ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity (CC)Security PrinciplesHard
A cyber insurance company is assessing the potential financial losses for a client due to a data breach. They estimate that if a breach occurs, the direct costs (legal fees, notification costs, forensics) would be $1,000,000 and the indirect costs (reputation damage, lost customers) would be an additional $500,000. What is the total Single Loss Expectancy (SLE) for this data breach event?
- A$1,500,000
- B$1,000,000
- C$500,000
- D$2,000,000
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. $1,500,000
Single Loss Expectancy (SLE) is the monetary loss expected from a single occurrence of a risk event. It includes all costs associated with that single event. In this case, SLE = Direct Costs + Indirect Costs = $1,000,000 + $500,000 = $1,500,000.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. This only accounts for direct costs, not the total SLE.
- C. This only accounts for indirect costs, not the total SLE.
- D. This value is twice the direct costs, which is not supported by the scenario.
Single Loss Expectancy (SLE)
The monetary loss that is expected from a single occurrence of a specific risk event. It includes both tangible (direct) and intangible (indirect) costs associated with the event.
- Expressed in monetary terms
- Focuses on a single incident
- Component of Annualized Loss Expectancy (ALE)
Memory trick: SLE: Sum all Losses from an Event.