Security Incident Management: Importance of Defined Escalation Processes

Why Defined Escalation Processes are Crucial for Effective Security Incident Management

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Question

When conducting a review of security incident management, an IS auditor found there are no defined escalation processes.

All incidents are managed by the service desk.

Which of the following should be the auditor's PRIMARY concern?

Answers

Explanations

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A. B. C. D.

B.

The IS auditor's primary concern when finding that there are no defined escalation processes for security incident management, and that all incidents are managed by the service desk, would likely be option B: Management's lack of awareness of high impact incidents.

Explanation: When there are no defined escalation processes for security incident management, it means that there are no established procedures in place to handle incidents that require a higher level of attention, such as high-impact incidents. High-impact incidents are those that have a significant effect on the organization, such as the loss of critical data or systems. These types of incidents require a faster response time and a different level of attention than low-priority incidents.

If all incidents are managed by the service desk without any defined escalation processes, it is possible that high-impact incidents are not receiving the attention they require. Management may not be aware of these incidents, or they may not be prioritized correctly. This lack of awareness could result in delays in responding to the incident, which could lead to more significant damage to the organization.

Option A, inefficient use of service desk resources, is a concern, but it is not the primary concern in this case. Without defined escalation processes, it is possible that the service desk is being used inefficiently, but this is secondary to the more significant concern of high-impact incidents not receiving the proper attention.

Option C, delays in resolving low priority trouble tickets, is not the primary concern in this case because low-priority incidents are not as critical as high-impact incidents. While delays in resolving low-priority incidents can cause frustration for users, they are unlikely to cause significant harm to the organization.

Option D, management's inability to follow up on incident resolution, is also not the primary concern in this case. While it is important for management to follow up on incident resolution to ensure that incidents are properly addressed and preventive measures are put in place, it is secondary to the more significant concern of high-impact incidents not receiving the proper attention in the first place.

Therefore, the IS auditor's primary concern when finding no defined escalation processes for security incident management and all incidents being managed by the service desk would be management's lack of awareness of high-impact incidents.