Question

4000 Words Report

Imagine you are in charge of an organisational risk management strategy across three distinct departments of the organisation. The organisation envisions risk as, ‘potential vulnerabilities present across our security landscape leads to exposure which enables a cyber incident against the infrastructure, capability, services and applications, which leads to an impact upon Confidentiality, Integrity and/or Availability resulting in reduced resilience, reduced safety, ineffective capabilities, loss of business services, financial impact and reputational damage to UK Government’.
The risk applies to three main business domains:

1. IT & Infrastructure

2. Equipment

3. Logistics & Support services

Each business domain is managed by a separate Director, but collectively they (all three) own the risk. There is a separate Director who is accountable for the risk, and they report the status to the Executive Board throughout the year.

Given the complexity of the risk and its significant breadth and depth it’s difficult to establish a baseline level of risk exposure – a pre-mitigation level, which represents the whole business (all three domains). Defining the Risk Appetite (RA) is also challenging given the differences across the domains, the views from each Director, the level of resources available etc.

Answer 1

One approach to managing the organizational risk across the three business domains could be to establish a risk management framework that aligns with the organization's vision of risk. This framework should be designed to provide a clear and consistent approach to identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks across the organization.

To establish a baseline level of risk exposure, the first step would be to conduct a thorough risk assessment across all three business domains. This assessment should identify the potential vulnerabilities and exposures in each domain, as well as the potential impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The assessment should also consider the interdependencies between the domains and the potential cascading effects of a cyber incident in one domain on the others.

Based on the results of the risk assessment, the next step would be to develop a set of risk mitigation strategies that address the identified vulnerabilities and exposures. These strategies should be tailored to the specific needs of each business domain and should be aligned with the organization's overall risk appetite. The strategies should also be prioritized based on their potential impact and the resources required to implement them.

Once the risk mitigation strategies have been developed, the next step would be to implement them and monitor their effectiveness over time. This could involve implementing new technologies, processes, or policies to reduce the organization's exposure to risk. It could also involve conducting regular assessments and audits to ensure that the strategies are effective and that any new risks are identified and addressed in a timely manner.

To establish the organization's risk appetite, the first step would be to engage with the Directors of each business domain to understand their perspectives on risk and their views on the appropriate level of risk exposure for the organization. This could involve conducting workshops or focus groups to gather input and to discuss the risks and opportunities associated with different levels of risk exposure.

Once the Directors' perspectives have been gathered, the next step would be to develop a risk appetite statement that reflects the organization's overall view on risk. This statement should be based on the results of the risk assessment and the input from the Directors, and should outline the organization's tolerance for risk and its willingness to accept certain levels of exposure to potential vulnerabilities and impacts.

To monitor and report on the organization's risk exposure, the Director accountable for the risk should establish a system for tracking and reporting on the organization's risk profile. This could involve regular reporting to the Executive Board on the status of the organization's risk mitigation strategies and the effectiveness of those strategies in reducing the organization's exposure to risk. The reports should also include any new risks that have been identified and any changes to the organization's risk appetite.

Overall, managing the organizational risk across the three business domains is a complex and challenging task.