SLE Value for Malware Protection Recommendation
Question
A Chief Information Officer (CIO) asks the company's security specialist if the company should spend any funds on malware protection for a specific server.
Based on a risk assessment, the ARO value of a malware infection for a server is 5 and the annual cost for the malware protection is $2500
Which of the following SLE values warrants a recommendation against purchasing the malware protection?
Answers
Explanations
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A. B. C. D.A.
The decision to purchase malware protection for a specific server should be based on a cost-benefit analysis. The cost of the malware protection should be compared to the expected cost of a malware infection to determine if the protection is worth the investment.
To perform this analysis, we need to calculate the Single Loss Expectancy (SLE), which is the expected monetary loss from a single security incident. The SLE is calculated by multiplying the Asset Value (AV) by the Exposure Factor (EF) of the security incident.
In this scenario, the asset in question is the specific server, and the Annualized Rate of Occurrence (ARO) for a malware infection is given as 5, which means that the server is expected to be infected with malware 5 times per year. Therefore, the ARO can be converted to the Single Loss Expectancy (SLE) by dividing the annual loss by the ARO as follows:
SLE = (Annual Loss / ARO)
The annual loss can be calculated by multiplying the ARO by the cost of a single malware infection:
Annual Loss = ARO x Cost per Malware Infection
Given that the ARO value for a malware infection for the server is 5 and the annual cost for the malware protection is $2500, we can calculate the annual loss as:
Annual Loss = 5 x Cost per Malware Infection = $2500
Therefore, the SLE value for the server can be calculated as:
SLE = (Annual Loss / ARO) = $2500 / 5 = $500
Now, we can compare the SLE value to the cost of the malware protection to determine if it is worth the investment. If the SLE is higher than the cost of the malware protection, then it is recommended to purchase the protection, as it will provide a net benefit by reducing the expected loss.
However, if the SLE is lower than the cost of the malware protection, then it is not recommended to purchase the protection, as the expected loss is lower than the cost of the protection, and it would result in a net loss.
Therefore, based on the values given in the question, the recommendation against purchasing the malware protection would be if the SLE value is higher than $2500. Therefore, the correct answer is A. $500. If the SLE value is $1000, $2000 or $2500, then it is recommended to purchase the malware protection.
