Reference no: EM132194023

Case Study : Accountability Gap

Scenario

You're in your final weeks at Padgett-Beale as a management intern. Hopefully, this has been an enriching and rewarding experience for you.

Before you finish out your time here, the Chief of Staff has asked you to prepare one last briefing paper - this time your audience will be three new members of the corporation's Board of Directors (BoD).

These busy executives need to be brought up to speed on their responsibilities with respect to cybersecurity.

The Chief of Staff has provided you with a list of readings that have been reviewed and found acceptable for use in preparing this briefing (the readings appear under Research in this file). The new members of the board will each receive a read-ahead package containing these readings.

As you work your way through the CoS's reading list, you should take notes and familiarize yourself with the roles and responsibilities of a member of the Board of Directors.

You should also review the Accountability Gap research report and the findings from that research. From these resources and others that you find on your own, you'll need to identify and then discuss at least five security and privacy related issues that the board members need to be aware of.

These should include cybersecurity related responsibilities for BoD members as enacted in federal and statelaws and/or published in government or industryregulations. (Hint: look for terms such as fiduciary duty, liability, due diligence, etc.)

See the instructions below for additional information about length, formatting, and citing of sources.

Research

1. You should pay special attention to the reading on the Accountability Gap.

2. Research the roles and responsibilities of Boards of Directors in general and with respect to cybersecurity. Here are some resources to help you get started.

3. As you read the above readings, identify five or more ways that members of the BoD can become more informed about the company's current cybersecurity posture (a key step in closing the "accountability gap.") These will become your recommendations in your briefing paper.

4. Find at least one additional sourcethat providesinformationthat a member of the board of directors needs to know about his or her cybersecurity responsibilities.

Write

Write a 2 page briefing paper in which you present a summary of your research about the topic and your recommendations as to what should be included in a briefing to the new members of the Padgett-Beale Board of Directors.

Be choosy about what you include - busy executives do not have the time to read lengthy, rambling papers.

Don't be too choosy however. Your recommended content should be comprehensive and fully address the briefing topic.

At a minimum, your briefing paperfor this case study must include the following:

1. An introduction to the case scenario and the topic (use the information above)

2. Adiscussion of five or more key points about the topic ("cybersecurity and related responsibilities ofmembers of corporate Boards of Directors")

3. Five or more recommendations forclosing the accountability gap by making sure that members of the BoDare educated about cybersecurity and informed about cybersecurity issues as they arise in the future.

4. A closing section in which you restate the key issues and your recommendations.