Questions for Management

Questions management should ask their security team - and the answers they should expect.

Basic Questions

  • "When were we last tested and what were the findings?"
  • "Have all critical findings from the last test been fixed?"
  • "Would we detect if someone broke into our systems today?"
  • "What is our incident response capability?"
  • "Who has admin access and do they all really need it?"

Questions That Reveal Truth

  • "If someone stole all our data today, when would we find out?"
  • "What is our security capability without key person X?"
  • "Which system, if compromised, would hurt us the most?"
  • "What would happen if all our employees received a convincing phishing email?"

Red Flags in Answers

  • "Everything is secure" - No one knows everything
  • "We have [vendor solution]" - Tools aren't strategy
  • "IT/vendor handles that" - Responsibility isn't transferable
  • "We've never had a problem" - Lack of detection isn't lack of attacks