ISO-IEC-27001-LEAD-IMPLEMENTER practice question 20 of 35

Scenario 7: InfoSec, based in Boston, MA, is a multinational corporation offering professional electronics, gaming, and entertainment products…

Full set: 290 questions

Domain Implementing an ISMS based on ISO/IEC 27001

Scenario 7: InfoSec, based in Boston, MA, is a multinational corporation offering professional electronics, gaming, and entertainment products. Following several information security incidents, InfoSec has decided to establish teams of experts and implement measures to prevent potential incidents in the future. Emma, Bob, and Anna were hired as the new members of InfoSec's information security team, which consists of a security architecture team, an incident response team (IRT), and a forensics team. Emma’s job is to create information security plans, policies, protocols, and training to prepare InfoSec to respond to incidents effectively. Emma and Bob would be full-time employees of InfoSec, whereas Anna was contracted as an external consultant. Bob, a network expert, will implement a screened subnet network architecture. This architecture will isolate the demilitarized zone (DMZ), to which hosted public services are attached, and InfoSec's publicly accessible resources from their private network. Thus, InfoSec will be able to block potential attackers from causing unwanted events inside the company's network. Bob is also responsible for ensuring a thorough evaluation of the nature of an unexpected event, including how the event happened and what or whom it might affect. On the other hand, Anna will create records of the data, reviews, analyses, and reports to keep evidence for disciplinary and legal action and use them to prevent future incidents. To do the work accordingly, she should be aware of the company's information security incident management policy beforehand. Among others, this policy specifies the type of records to be created, the place where they should be kept, and the format and content that specific record types should have. As part of InfoSec's initiative to strengthen information security measures, Anna will conduct information security risk assessments only when significant changes are proposed and will document the results of these risk assessments. Upon completion of the risk assessment process, Anna is responsible for developing and implementing a plan for treating information security risks and documenting the risk treatment results. Furthermore, while implementing the communication plan for information security, InfoSec’s top management was responsible for creating a roadmap for new product development. This approach helps the company to align its security measures with the product development efforts, demonstrating a commitment to integrating security into every aspect of its business operations. InfoSec uses a cloud service model that includes cloud-based apps accessed through the web or an application programming interface (API). All cloud services are provided by the cloud service provider, while data is managed by InfoSec. This introduces unique security considerations and becomes a primary focus for the information security team to ensure data and systems are protected in this environment. Based on this scenario, answer the following question: Which of the following cloud service models did InfoSec use?
Answer options
A: Infrastructure as a Service
B: Platform as a Service
C: Software as a Service Correct answer
Correct Answer:
C. Software as a Service
Explanation

The scenario describes a cloud service model where InfoSec accesses "cloud-based apps" through a web interface or an API. The cloud service provider is responsible for managing the applications, the platform, and the underlying infrastructure. InfoSec's responsibility is limited to managing its own data within these applications. This arrangement is the defining characteristic of the Software as a Service (SaaS) model, where a complete software solution is provided to the customer over the internet on a subscription basis, eliminating the need for the customer to manage the application or its infrastructure.

Why Incorrect

A. Infrastructure as a Service: This model provides only the fundamental computing resources (e.g., virtual servers, storage). The customer is responsible for deploying and managing the operating systems and applications, which is not what the scenario describes.
B. Platform as a Service: This model provides a platform for customers to develop, run, and manage their own applications. The scenario indicates InfoSec is using pre-built applications, not developing them.

References

1. Mell, P., & Grance, T. (2011). The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing (NIST Special Publication 800-145). National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Page 2, Section "Service Models": Defines Software as a Service (SaaS) as: "The capability provided to the consumer is to use the provider’s applications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client devices through either a thin client interface, such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email), or a program interface." This directly matches the scenario's description.

2. ISO/IEC 27017:2015, Information technology — Security techniques — Code of practice for information security controls based on ISO/IEC 27002 for cloud services.

Annex A (informative), "Cloud service customer and cloud service provider security control responsibilities": This annex implicitly defines the models by outlining responsibility splits. For SaaS, it shows the provider has the vast majority of responsibilities for infrastructure and platform security, while the customer's responsibility is focused on user access management and their data, which aligns with the scenario.

3. Armbrust, M., Fox, A., Griffith, R., Joseph, A. D., Katz, R., Konwinski, A., ... & Zaharia, M. (2009). Above the clouds: A Berkeley view of cloud computing (Technical Report No. UCB/EECS-2009-28). University of California, Berkeley.

Page 2, Section 2.1, "Classes of Utility Computing": Describes SaaS as "the applications themselves are provided as a service." It contrasts this with IaaS, where the customer builds their own applications on the provider's hardware. This academic source reinforces the distinction used in the analysis.

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