Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)Incident ManagementHard
A CISO is reviewing the organization's business continuity plan (BCP) and identifies a critical dependency on a single third-party vendor for a key communication platform. A disruption to this vendor could severely impact the organization's ability to communicate with customers and employees during a crisis. Which of the following is the MOST effective strategy to mitigate this single point of failure within the BCP?
- AImplement service level agreements (SLAs) with the vendor for high availability and quick recovery.
- BDevelop an alternative communication strategy and relationship with a secondary vendor.
- CRequire the vendor to provide their own BCP document for review.
- DConduct annual penetration tests on the vendor's communication platform.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Develop an alternative communication strategy and relationship with a secondary vendor.
To mitigate a single point of failure, especially for a critical dependency, establishing an alternative strategy with a secondary vendor provides true resilience. While SLAs and vendor BCPs offer assurance, they don't eliminate the risk of a single vendor failing entirely; a secondary option ensures continuity.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. SLAs provide contractual remedies but don't prevent the disruption itself or guarantee continuity if the primary vendor is completely unavailable.
- C. Reviewing the vendor's BCP provides insight but doesn't eliminate the single point of failure if that vendor still fails.
- D. Penetration tests assess security, not the availability or resilience of the vendor's platform during a broad disaster.
Mitigating Single Point of Failure (BCP)
Strategies employed within a Business Continuity Plan to prevent a single component, system, or vendor from causing a complete disruption of critical business operations.
- Involves redundancy, diversification, and alternative solutions.
- Critical for high-impact dependencies.
- Goes beyond contractual assurances to actual operational resilience.
Memory trick: SPOF mitigation needs 'D.R.A.F.T.': Diversify, Redundancy, Alternate vendors, Failover planning, and Testing alternatives.