Accountability Gap

CSIA 300: Cybersecurity for Leaders and Managers

Case Study #4: Accountability Gap
Scenario
You’re in your final weeks at Padgett-Beale as a management intern. Hopefully, this has been an enriching and rewarding experience for you. Before you finish out your time here, the Chief of Staff has asked you to prepare one last briefing paper – this time your audience will be three new members of the corporation’s Board of Directors (BoD). These busy executives need to be brought up to speed on their responsibilities with respect to cybersecurity.

The Chief of Staff has provided you with a list of readings that have been reviewed and found acceptable for use in preparing this briefing (the readings appear under Research in this file). The new members of the board will each receive a read-ahead package containing these readings.

As you work your way through the CoS’s reading list, you should take notes and familiarize yourself with the roles and responsibilities of a member of the Board of Directors. You should also review the Accountability Gap research report and the findings from that research. From these resources and others that you find on your own, you’ll need to identify and then discuss at least five security and privacy related issues that the board members need to be aware of. These should include cybersecurity related responsibilities for BoD members as enacted in federal and state laws and/or published in government or industry regulations. (Hint: look for terms such as fiduciary duty, liability, due diligence, etc.)

See the instructions below for additional information about length, formatting, and citing of sources.

Research
1. Review the Week 7 and 8 readings. You should pay special attention to the reading on the Accountability Gap (see https://conferences.law.stanford.edu/cyberday/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/10/3c1_The-Accountability-Gap-Report-%e2%80%93-Cybersecurity-and-Building-a-Culture-of-Responsibility-1.pdf )

2. Research the roles and responsibilities of Boards of Directors in general and with respect to cybersecurity. Here are some resources to help you get started:

a. https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/html/c5-71.html

b. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/sites/gsb/files/publication-pdf/cgri-quick-guide-03-board-directors-duties-liabilities.pdf

c. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/za/Documents/governance-risk-compliance/ZA_DutiesOfDirectors2013_16042014.pdf

d. https://securityintelligence.com/nacd-publishes-five-cybersecurity-principles-every-board-director-needs-to-know/

e. https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/opinions/corporate-board-responsibility/

f. https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2017/04/28/cybersecurity-trends-for-boards-of-directors/

g. https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2017/05/30/cybersecurity-must-be-high-on-the-board-agenda/

3. As you read the above readings, identify five or more ways that members of the BoD can become more informed about the company’s current cybersecurity posture (a key step in closing the “accountability gap.”) These will become your recommendations in your briefing paper.

4. Find at least one additional source that provides information that a member of the board of directors needs to know about his or her cybersecurity responsibilities.

Write
Write a 2 page briefing paper in which you present a summary of your research about the topic and your recommendations as to what should be included in a briefing to the new members of the Padgett-Beale Board of Directors. Be choosy about what you include – busy executives do not have the time to read lengthy, rambling papers. Don’t be too choosy however. Your recommended content should be comprehensive and fully address the briefing topic.

At a minimum, your briefing paper for this case study must include the following:

1. An introduction to the case scenario and the topic (use the information above)

2. A discussion of five or more key points about the topic (“cybersecurity and related responsibilities of members of corporate Boards of Directors”)

3. Five or more recommendations for closing the accountability gap by making sure that members of the BoD are educated about cybersecurity and informed about cybersecurity issues as they arise in the future.

4. A closing section in which you restate the key issues and your recommendations.

As you write your briefing paper, make sure that you address security issues using standard terms and definitions. See the resources listed under Week 1 and under Course Resources > Cybersecurity Concepts for definitions and terminology.

Submit For Grading
Submit your research paper in MS Word format (.docx or .doc file) using the Case Study #1 Assignment in your assignment folder. (Attach your file to the assignment entry.)

Additional Information
1. To save you time, a set of appropriate resources / reference materials has been included as part of this assignment. You must incorporate at least three of these resources into your final deliverable. You must also include one resource that you found on your own.

2. Your briefing paper should use standard terms and definitions for cybersecurity. See Course Content > Cybersecurity Concepts for recommended resources.

3. You must include a cover page with the assignment title, your name, and the due date. Your reference list must be on a separate page at the end of your file. These pages do not count towards the assignment’s minimum page count. (An example and template file are available in the LEO classroom. See CSIA_Basic_Paper_Template(APA_6ed,Nov2014).docx file under Content > Course Resources.)

4. Your briefing paper should be professional in appearance with consistent use of fonts, font sizes, margins, etc. You should use headings to organize your paper. The CSIA program recommends that you follow standard APA formatting since this will give you a document that meets the “professional appearance” requirements. APA formatting guidelines and examples are found under Course Resources > APA Resources. An APA template file (MS Word format) has also been provided for your use CSIA_Basic_Paper_Template(APA_6ed,Nov2014).docx.

5. You are expected to write grammatically correct English in every assignment that you submit for grading. Do not turn in any work without (a) using spell check, (b) using grammar check, (c) verifying that your punctuation is correct and (d) reviewing your work for correct word usage and correctly structured sentences and paragraphs.

6. You are expected to credit your sources using in-text citations and reference list entries. Both your citations and your reference list entries must follow a consistent citation style (APA, MLA, etc.).

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