Companys Business Foundation and Deliberate Threats to Information Sy Assignment - 8

Companys Business Foundation and Deliberate Threats to Information Systems - Assignment Example These two threats to the foundation of a company are specific in threatening the company’s survival as both a sustainable entity and a competitive rival to other companies as well. In a revelation of these threats, CSOs should be aware that rival companies and/or private groups can use espionage as a means to acquire the company information illegally. While the issue of espionage may be addressed as an external threat, in most cases, CIOs should be aware that internal activities exposing critical information to employees can lead to espionage. This means that through an illegal acquisition of that information, employees in firms can facilitate the damaging of the business foundation of the company by selling the information to rivals. Additionally, information extortion is another area where CSOs should be aware of when it comes to business foundation. In order to secure a company’s business foundation, the CSO should be aware that illegal access to information can lead to corporate blackmail. This process involves a hacker or a holder of sensitive information who agrees to give up information or not to disclose it for a fee. The motive of information extortion is to create value by pointing out the possible losses that would be incurred if the information was accessed by rival companies Information (Security, pp. 103-104). CSOs must be equipped with the information regarding the value of the company data and how such information can be harmful if it was lost or accessed by unauthorized personnel. When CSOs are aware of the information value, two primary corporate cyber threats are considered. Firstly, the CSO should be aware that information loss can result from sabotage and vandalism. Although companies do not have social enemies, they have financial rivals who thrive to push as many of their competitors out of business. By damaging or rendering a company’s information database unusable, a company is unable to move on as it has to accommodate all direct losses, lawsuits, and possible closures (Information Security, pp. 104-105).