A Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is reviewing the results of a gap analysis with an outside cybersecurity consultant. The gap analysis reviewed all procedural and technical controls and found the following:
- High-impact controls implemented: 6 out of 10
- Medium-impact controls implemented: 409 out of 472
- Low-impact controls implemented: 97 out of 1000
The report includes a cost-benefit analysis for each control gap. The analysis yielded the following information:
- Average high-impact control implementation cost: $15,000; Probable ALE for each high-impact control gap: $95,000
- Average medium-impact control implementation cost: $6,250; Probable ALE for each medium-impact control gap: $11,000
Due to the technical construction and configuration of the corporate enterprise, slightly more than 50% of the medium-impact controls will take two years to fully implement. Which of the following conclusions could the CISO draw from the analysis?
A. Too much emphasis has been placed on eliminating low-risk vulnerabilities in the past
B. The enterprise security team has focused exclusively on mitigating high-level risks
C. Because of the significant ALE for each high-risk vulnerability, efforts should be focused on those controls
D. The cybersecurity team has balanced residual risk for both high and medium controls
Correct Answer: C