Planning Risk Mitigation Throughout an Organization
- Where Should an Organization Start with Risk Mitigation?
- What Is the Scope of Risk Management for an Organization?
- Understanding and Assessing the Impact of Legal and Compliance Issues on an Organization
- Translating Legal and Compliance Implications for an Organization
- Assessing the Impact of Legal and Compliance Implications on the Seven Domains of a Typical IT Infrastructure
- Assessing How Security Countermeasures, Controls, and Safeguards Can Assist With Risk Mitigation
- Understanding the Operational Implications of Legal and Compliance Requirements
- Identifying Risk Mitigation and Risk Reduction Elements for the Entire Organization
- Performing a Cost-Benefit Analysis
- Best Practices for Planning Risk Mitigation Throughout an Organization
- CHAPTER SUMMARY
- KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
- CHAPTER 10 ASSESSMENT
- CHAPTER 11 Turning a Risk Assessment into a Risk Mitigation Plan
- Reviewing the Risk Assessment for the IT Infrastructure
- Translating a Risk Assessment into a Risk Mitigation Plan
- Prioritizing Risk Elements That Require Risk Mitigation
- Verifying Risk Elements and How They Can Be Mitigated
- Performing a Cost-Benefit Analysis on the Identified Risk Elements
- Implementing a Risk Mitigation Plan
- Following Up on the Risk Mitigation Plan
- Best Practices for Enabling a Risk Mitigation Plan from the Risk Assessment
- CHAPTER SUMMARY
- KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
- CHAPTER 11 ASSESSMENT
- CHAPTER 12 Mitigating Risk with a Business Impact Analysis
- What Is a Business Impact Analysis?
- Defining the Scope of the Business Impact Analysis
- Objectives of a Business Impact Analysis
- Steps of a Business Impact Analysis Process
- Identifying Mission-Critical Business Functions and Processes
- Mapping Business Functions and Processes to IT Systems
- Best Practices for Performing a BIA for an Organization
- CHAPTER SUMMARY
- KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
- CHAPTER 12 ASSESSMENT
- CHAPTER 13 Mitigating Risk with a Business Continuity Plan
- CHAPTER 14 Mitigating Risk with a Disaster Recovery Plan
- CHAPTER 15 Mitigating Risk with a Computer Incident Response Team Plan
- APPENDIX A Answer Key
- APPENDIX B Standard Acronyms
- Glossary of Key Terms
- References
- Index
How Does a BCP Mitigate an Organization’s Risk?
BCPs mitigate an organization’s risk by ensuring that the organization is better prepared for disasters. If a disaster occurs, the organization will meet it with the benefit of forethought and planning. On the other hand, if an organization doesn’t have a BCP, managers must make spur-of-the-moment decisions.
Pilots are often praised for their ability to react coolly in the face of disaster. For example, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger realized his best option was to land a jetliner in the Hudson River in 2009, which prompted him to calmly say into the microphone, “We’re gonna be in the Hudson.”
Why was he so calm? Because pilots train for disasters so many times that they know what needs to be done. Even in the midst of a crisis, they calmly identify the best steps to take to reduce the impact of disasters.
On the other hand, if a pilot had never trained for a disaster, and then suddenly he had two jet engines go dead, he’d be tempted to try anything to get things going again. Much of his energy would be wasted on attempting actions that couldn’t succeed or would make matters worse.
Similarly, the BCP helps an organization plan and train for disasters so that if one does occur, the organization is much better prepared to address it.
TIP
Serious losses have caused entire companies to fail when they didn’t have a BCP. Andrew Hiles in The Definitive Handbook of Business Continuity Management wrote that between 60 and 90 percent of companies that lost a key facility but didn’t have a BCP completely failed within 24 months. The BCP is like insurance. A company always wants to have it but never wants to use it.
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