Scenario 4: TradeB. a commercial bank that has just entered the market, accepts deposits from its clients and offers basic financial services and loans for investments. TradeB has decided to implement an information security management system (ISMS) based on ISO/IEC 27001 Having no experience of a management [^system implementation, TradeB’s top management contracted two experts to direct and manage the ISMS implementation project.

Scenario 4: TradeB. a commercial bank that has just entered the market, accepts deposits from its clients and offers basic financial services and loans for investments. TradeB has decided to implement an information security management system (ISMS) based on ISO/IEC 27001 Having no experience of a management [^system implementation, TradeB’s top management contracted two experts to direct and manage the ISMS implementation project.

First, the project team analyzed the 93 controls of ISO/IEC 27001 Annex A and listed only the security controls deemed applicable to the company and their objectives Based on this analysis, they drafted the Statement of Applicability. Afterward, they conducted a risk assessment, during which they identified assets, such as hardware, software, and networks, as well as threats and vulnerabilities, assessed potential consequences and likelihood, and determined the level of risks based on three nonnumerical categories (low, medium, and high). They evaluated the risks based on the risk evaluation criteria and decided to treat only the high risk category They also decided to focus primarily on the unauthorized use of administrator rights and system interruptions due to several hardware failures by establishing a new version of the access control policy, implementing controls to manage and control user access, and implementing a control for ICT readiness for business continuity

Lastly, they drafted a risk assessment report, in which they wrote that if after the implementation of these security controls the level of risk is below the acceptable level, the risks will be accepted

Based on scenario 4, the fact that TradeB defined the level of risk based on three nonnumerical categories indicates that;

A. The level of risk will be evaluated against qualitative criteria

B. The level of risk will be defined using a formula

C. The level of risk will be evaluated using quantitative analysis

View Answer

Answer: A

Explanation:

Qualitative risk assessment is a method of evaluating risks based on nonnumerical categories, such as low, medium, and high. It is often used when there is not enough data or resources to perform a quantitative risk assessment, which involves numerical values and calculations. Qualitative risk assessment relies on the subjective judgment and experience of the risk assessors, and it can be influenced by various factors, such as the context, the stakeholders, and the criteria. According to ISO/IEC 27001:2022, Annex A, control A.8.2.1 states: “The organization shall define and apply an information security risk assessment process that: … d) identifies the risk owners; e) analyses the risks: i) assesses the consequences that would result if the risks identified were to materialize; ii) assesses the realistic likelihood of the occurrence of the risks; f) identifies and evaluates options for the treatment of risks; g) determines the levels of residual risk and whether these are acceptable; and h) identifies the risk owners for the residual risks.” Therefore, TradeB’s decision to define the level of risk based on three nonnumerical categories indicates that they used a qualitative risk assessment process.

Reference: ISO/IEC 27001:2022, Annex A, control A.8.2.1

PECB ISO/IEC 27001 Lead Implementer Course, Module 7, slides 12-13