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The Role of Security in IT Service Management

The Role of Security in IT Service Management. October 31, 2007 2:00pm EDT, 11:00am PDT George Spafford, Principal Consultant Pepperweed Consulting, LLC “Optimizing The Business Value of IT” www.pepperweed.com. Housekeeping. Submitting questions to speaker

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The Role of Security in IT Service Management

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  1. The Role of Security in IT Service Management October 31, 2007 2:00pm EDT, 11:00am PDT George Spafford, Principal Consultant Pepperweed Consulting, LLC “Optimizing The Business Value of IT” www.pepperweed.com

  2. Housekeeping • Submitting questions to speaker • Submit question at any time by using the “Ask a question” section located on lower left-hand side of your console. • Questions about presentation content will be answered during 10 minute Q&A session at end of webcast. • Technical difficulties? • Click on “Help” button • Use “Ask a question” interface

  3. Main Presentation

  4. Agenda • How to view security in the world of ITSM • Risk Management and Controls • Getting Started • Enterprise Risk Management • Why security plays an important role in Service Delivery and Service Support • Where there are resources to learn more

  5. What ITIL Represents • ITIL is the de facto standard approach towards IT Service Management (ITSM) • It is about IT delivering quality services that meet the needs of the organization • IT services enable business processes that, in turn, enable the business to meet goals • The management of risk to attain goals is essential • Security is a key stakeholder in requirements definition • Security requirements are business requirements! • Security in support of X service • Security in support of the enterprise

  6. Security in ITIL v3 • In the Service Design book • “The goal of the ISM [Information Security Management] process is to align IT security with business security and ensure that information security is effectively managed in all service and Service Management activities.” • Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability • Information Security Policy • ISO 27001 for the Information Security Management System • Control – Organize, establish management framework, roles & responsibilities • Plan – SLAs, UCs, OLAs, Policies • Implement – Awareness, classification, personnel security, physical security, logical security, incident handling • Evaluate – Audits, assessments, incident review • Maintain – Continuous improvement

  7. The Goal

  8. Each Functional Area Has Objectives that Support the Goal Examples: A1 – “Provide accurate and timely financial reporting data for the public and internal decision making.” A2 – “HR will track timely and accurate vital information about employees including key dates, training, performance, skills, and benefits. ” A3 – “Customer service will ensure that all customer master profiles are current and accurate.”

  9. IT Provisions Services That Add Value and/or Mitigate Risks IT in support of X business service …

  10. Why is risk management so important? Limited Resources and Seemingly Unlimited Risks! US companies are adopting a risk based approach and going after what matters most in order to be sustainable. It makes sense to spend $1,000 to safeguard $1Billion but not to safeguard $100. Understand and prioritize risks to focus compliance efforts.

  11. If a risk doesn’t map to objectives and goals, then does it matter? NO

  12. Getting Started with Risk Management • Formal ERM can take a lot of time to ramp up • Need a method to start & fast ramp up • Interview senior management, audit, and finance to understand what matters to the business • Identify material systems • Review the Institute of Internal Auditor’s Guide to the Assessment of IT General Controls Scope (GAIT) • Identify gaps in key IT General Controls not all vulnerabilities • Identify mitigation options • Gain senior management approval • Mitigate • Accept the risk • More to come in Visible Ops Security due later this year

  13. Enterprise Risk Management • Ideally, risk management needs to be implemented, ideally at the enterprise level, to ensure that organizational risks are identified and properly managed. • IT needs risk management to prioritize mitigation efforts and to help facilitate discussions with senior management • Senior management can use risk management to understand risks to objectives, the current risk levels and prioritize investments intended to mitigate risks

  14. One challenge is how to prioritize hundreds, if not thousands, of risks. We still need to focus on what matters using a top down approach

  15. Quantifying Risk • Simple approach is to use Likert (1-5) scales to develop ordinal ranking • Inherent Risk Score = Probability x Impact • Residual Risk Score = IRS x (100% - % Mitigated) • If nothing has been mitigated, RRS = IRS • Management defines what level of RRS is acceptable • How do you factor risks to objectives with varying importance? One method is multivariate risk models. • Weighted Average IRS = Probability x (Risk 1 weight x impact) x (Risk 2 weight x impact) x …. • Note – Risk Management is an exercise in objective subjectivity hence the need to get buy-in on the model and scores/values used

  16. A Spreadsheet-based ERM Model Note, this spreadsheet model is at http://www.spaffordconsulting.com/Risk_v5.xls

  17. In response to risks we implement controls

  18. What Are Controls? • Controls safeguard objectives / value • All processes contain an inherent level of variation that can not be eliminated. • Only put in enough controls to lower the residual risk to a level that is acceptable to management. • Controls can be • Manual – Meaning they take a person to perform without automation. • Automated – Meaning that technology is used to enable the process partially or entirely. • Important Note – In accounting terminology, an automated control is a control that is embedded in a system such as bounds checking, audit trails, workflow, etc. • Three broad types • Preventive Controls – Intended to stop a future transgression. Examples – policies and procedures • Detective Controls – Attempt to find out about an event that has already happened. Example – Log review • Corrective Controls – Aimed at restoring the last known good state. Example – Restore from tape

  19. Cost of Control 100% You can spend a fortune and you will never truly hit a 100% level of assurance. The objective is to lower risk to an acceptable level, not eliminate it because you can’t! Level of Assurance Level of Investment

  20. Defense in Depth • Think of the rings of walls in a castle. More walls equate to an overall better defensive posture. • The idea is to layer controls in a cost effective fashion. • If the first control fails, then there is a second, etc. • The objective is to create an acceptable level of residual risk and stop! • Don’t spend more on controls than what you are protecting is worth. • Don’t forget processes, systems and people always have variation – go for layers.

  21. Control Objectives for Information and related Technologies (COBIT) • Maintained by the IT Governance Institute (ITGI), which is part of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (http://www.isaca.org) • ISACA started in 1967, has over 50,000 members in over 140 countries. • Essentially, COBIT is the de facto reference for IT Controls. Nothing else quite like it exists. • Four domains • Plan and Organize – Strategy, Tactics, Vision • Acquire and Implement – Identification, Development, Purchase, Implementation • Deliver and Support – Security, Continuity, Management of Data, Operations • Monitor and Evaluate – Assessments and Audit • 34 High-Level Control Objectives • Over 250 Detailed Control Objectives • Example: • Domain: Deliver and Support • High Level Control Objective – “DS5 Ensure Systems Security” • Detailed Control Objective – “DS5.1 Management of IT Security” • Detailed Control Objective – “DS5.2 IT Security Plan” • Detailed Control Objective – “DS5.6 Security Event Definition” • …and so on

  22. Security is a Risk Mitigation Process We implement security controls commensurate with risk to safeguard objectives and goals

  23. Technology Processes Outcomes People Appropriate PPT Blending • A process is a course of action with an intended result • Technology has been the mainstay of Information Technology • Technology can’t fix all of our problems! • The need to find and retain qualified people is known, but not always stressed enough • They need adequate training • Segregation of Duties • Cross-training/backups • What hasn’t received as much attention are the processes • Leveraging best practices • A focus on quality management • Continuous Improvement Processes • Any technology can be rendered ineffectual by poor personnel and process choices • Very true for security as well as other processes

  24. You can have processes without adequate controls, but you can not have an effective and efficient control environment without good processes.

  25. ITIL v2

  26. Change Management • IDC – 80% of network availability issues caused by human error • CompTIA – 60% of breaches are caused by human error • Change management is a risk management function that assesses the potential impacts of a change to the organization • Security must be able to understand “What Changed?” as quickly as possible • Has a vested interest in detecting all changes to infrastructure • Security should: • Sit on the Change Advisory Board (CAB) • Review change requests • Review changes that are rolled back • Review unauthorized changes for security events • Security must work through Change Management and not around it • Ideally through operations and not direct • Quis custodiet ipsos custodes – Who will guard the guards? • Never forget about human error!

  27. Configuration Management • Focuses on tracking and documenting configurations and then providing this information to other areas • Configuration tracks relationships to understand who is affected and assesses impact. • Enables the control of configuration items by monitoring, maintaining and verifying • Resources • Status • Relationships • Security is a consumer of Configuration Management • Infrastructure details • Relationships • IT and Business Owner Contact information • User profiles • Incident records (alerts + manually logged) • License information (if tasked with tracking down unlicensed information) • Reviewing security configurations • Security logs / records • Review of CMDB access levels

  28. CMDB Design Tip • A control is a CI type • Potential attributes include • Control ID • Control Objective • Standard Control Activity • Applicable Regulations (1 to many relationship) • Date last reviewed • You can then relate the to other CIs • Systems (HW CI + SW CI) • Processes • Services • Is governed then by Change Management • Document / Version Control • Can immediately understand relationships and where used • Can relate control activity per CI / per control • What is actually being done for the CI • Audit findings • Mitigation activities

  29. Service Level Management • “The goal for SLM is to maintain and improve IT Service quality, through a constant cycle of agreeing, monitoring and reporting upon IT Service achievements and instigation of actions to eradicate poor service – in line with business or cost justification.” – ITIL Service Support • Concerned with understanding the customer/organization’s security requirements for each service • SLM negotiates service security levels based on input from the security function • SLAs define security requirements

  30. Incident Management / Service Desk • Concerned with restoring service as quickly as possible • Alerts should route into Incident Management, not pagers • Key is to manage alerts, not fire and forget • Need consistent handling • Security needs to help IM with • The development of incident call scripts and workflow • The identification and proper coding of security incidents • Processing of security related Incidents

  31. Problem Management • Determination of root cause of actual and potential incidents and, where it makes business sense, eliminate it. • Security involved with problem teams to establish solid solutions • Working on security related problem ticket • Ensuring that proposed solution doesn’t compromise security • Security opens problem tickets for Problems

  32. Release Management • Ensures the quality of releases into production via formal checks. Spans from development through testing to operations • Security will define what the security requirements of releases will be • Controls in a service • Testing of controls • Documentation of controls • Security will check on the contents and security of the Definitive Software Library (DSL)

  33. Capacity Management • Tasked with translating business capacity requirements into IT service and then Configuration Item (CI) resource requirements • Ensure that security is factored into capacity requirements • Ensure that capacity constraints don’t cause vulnerabilities • Out of disk space errors causing untrapped script failures, etc.

  34. Availability Management • To understand the Availability needs of the business and to continuously strive to improve • Availability is a key element of Customer satisfaction • You can not have sustainable high-availability without fundamentally sound security • Availability Management contributes to the Security Policy • Availability Management advises SLM on all Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) issues

  35. IT Financial Management • Budgeting, Costing, Charge backs and Value for IT services • Need to ensure security requirements are understood and budgeted for • Want to avoid cutting security features due to budget constraints • Information Security and the organization will pay in the long-term for short cuts in development / procurement • Security measures need proper budgeting, costing, etc. • ROI is often ex post facto – in the value is often only “provable” after an event • Security of the ITFM services

  36. IT Service Continuity Management • Defines how IT will support the Business Continuity Plans (BCP) of the organization • A disaster may create/exacerbate vulnerabilities • Security needs to understand and approve the security implications of the ITSCM plans

  37. Are compliance, security and operations mutually exclusive?Of Course Not!

  38. Continuous Improvement Is Key • Like any process, you must pick a place to start and begin • As you gain more experience, evolve the various aspects of security as the organization matures • Be sure to tie security activities to functional area objectives and organizational goals * Adapted from ITIL Service Support Graphic

  39. Additional Resources

  40. IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) • Office of Government Commercehttp://www.ogc.gov.uk/guidance_itil.asp • British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA)http://www.becta.org.uk/tsas • Microsoft’s Operations Framework (MOF)http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/cits/mo/smf • IT Service Management Forumhttp://www.itsmf.org

  41. The IT Process Institute • Maintained by the Information Technology Process Institute (http://www.itpi.org) • Visible Ops leverages ITIL and is prescriptive • Change Management is key, as is reduction in variation and integration of process areas • It is split into three project phases to start • Phase 1 – Stabilize the Patient • Phase 2 – Catch & Release and Find Fragile Artifacts • Phase 3 – Create a Repeatable Build Library • Phase 4 – Continual Improvement – is the start of a process. • ITPI Controls Benchmark Study • Scientific study of what controls really matter • From 200+ to 53 to 3 + 9 foundation controls with August 2007 release • Can you detect unauthorized change? • Do you have defined consequences for intentional unauthorized change? • Do you have a formal process for managing known errors? • The 9 are largely communication and coordination controls • Highly recommended!! • Visible Ops Security • Four discrete catalytic phases • The phases at this point are: • Phase 1: Stabilize the Patient and Get Plugged In • Phase 2: Find Business Risks, Identify Controls and Fix Fragile Artifacts • Phase 3: Implement Development and Release Controls • Phase 4: Enable Continuous Improvement • Coming late Fall 2007

  42. Other Best Practice Sources • Australia Standard 4360 Risk Management - http://www.riskmanagement.com.au/ • British Standards Institute (BSI) - http://www.bsonline.bsi-global.com/ • Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute (SEI) - http://www.sei.cmu.edu/ • Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) - http://www.cert.org/ • COSO ERM - http://www.coso.org • Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) – http://www.ffiec.gov • IIA’s GAIT Page - http://www.theiia.org/guidance/technology/gait/ • International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27000 –- http://www.iso.ch • ISACA – COBIT- http://www.isaca.org • OECD Guidelines on Information Security - http://www.oecd.org/document/42/0,2340,en_2649_34255_15582250_1_1_1_1,00.html • The Systems Security Engineering Capability Maturity Model – (SSE-CMM) - http://www.sse-cmm.org/index.html • US General Accounting Office (GAO) – http://www.gao.gov • US National Institute of Standards (NIST) - http://www.csrc.nist.gov/

  43. Thank you for the privilege of facilitating this webcast George Spafford George.Spafford@Pepperweed.com http://www.pepperweed.com Daily News Archive and Subscription Instructions http://www.spaffordconsulting.com/dailynews.html

  44. Questions?

  45. If you have any further questions, e-mail webcasts@jupitermedia.com For future ITSM Watch Webcasts, visit www.jupiterwebcasts.com/itsm Thank you again for attending

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