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Security Assessment Template
Security Assessment Template
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Created by Keith A. Watson, CISSP on March 1, 2005
{CLIENT ORGANIZATION}
Security Assessment Report
{YOUR ORGANIZATION}
{YOUR MAILING ADDRESS}
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5
Top-Ten List 5
1. Information Security Policy 5
2. {Security Issue #2} 5
3. {Security Issue #3} 5
4. {Security Issue #4} 5
5. {Security Issue #5} 5
6. {Security Issue #6} 6
7. {Security Issue #7} 6
8. {Security Issue #8} 6
9. {Security Issue #9} 6
10. {Security Issue #10} 6
INTRODUCTION 7
Scope 7
Project Scope 7
In Scope 7
Out of Scope 7
BACKGROUND INFORMATION 8
{CLIENT ORGANIZATION} 8
ASSET IDENTIFICATION 9
Assets of the {CLIENT ORGANIZATION} 9
THREAT ASSESSMENT 9
Threats to the {CLIENT ORGANIZATION} 9
Vulnerabilities 10
The {CLIENT ORGANIZATION} has no information security policy 10
{State the Vulnerability} 10
PERSONNEL 11
Management 11
Operations 11
Development 11
Vulnerabilities 11
There is no information security officer 11
{State the Vulnerability} 11
NETWORK SECURITY 12
Vulnerabilities 12
The {CLIENT ORGANIZATION} systems are not protected by a network firewall 12
{State the Vulnerability} 13
SYSTEM SECURITY 13
Vulnerabilities 13
Users can install unsafe software 13
{State the Vulnerability} 14
APPLICATION SECURITY 14
Vulnerabilities 14
Sensitive information within the database is not encrypted 14
{State the Vulnerability} 14
OPERATIONAL SECURITY 15
Vulnerabilities 15
There is no standard for security management 15
{State the Vulnerability} 15
PHYSICAL SECURITY 15
Vulnerabilities 15
Building Vulnerabilities 16
Several key doors within the building are unlocked or can be forced open 16
{State the Vulnerability} 16
Security Perimeter Vulnerabilities 16
There is no entryway access control system 16
{State the Vulnerability} 17
Server Area Vulnerabilities 17
The backup media are not protected from fire, theft, or damage 17
{State the Vulnerability} 17
SUMMARY 18
Confidential and Proprietary Information: Need to Know
Page 3
{CLIENT ORGANIZATION}
Action Plan 18
References 18
Executive Summary
Briefly describe the activities of the assessment.
Talk about the importance of information security at the client organization.
Discuss security efforts that the organization has under taken.
Highlight three major security issues discovered that could significantly impact the operations of
the organization.
Top-Ten List
A top-ten list is used to highlight the ten most urgent issues discovered during an assessment.
Clients unfamiliar with security may be overwhelmed by a long list of problems. Putting the
major issues together may allow the client to easily focus efforts on these problems first.
The list below contains the “top ten” findings, weaknesses, or vulnerabilities discovered during
the site security assessment. Some of the issues listed here are coalesced from more than one
section of the assessment report findings. Additional information about each is provided
elsewhere in the report.
It is recommended that these be evaluated and addressed as soon as possible. These should be
considered significant and may impact the operations of the {CLIENT ORGANIZATION}.
Introduction
Provide an overview of the report.
Scope
The scope is the boundaries of the project. It is used to describe the on-site activities.
Project Scope
In Scope
The following activities are within the scope of this project:
Interviews with key staff members in charge of policy, administration, day-to-
day operations, system administration, network management, and facilities
management.
A Visual Walk Through of the facilities with administrative and facilities
personnel to assess physical security.
A series of Network Scans to enumerate addressable devices and to assess each
systems available network services. (These Scans will be conducted from within
each center’s network and from the outside.)
A configuration and security assessment of at most ten key systems at each
center.
Out of Scope
The following activities are NOT part of this security assessment:
Penetration Testing of systems, networks, buildings, laboratories or facilities.
Social Engineering to acquire sensitive information from staff members.
Testing Disaster Recovery Plans, Business Continuity Plans, or Emergency
Response Plans.
First Day
Second Day
Third Day
Background Information
Use this section to talk about any relevant background information.
{CLIENT ORGANIZATION}
Describe the client organization.
Asset Identification
Describe the process of asset identification.
Tangible Assets
{List tangible assets.}
Intangible Assets
{List intangible assets.}
Each item on these lists also has value associated with it. Each item’s relative value changes over
time. In order to determine the current value, it is often best to think in terms of recovery costs.
What would it cost to restore or replace this asset in terms of time, effort, and money?
Threat Assessment
Describe the process of threat assessment.
Natural Threats
{List Natural Threats.}
Intentional Threats
{List Intentional Threats.}
Unintentional Threats
{List Unintentional Threats.}
Vulnerabilities
Listed below are the vulnerabilities discovered during the assessment relating to law, regulation,
and policy. These are considered significant and steps should be taken to address them.
Personnel
Describe the personnel at the client organization. Organize them into related groups.
In this example, we have Management, Operations, and Development.
Management
Describe the management group.
Operations
Describe the operations team.
Development
Describe the development team.
Vulnerabilities
Listed below are the staff vulnerabilities discovered during the interviews with the {CLIENT
ORGANIZATION} staff. These are considered significant and steps should be taken to address
them.
Risk
There are several risks in not having {this vulnerability}.
{Provide a list of risks.}
Recommendations
{Provide a list of recommendations}.
Network Security
Describe the state of network security at the client organization.
List public network resources and sites.
List partner connections and extranets.
Vulnerabilities
Listed below are the network security vulnerabilities discovered during the assessment. These are
considered significant and steps should be taken to address them.
System Security
Describe the state of system security at the client organization.
Vulnerabilities
Listed below are the system security vulnerabilities discovered during the assessment. These are
considered significant and steps should be taken to address them.
Application Security
Describe the state of application security at the client organization.
Vulnerabilities
Listed below are the application security vulnerabilities discovered during the assessment. These
are considered significant and steps should be taken to address them.
Recommendations
{Provide a list of recommendations}.
Operational Security
Describe the state of operational security at the client organization.
Vulnerabilities
Listed below are the application security vulnerabilities discovered during the assessment. These
are considered significant and steps should be taken to address them.
Physical Security
Describe the state of operational security at the client organization.
Specifically, list the building, security perimeter, and server room vulnerabilities.
Vulnerabilities
Listed below are the physical security vulnerabilities discovered during the assessment. These are
considered significant and steps should be taken to address them. The list is divided into a list of
vulnerabilities that relate to the building, the security perimeter, and the server rooms. The
building group contains vulnerabilities within the {CLIENT ORGANIZATION} office. The
security perimeter group includes the exterior office windows, doors, alarm system, and the
surrounding area. The server room are specific to rooms containing server equipment.
Building Vulnerabilities
Several key doors within the building are unlocked or can be forced
open
Explanation
There are several important doors in the interior {CLIENT ORGANIZATION} office
area that are normally unlocked or can be forced open even when locked. The door to the
utility room is a hollow core wooden door with no lock. The utility room contains the
wiring panel for the telephones, a junction for the fiber optic cable, and the alarm system
box. The room containing the modem pool is normally open and unlocked. The system
administrator’s office containing the office file and web server is usually unlocked and
open.
Risk
These doors protect valuable assets of the {CLIENT ORGANIZATION}. A determined
attacker, thief, or disgruntled employee could get through these important doors with
minimal effort to steal and/or destroy.
Recommendations
Replace current doors with stronger fire doors.
Replace existing door hardware with high security locks.
Weld exterior hinge pins in place.
The backup media are not protected from fire, theft, or damage
Explanation
The backup media are stored near the backup system on an open shelf in the server area.
The media could be stolen, misplaced, accidentally erased, dropped, or destroyed in a
fire. If a system or data must be recovered, the media may not be available or functional
when needed.
Risk
The operation of the {CLIENT ORGANIZATION} can be impacted if the backup media
are not available due to theft, damage, or fire.
Recommendations
Purchase and install a lockable, fireproof media safe. Secure it to the floor and/or
wall.
Summary
Summarize the report findings.
Action Plan
Provide an action plan that lists steps to be taken to improve security at the client organization.
References
Anderson, R. Security Engineering: A Guide to Building Dependable Distributed Systems.
Indianapolis: John Wiley & Sons, 2001.
Archer, Tom and Whitechapel. Andrew. Inside C#. Redmond: Microsoft Press, 2002.
Deraison, Renaud. The Nessus Security Scanner. http://www.nessus.com/
Garfinkel, Simson, Spafford, Eugene H., and Schwartz Alan. Practical Unix & Internet Security,
3rd Edition. Sebastapol: O’Reilly, 2003.
Gordon, Lawrence, Loeb, Martin, Lucyshyn, William and Richardson, Robert. “2004 CSI/FBI
Computer Crime and Security Survey,” San Francisco: Computer Security Institute, 2004.
International Standards Organization, International Electrotechnical Commission. Information
technology — Code of practice for information security management. ISO/IEC 17799:2000(E).
Switzerland: ISO/IEC, 2001.
Open Web Application Security Project. “The Ten Most Critical Web Application Security
Vulnerabilities – 2004 Update.” OWASP, 2004. http://www.wasp.org/documentation/topten.html
Peltier, Thomas R. Information Security Risk Analysis. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 2001.
Public Law No. 100-235. The Computer Security Act of 1987.
Stoneburner, Gary, Goguen, Alice, and Feringa, Alexis. “Risk Management Guide for
Information Technology Systems.” NIST Special Publication 800-30. National Institute of
Standards and Technology, 2001.
Stoneburner, Gary, Hayden, Clark, and Feringa, Alexis. “Engineering Principles for Information
Technology Security (A Baseline for Achieving Security).” NIST Special Publication 800-27 Rev
A. National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2004.
Swiderski, Frank and Snyder, Window. Threat Modeling. Redmond: Microsoft Press, 2004.
United States Department of Agriculture. “USDA Information Systems Security Policy.” USDA
3140-001. Washington: USDA, 1996.
Viega, John and McGraw, Gary. Building Secure Software. Indianapolis: Addison-Wesley, 2002.
Wood, Charles C., Banks, William W., Guarro, Sergio B., Garcia, Abel A., Hampel, Victor E.,
and Sartorio, Henry P. Computer Security. New York: Wiley, 1987.
Zwicky, Elizabeth D., Cooper, Simon, and Chapman, D. Brent. Building Internet Firewalls, 2nd
Edition. Sebastapol: O’Reilly, 2000.