Critical Thinking Activity: Module $05$ Case Exercises

Directions: After reading the Closing Scenario presented in the module, write a short response to each of the following discussion questions and ethical decision$-$making scenarios.

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Module $5$ Closing Scenario

Two weeks later, Brody got an e$-$mail from Nick inviting him to attend a meeting later in the week. The meeting was being called to discuss the formation of the company$$s new CSIRT.

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Brody would be one of the employees identified to perform specific actions when events became incidents and the response plans were activated. As a front$-$line watchstander in the SOC, Brody would play a critical role. In addition to his role as a key member of the response team, Brody was going to be invited to help develop plans and procedures and would then be trained to become a more effective first responder.

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Discussion Questions

$1.$ From what you know of the company so far, what various constituencies will the CSIRT serve?

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$2.$ Will the company need to hire more employees to meet the needs of the CSIRT, or would you suggest it outsource some of that effort? What do you think should be the factors that influence the decision to outsource incident response operations?

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Ethical Decision Making

$1.$ Thinking back to the opening scenario, suppose Brody had been the person responsible for the internal Webbased attack against the branch offices. Was he trying to set up a situation where he could make himself look good? Because there was no real harm done and he was careful not to damage production systems, was his action ethical? Why or why not?

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$2.$ Suppose the sequence of events described in the scenario was part of a penetration test by an outside contract assessment team. The test was authorized by Nick$$s superiors without advising Nick or his team. Do you think this is an appropriate way to test the company$$s readiness? Why or why not?