Fullsoft, Inc. is a software development company based in New York City. Fullsoft’s software product development code is kept confidential in an effort to safeguard the company’s competitive advantage in the marketplace. Fullsoft recently experienced a malware attack; as a result, proprietary information was leaked. The company is now in the process of recovering from this breach.

You are a security professional who reports into Fullsoft’s infrastructure operations team. The chief technology officer (CTO) asks you and your colleagues to participate in a team meeting to discuss the incident and its potential impact on the company.

Tasks

1. Prepare for the meeting by deliberating on the following questions:

What circumstances may have allowed this incident to occur, or could allow a similar incident to occur in the future?

What insights about risks, threats, and/or vulnerabilities can you glean from reports of similar incidents that have occurred in other organizations?

What potential outcomes should the company anticipate as a result of the malware attack and possible exposure of intellectual property?

Which countermeasures would you recommend the company implement to detect current vulnerabilities, respond to the effects of this and other successful attacks, and prevent future incidents?

2. Write an outline of key points related to the questions above that the team should discuss at the meeting.

Self-Assessment Checklist

I created an outline that describes key points the team should discuss at the meeting. My outline describes:

Circumstances that may have allowed the malware infection to occur, or could allow a similar incident to occur in the future

Insights about risks, threats, and/or vulnerabilities from reports of similar incidents that have occurred in other organizations

Potential outcomes of a malware attack and exposure of confidential information

Countermeasures the company should implement