An organization engages a third-party vendor to monitor and support a financial application under scrutiny by regulators.
Maintaining strict data integrity and confidentiality for this application is critical to the business.
Which of the following controls would MOST effectively manage risk to the organization?
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A. B. C. D.B.
The scenario described involves an organization that has engaged a third-party vendor to support a financial application that is under scrutiny by regulators. In this context, maintaining strict data integrity and confidentiality for this application is critical to the business. The question asks which of the following controls would MOST effectively manage the risk to the organization.
A. Implementing segregation of duties between systems and data: Segregation of duties involves separating key tasks and responsibilities among different individuals to prevent any single person from having too much control or access to sensitive information or assets. In this scenario, implementing segregation of duties between systems and data could help prevent unauthorized access and modification to the financial application. However, this control alone may not be sufficient to manage the risk to the organization, as it does not address the potential risk of third-party vendor access to the application.
B. Activating access and data logging: Access and data logging involve monitoring and recording all access to the financial application and any modifications made to the data. This control can help detect any unauthorized access or changes to the application, and provide a record of who accessed the data and when. This control can be effective in managing risk if the logs are reviewed regularly and any suspicious activity is investigated.
C. Disabling vendor access and only re-enabling when access is needed: Disabling vendor access and only re-enabling it when necessary can help reduce the risk of unauthorized access or modification to the financial application. However, it could also impact the vendor's ability to support the application in a timely manner, which could negatively affect the organization's operations.
D. Implementing periodic access reviews of vendor employees: Periodic access reviews involve reviewing the access rights of vendor employees who have access to the financial application. This control can help ensure that vendor employees only have the access they need to perform their job duties, and that any unnecessary access is revoked. This control can be effective in managing risk if the reviews are conducted regularly and any unauthorized access is identified and addressed.
In conclusion, the MOST effective control to manage risk to the organization in this scenario would be B. Activating access and data logging. This control would help detect any unauthorized access or changes to the financial application and provide a record of who accessed the data and when. However, it is important to note that this control alone may not be sufficient, and other controls such as periodic access reviews and segregation of duties could also be implemented to further manage the risk.