Assessing Risks and Formulating
Assessing Risks and Formulating
OF
DISA 2.0 COURSE
2017
Auditors:-
Bitcoin & Associates
Chartered Accountants
FRN :139851W
Appointment Letter
Engagement Letter
3. Background
4. Situation
9. References
10. Deliverables
Project Report
Background:
Radisson Ltd is a global Indian organization dealing in –
IT solutions/services to customers
Customized and standard product
Radisson Ltd. Has development centres in India and marketing offices across
USA, Asia and Europe with more than 15,000 employees. Organization has
employed highly skilled professionals who are in great demand in the highly
competitive market.
Issue:
Scope:
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BITCOIN & ASSOCIATES
Chartered Accountants
INTRODUCTION:
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Data Encryption-Confidential information along with login ID’s and passwords
should be encrypted for improved security.
Monitoring of Data- Random monitoring of data moving out through Emails
should be performed by IT department. Unauthorized flow of confidential
information out of organization should be intimated to the management.
Confidential information should only be flowed out of organization on requisite
approval from management.
Third Part Access- All clauses of security policy should be applicable same to
the third party accessing network. Corresponding clause should be incorporated
in every contract where access to the network needs to be provided to
contractor.
Remote Access- Remote Access should be governed by tight access controls
so as to provide minimum access wherever necessary. Remote access must be
secured by proper level of data encryption.
Destruction of Confidential information- Confidential information must be
properly destructed by IT Department. Path adopted for destruction andRisk
involved, if any, should be conveyed to information owner by IT department.
USB Access- USB ports should be blocked for every client in the networks.
Sr.
Particulars Skill Set
No.
Information System Audits, Consultancy related to
1 Manager
information Technology Implementation, etc., Risk Analysis
Risk Management of Banks and financial institutions,
2 Team Leader
Financial audits of MNC’s and Indirect Taxation
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AUDITEE ENVIRONMENT
Existing
Policies:
General Policies
All persons must be sincere and dedicated to working towards the organizational
goals and objectives.
All persons should act and conduct free from fraud and deception. Their conduct
shall conform to the best efforts.
All persons not to compete directly or indirectly with the Company and not to
disclose the confidential and crucial information gathered by the individuals during
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Chartered Accountants
the tenure of their position in this Company even after resignation from the
directorship or leaving the services of the Company.
The workday begins at 9.00 am and ends at 6.00 pm. Variations in the regular
workday must be approved by Senior Management.
Email should only be used to send confidential information where the recipient is
trusted, the information owner has given their permission, and appropriate
safeguards have been taken e.g. encryption.
Compliance with this policy should form part of any contract with a third party that
may involve access to network or computer systems or data.
Information owners should ensure that appropriate backup and system recovery
procedures are in place. Backup copies of all important information assets should
be taken and tested regularly in accordance with such an appropriate backup
policy.
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BITCOIN & ASSOCIATES
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access control policy and tight access controls provided to allow the minimum
access necessary.
Any remote access must be controlled by secure access control protocols using
appropriate levels of encryption and authentication.
The number of copies made of confidential information, whether on portable
devices or media or in hard copy, should be the minimum required, and, where
necessary, a record kept of their distribution. When no longer needed, the copy
should be deleted or, in the case of hard copies, destroyed & all copies should be
physically secured.
The company required the assignment to be done because the HR department of the
company had enforced a strict attendance policy which required mandatory physical
presence of the employees at the office premises for specified number of hours. This
resulted in:-
Control Weakness:
There was a weakness in the control of HR policies because of which organization could
not keep a track of the physical attendance, productive work timings and the output of all
employees. Subsequently, without analyzing the risks and outcomes, they implemented
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Chartered Accountants
strict control policy which resulted in discontent from the employees for such changes in
policy.
Thus, we have been appointed to provide recommendations whether the company can
implement mobile computing along with policies and procedures required to meet
business needs, compliance and regulatory requirements.
Scope of assignment
We have been appointed to “Assess risks concerned & Formulating Policies for Mobile
Computing” for the head office of Radisson Ltd. at Bangalore. As discussed with the
management, the following Audit Charter has been finalized. It includes assessment of-
Company’s current working practices
HR Policies and changes to be brought in
Security policy and recommendations for new policies
Customer deliverables
Risks associated with the organization’s use of mobile computing and its approach to
managing those risks.
Our audit activity is broadly divided into 6 major steps for the convenience and effective
conduct of audit-
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a) Planning the Audit
We obtained an understanding of the auditee organization and its processes, assigned
different area of audit to appropriate staff keeping in mind their skills and aptitude to
identify the areas of risk.
During our audit, we collected background information of Radisson Ltd., reviewed
previous audit reports and papers, service level agreements, third party contracts,
interacted with the management and information systems personnel, observed activities
carried out within the organization and reviewed the policies and procedures.
c) Tests of Controls:
Internal controls were tested to evaluate whether they are operating effectively or not.
We have conducted a compliance, substantive and penetration test to identify the real
vulnerabilities of the environment. While carrying out tests of controls, we considered the
following aspects :
Firstly, we identified what controls were existing in the organization to have a
track of man hours worked.
What technology was being used to provide offsite services to solve customer
grievances?
Whether identified controls were implemented.
Whether the controls were adequate.
Whether all controls were documented to make them effective.
Whether the controls were intact so that they serve the purpose, as and when
needed.
Whether the controls were monitored by means of strict supervision, surprise
Checks Periodic Inspection etc.
On review of test of controls, some weaknesses were found out. To overcome the
weaknesses and as suggested by the auditee, we can explore the option of
implementing mobile computing.
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d) Exploring Mobile Computing
In today's world, computers have rapidly grown from being confined to a single location
to going mobile. With mobile computing, people can work from the comfort of any
location they wish to as long as the connection and the security concerns are properly
factored. Being an ever growing and emerging technology, mobile computing will
continue to be a core service in information communication and technology.
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Mobile computing presents truly exciting opportunities when companies are prepared to
make the transition from doing the same things in new ways to doing fundamentally
different things. Mobile Computing is an umbrella term used to describe technologies
that enable people to access network services anyplace, anytime, and anywhere. It
allows transmission of data, voice and video via a computer or any other wireless
enabled device without being “hard-wired” to a network or location.
Mobile computing is not just about using mobile phones but it is about computing on the
move using wireless connectivity. Mobile computing is enabled by use of mobile devices
(portable and hand held computing devices) such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDA),
laptops, mobile phones, tablet PC and Palmtops on a wireless network. The key
components of mobile computing are:
a. Mobile communication
b. Mobile hardware
c. Mobile software
a. Mobile communication:
The mobile communication in this case, refers to the infrastructure put in place to ensure
that seamless and reliable communication goes on with the organisation network. These
would include Protocols, Services, Bandwidth, and Portals necessary to facilitate and
support of the stated services. The data format is also defined at this stage. This
ensures that there is no collision with other existing systems which offer the same
service.
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Since the media is unguided/ unbounded, the overlaying infrastructure is more of radio
wave oriented, i.e., the signals are carried over the air to intended devices that are
capable of receiving and sending similar kinds of signals.
b. Mobile Hardware:
Mobile hardware includes mobile devices or device components that receive or access
the service of mobility. They range from :
Portable laptops
Smartphones
Tablet Pc's
Personal Digital Assistants (PDA),etc.
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The company should select mobile computing hardware on the basis of:
(a) Size and Form Factor
(b) Weight
(c) Microprocessor
(d) Primary Storage
(e) Secondary Storage
(f) Screen Size and Type
Although a lot of mobile hardware has many eye-catching characteristics, the decision
about which hardware to employ should be based entirely on clear business needs.
These devices are configured to operate in full- duplex, whereby they are capable of
sending and receiving signals at the same time. They don't have to wait until one device
has finished communicating for the other device to initiate communications. In order to
provide communications functionality to allow the handheld device to communicate with
the Internet or Intranet infrastructure, the company should ensure that at the back end,
there are servers like Application Servers, Database Servers and Servers with wireless
support, WAP gateway, a Communications Server and/or MCSS (Mobile
communications server switch) or a wireless gateway embedded in wireless carrier's
network.
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Chartered Accountants
c. Mobile software:
Mobile software is the actual program that runs on the mobile hardware. It deals with the
characteristics and requirements of mobile applications. This is the engine of that mobile
device. In other terms, it is the operating system of that appliance. It's the essential
component that makes the mobile device operate.
Since portability is the main factor, this type of computing ensures that users are not tied
or pinned to a single physical location, but are able to operate from anywhere. It will
incorporate all aspects of wireless communications.
1. Location flexibility:-
This has enabled user to work from anywhere as long as there is a connection
established. Their mobility ensures that they are able to carry out numerous tasks at the
same time perform their stated jobs.
2. Saves Time:-
The time consumed or wasted by travelling from different locations or to the office and
back, have been slashed. One can now access all the important documents and files
over a secure channel or portal and work as if they were on their computer.
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3. Enhanced Productivity
Productive nature has been boosted by the fact that a employee can simply work
efficiently and effectively from which every location they see comfortable and suitable.
Users are able to work with comfortable environments.
4. Ease of research:-
Research has been made easier, since users will go to the field and search for facts and
feed them back to the system. It has also made it easier for field officer and researchers
to collect and feed data from wherever they are without making unnecessary trip to and
from the office to the field.
5. Streamlining of Business Processes:-
Business processes are now easily available through secured connections. Basing on
the factor of security, adequate measures have been put in place to ensure
authentication and authorization of the user accessing those services.
Some business functions can be run over secure links and also the sharing of
information between business partners. Also it's worth noting that lengthy travelling has
been reduced, since there is the use of voice and video conferencing.
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Chartered Accountants
Security risks
Wide variety terminals and devices with different capabilities
Device attributes
Fit more functionality into single, smaller device
Mobile computing has its fair share of security concerns as any other technology:
1. Due to their nomadic nature, it's not easy to monitor the proper usage. Improper and
unethical practices such as hacking, industrial espionage, pirating, online fraud and
malicious destruction are some but few of the problems experienced by mobile
computing.
2. Another big problem plaguing mobile computing is credential verification. It's not
possible that the person using is the true barrier. Other users share username and
passwords. This is also a major threat to security.
4. Physical damage to devices, data corruption, data leakage, interception of data and
possible exposure of sensitive information.
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Operational Risks
Technology and Data Risks
Legal and Regulatory Risks
Some risks can get riskier and so they should be avoided or mitigated using effective
controls.
An illustrative risk control matrix has been given below for your easy reference:-
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Sr.
Risks Controls
No.
Operational Risks :
Malicious software - It can shut down Use effective and updated anti-virus and
1
or take-over mobiles devices anti-malware
Take insurance of devices.
An inability to wipe-clean or lock
2 Implement a central management control for
stolen devices
device remote control
Ineffective vulnerability, configuration
Regularly scan and test configurations &
3 and penetration testing for mobile
settings on mobile devices.
devices
Protect sensitive information on devices with
An inability to detect or prevent
encryption.
4 rogue applications from operating on
Implementation of suggested mobile
mobile devices
computing security policy
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By implementing mobile computing, the following issues might arise and we suggest the
corresponding strategies to address them
Sr.
Issues Involved Strategies
No.
Turn to cross-platform centrally managed
1 Providing support to various Devices
mobile device managers
Contolling data flow on multiple Secure the systems that are accessed with
2
Devices authorization, encryption & privileges control
Preventing data from being Monitor & restrict data transfers to handheld
3 synchronized onto mobile devices in or removable storage devices and media
an unauthorised way from a single, centralised console.
Keeping up with the usage of the Create keen user awareness on information
4
latest and greatest devices assets, risks and value to the enterprise
Accountability, responsibility & Track the way devices are used, and provide
5
Transparency in device usage regular feedback to the management.
f) New Policies:
We have conducted audit & formed new policy considering IT process as given in
COBIT 5 as per IS audit guidelines on mobile computing, document G27.
Primary Process
PO9—Assess Risks
AI3—Acquire and Maintain Technology Architecture
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Secondary Process
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The effective working hours of the employee shall be monitored by his login and
logout sessions.
The employee must get the device scanned every fortnight with the respective
department.
Address the approved applications by device based on data classification and data
loss risk.
Define the authentication method for each mobile device based on the data
classification policy.
Prescribe authentication and encryption storage/transmission (data in transit or at
rest) requirements by device type.
Ensure a risk assessment before a device is approved for use and a risk
assessment update at least annually to determine that new threats are assessed
and new technologies considered for deployment.
There has to be exception approval processes for corporate devices to be managed
outside the enterprise management system.
Access authentication (single or multilevel) and complexity must be appropriate for
the device and data classification of the data stored.
Mobile devices having storage should have restrictions as to the applications that
can be installed and the data content that can be stored on the devices.
Mobile devices require disabling of USB, Bluetooth, according to the data
classification policy.
Define how critical business process like customer deliverables is carried out during
disaster and down-time
Define business continuity management procedure.
Further, the following existing policies will have to be deleted for successful
implementation of mobile computing:
The workday begins at 9.00 am and ends at 6.00 pm. Variations in the regular
workday must be approved by Senior Management.
Employees’ physical presence is strictly required at the office premises for specified
number of hours.
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BITCOIN & ASSOCIATES
Chartered Accountants
On the basis of the review of the documents available, policies and procedures and risk
analysis of Radisson, it has been observed that the HR policy for strict attendance of
employees in office is not desired. This situation has created a severe discontent among
employees resulting in high employee turnover. The employees of Radisson can be
assessed through their deliverables and output and that there is no need to implement
strict attendance policy.
Keeping in mind the benefits of mobile computing, it is recommended that it should be
implemented. There are certain risks that are involved but the same can be avoided/
mitigated using the suggested controls. Further, the suggested policies should also be
formulated for effective implementation of mobile computing.
Mobile Computing will not only help Radisson to retain its employees, but, will also keep
Radisson at par with the emerging technologies to survive in the highly competitive
market.
8. References:
DISA 2.0 Background Material
www.wikipedia.com
http://www.tutorialspoint.com/mobile_computing/mobile_computing_quick_guide.ht
m
www.infosys.com
Western Australian auditor general’s report on information systems audit
http://farakaran.net/en/index.php/about_chart
http://www.isaca.org/Knowledge-
Center/Research/ResearchDeliverables/Pages/Mobile-Computing-Security-Audit-
Assurance- -
Center/Research/ResearchDeliverables/Pages/Securing-Mobile-Devices.aspx
www.mashable.com
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Chartered Accountants
The Information Systems Audit Manual, prepared by the ‘Working Group on the
introduction of Information Systems Audit in Reserve Bank of India’.
Guidelines for Information Systems Audit by the Information Systems Audit and
Control Association & Information Systems Audit and Control Foundation.
ISO/IEC 27001:2005 Information technology -- Security techniques -- Information
security management system requirements.
ISO/IEC 27002:2005 Information technology -- Security techniques -- Code of
practice for information security management.
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ANNEXURE I
CEO
MANAGING DIRECTOR
MARKETING
INFORMATION MARKETING
IT BUSINESS OFFICE MANAGER -
SECURITY OFFICE MANAGER - ASIA
EUROPE
MARKETING
PROJECT OFFICE
MANAGER - USA
INFRASTRUCTUREE RESEARCH
XPERT SERVIECE EXPERT
MIDDLEWARE
SERVICE EXPERT
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ANNEXURE II
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