Risk Assessment Report (350 Points)

The objective of this assignment is to develop a risk assessment report for a company, government agency, or other organization (the ”subject organization”). The analysis will be conducted using only publicly available information (e.g., information obtainable on the Internet, company reports, news reports, journal articles, etc.) and based on judicious, believable extrapolation of that information. Your risk analysis should consider subject organization information assets (computing and networking infrastructure), their vulnerabilities, and legitimate, known threats that can exploit those vulnerabilities. Your assignment is then to derive the risk profile for the subject organization. Your report should also contain recommendations to mitigate the risks.

There is a wealth of business-oriented and technical information that can be used to infer likely vulnerabilities and assets for an organization. It is recommended that students select their organizations based at least in part on ease of information gathering, from a public record perspective.

Steps to be completed by the end of Week 4

1. Pick a Subject Organization: Follow these guidelines:

You should pick a company or organization that has sufficient publicly available information to support a reasonable risk analysis, particularly including threat and vulnerability identification.

2. Develop Subject Organization Information: Examples of relevant information include:

• Company/Organization name and location
• Company/Organization management or basic organization structure
• Company/Organization industry and purpose (i.e., the nature of its business)
• Company/Organization profile (financial information, standing in its industry, reputation)
• Identification of relevant aspects of the company/organization’s computing and network infrastructure

Note: Do not try to access more information through social engineering, or through attempted cyber attacks or intrusion attempts. This is a look at how readily available information might be used from a risk management perspective.

You are required to complete these first two steps and to submit your selected organization including the pertinent information above by the end of Week 4. No points are assessed for this assignment in Week 4, but you must complete it this week as part of your Portfolio Project due in its entirety in Week 8.

Steps to be completed by the end of Week 8

3. Analyze Risks

• For the purposes of this assignment, you will follow the standard risk assessment methodology used within the U.S. federal government, as described in NIST Special Publication 800-30 Risk Management Guide for Information Technology Systems (linked at the bottom of the page).
• In conducting your analysis, focus on identifying threats and vulnerabilities faced by your subject organization.
• Based on the threats and vulnerabilities you identify, next determine both the relative likelihood and severity of impact that would occur should each of the threats materialize. This should produce a listing of risks, at least roughly ordered by their significance to the organization.
• For the risks you have identified, suggest ways that the subject organization might respond to mitigate the risk.

4. Prepare Risk Assessment Report

The report should include the following:

• Approved organization identification summary submitted in Week 4
• Executive Summary
  • Scope
  • Overall level of risk
  • Number of risks identified and brief description of what they are
• Body of the paper
  • Purpose of risk assessment
  • Identify assumptions and constraints
  • Describe risk tolerance
  • Identify and describe risk model
  • Rationale for any risk-related decisions
  • Missions and functions
  • Summarize risk assessment results
  • Identify the time frames for which the risk assessment is valid

Your 12- to 15-page report should be formatted according to APA requirements with any sources properly cited.

Note:

1. Attached the NIST Special Publication 800-30 for reference

2. Attached the Textbook for reference.

3. Inline citations are must and no plagiarism.