Establishing an Early Warning System for Cybersecurity Threats

A.

The MOST helpful option for establishing an early warning system to determine which potential cybersecurity threats should be escalated to senior management would be option A, Agreed-upon risk thresholds.

Agreed-upon risk thresholds are pre-determined levels of acceptable risk that the organization is willing to tolerate. These thresholds are established through a risk management process that involves identifying, analyzing, and evaluating risks based on the organization's objectives and risk appetite.

By having agreed-upon risk thresholds, the organization can establish a baseline for determining when a potential cybersecurity threat poses a risk that exceeds the organization's tolerance level. This can help the organization prioritize its response to potential threats and escalate them to senior management as necessary.

Option B, a risk appetite statement, is related to risk thresholds but is more focused on defining the organization's overall approach to risk-taking. A risk appetite statement can help guide decision-making around risk management but may not be as useful in establishing an early warning system.

Option C, key performance indicators (KPIs), can be useful in measuring the effectiveness of cybersecurity controls and identifying potential areas of weakness. However, they may not be as useful in establishing an early warning system for identifying potential threats.

Option D, patch management logs, are useful for tracking the status of software patches and identifying vulnerabilities that need to be addressed. However, they may not be as useful in identifying potential cybersecurity threats that have not yet been exploited.

In summary, while all of the options listed may be useful in addressing cybersecurity risk, establishing agreed-upon risk thresholds would be the MOST helpful in establishing an early warning system to determine which potential threats should be escalated to senior management.