IT549_MilestoneTwo_SNHU_2022

Running Head: INFORMATION SECURITY g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g

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INFORMATION SECURITY g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g

The leaders of an organization play an extremely critical role to make sure that the

security infrastructure is robust and up-to-date. In the case of the Equifax concern, when

the cyber attack took place, the CEO of the entity was Mr. Richard Smith. Soon after the

security breach incident had occurred, he was the third senior executive to have retired

from the business undertaking. The other members who had previously left the

organization soon after the cyber incident were Susan Mauldin and David Webb (Equifax

hack: two executives to leave company after breach, 2019). They were the top security

officer and the chief information officer respectively. The leaders resigned as it was their

responsibility to take care of the security environment of Equifax but they failed to

implement a robust security system. Due to their poor approach, the security breach

Feidler was selected as the Non-executive Chairman. The main reason for the change of

leadership in the organization was due to the poor responsiveness of the former leaders to

strengthen the security model firm’s information (Equifax CEO Richard Smith suddenly

decides to ‘retire’, 2019). Richard Smith failed to design a full proof security model for

Equifax due to which a number of vulnerabilities of the entity were exploited by online

hackers. Similarly, Susan Mauldin and David Webb who were holding vital leadership

positions in the organizational context were not capable enough to upgrade and strengthen

the security system that was at par with the industry standards.

INFORMATION SECURITY g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g

A number of key ethical and legal considerations relating to information assurance

must be taken into account by the leaders in the evolving organizational context. In the

case of the Equifax entity, the cyber breach exposed the catastrophic mismanagement of

the security infrastructure by its leaders (Equifax CEO Richard Smith suddenly decides to

‘retire’, 2019). The leaders had failed to take an ethical and legal stance while designing

the security framework. This is evident from the fact that they had failed to patch a well-

known security loophole which is the main reasons why the online hackers were able to

gain access into the organizational system.

The main legal and ethical considerations that the new leaders of the entity took

after the cyber attack include the introduction of the TrustedID Premier services. This new

the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other

agencies about the data breach incident. g g

The key components of information assurance

In order to establish a robust security system in the organizational context, business

undertakings need to have proper and updated security policies that revolve around

confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. In the Equifax entity, the security

policy was not well designed. In fact, the business undertaking failed to match the security

model with its market growth (Bloomberg - Are you a robot?, 2019). The organization did

INFORMATION SECURITY g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g g

system. Similarly, the organization that specialized in data analytics and technology failed

to modernize its technology-based security model with the evolving times and changing

the technological landscape. As per reports, if the business organization would have been

able to take suitable actions against the observable security loopholes prior to the cyber

incident, the data breach accident could have been totally prevented.

undertakings need to focus on the confidentiality aspect, integrity aspect and availability

aspect of technology. These key components of information assurance must be ingrained

so that a safe and secure It infrastructure can be created by a business entity.

References

Equifax CEO Richard Smith suddenly decides to ‘retire’. (2019). Retrieved from

https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/26/equifax-ceo-retires-after-massive-data-breach/

Rep. Correa Reiterates Need For Federal Data Breach Laws. (2019). Retrieved from

https://medium.com/congressman-lou-correa/rep-correa-reiterates-need-for-federal-

data-breach-laws-22bacdc57348