Cybersecurity Threats and Mitigation

This assignment delves into the multifaceted landscape of cybersecurity threats. It examines prevalent threats such as malware, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, insider threats, and data breaches. The analysis extends to risk assessment methodologies, encompassing uncertainty and its impact on decision-making. Furthermore, it investigates diverse mitigation strategies aimed at bolstering organizational defenses against these evolving cyber perils.

Running head: SECURITY RISKS OF VIC GOVERNMENT
Security Risks of VIC Government
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

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Executive Summary
The main objective of this report is to focus on the security threats and its ranking according to
the VIC government. This report discusses about the difference between deliberate and
accidental threats. It also gives recommendation on how to manage and mitigate the risks.

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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
1. Illustration of Security Risks and Threats in VIC Government......................................3
2. Explanation of the Diagram and Categorization of Risk Factors....................................5
2.1 Description of the components of diagram................................................................5
2.2 Classification of Risk Exposure Areas......................................................................7
3. Comparison and Ranking of Accidental and Deliberate Threats....................................9
4. Security or Risk Management Challenges of VIC Government...................................11
5. Risk and Uncertainty.....................................................................................................11
6. Risk Control and Mitigation of VIC Government.........................................................12
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................12
References..........................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
In this era of information and communication technology, security is an essential
requirement for any type of organization whether private or public. Government is responsible
for tackling different types of data and must be taken care of without any problem. Data breach
of any type of sensitive data can cause problems. VIC government is the government of the state
Victoria in Australia. It deals with different types of data and must be taken care of in a proper
manner.
This report discusses about the types of security threats that VIC government faces and it
also ranks the various category of risks based on their degree of exposure. This report also points
out the various types of exposure in high, low, medium risk exposure category. There are several
types of risk under which the deliberate and accidental risks are mainly important. This report
compares and contrasts both the risk in a comprehensive manner. This report also discusses
about the several challenges that VIC government faces while deciding about the internal and
external risk advisors. A brief difference between risk and uncertainty is also mentions in this
report. The risk management and assessment of the VIC government is also discussed in this
report.
1. Illustration of Security Risks and Threats in VIC Government
The diagram below shows the risks and threats of the VIC Government.

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Figure 1: Factors of Risk and Threats in information system of VIC Government
(Source: Created by the author in Ms-Visio)
2. Explanation of the Diagram and Categorization of Risk Factors
2.1 Description of the components of diagram
The diagram given above shows the different security threats faced by the VIC
governments. The diagram shows that the VIC government has a code of practice along with the
information system. There are four main categories of risks shown in the diagram. They are
accidental, deliberate, internal and external risks or threats. This diagram also shows the risk
management and assessment system of the VIC government.
VIC Government: VIC or the Victoria Government is the state government of the state of
Victoria in Australia. This government has several type of information in the system of the
government. The information is sensitive in nature and if these data are lost or manipulated then
this can lead to severe trouble for the entire state and even the country (Von Solms & Van
Niekerk, 2013). This government has the control and rights over the information of the user. The
members of the VIC government are the users of the information system of the government.
Information System: The information system in the government is the information
management system that consists of the software and database that stores several sensitive data
of the members of the government. The VIC government is responsible for the handling the data
and information present in the system of the government (Bommer, Crowley & Pinho, 2015).
Only authorized users are not able to access the VIC government data. Effective and efficient
management of the system allows the government to work in a proper and well planned manner.

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Code of Practices: A set of norms that is followed in order to maintain a proper
working of the government is called the code of practices. This code of practices is well
integrated and complies with ISO, IEC.AC, and AZS 17799:2001 that is declared by the code of
ethics. This code of ethics states and tells the only authorized people will be able to access
information in the database and information system present in the organization. This would not
allow the non users of the organizations to access information that are sensitive in nature.
Unauthorized access can lead to misuse as well as deletion of information.
Threats and Risks: Threats are very severe issue for an organization as well as the
government. Government is responsible for managing a state. In this case study the VIC state
government of the Victoria state of Australia is responsible for managing the entire state of
Victoria (Bommer, Crowley & Pinho, 2015). The risks and threats of the government are
discussed in this report in details. The risks and threats are the most important factors that affect
the information flow of the organization.
Accidental Threats: These are the types of threats that do not have any wrong motive.
These threats take place in an accidental manner (Alcorn, Good & Pain, 2013). It does not affect
the information flow in the system due to accidental flow. There can be failure of communication
due to this type of threat. There can be technical error and unseen situations that can take place in
the future. There can also be transmission errors. Deletion of information due to some mistake of
the employees is a good example of accidental threat. Accidental threats are not much harmful
because this can be rectified after identification.
Deliberate Threats: These are the types of threats that are dangerous in nature. These
deliberate threats are done purposely by any hacker or malicious software (Von Solms & Van

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Niekerk, 2013). These are done for the purpose of harming the organization or government.
These threats do affect the operation of the government. It is very difficult to rectify these types
of problems. These types of threats take place due to theft and fraud. Eavesdropping,
unauthorized access, malwares, software piracy and denial of services are some of the type of
deliberate threats.
External Threats: These are the types of threats that are not under the control of the
government. These are external to the government (Lam, 2014). These threats take place due to
external forces like political instability and environmental policies. There are other main types of
external threats like competition among the several organizations and parties. These threats
cannot be controlled by the government as these are extrinsic in nature.
Internal Threats: These are the types of threats that are intrinsic in nature. There are
several types of internal threats like problem among the employees, technological obsolescence,
lack of resources and financial limitations. These threats are under the control of the government
and they can take necessary steps to overcome such threats (Man et al., 2013). There will not be
much harm due to these types of threat as the employees are quiet aware of the situation and then
the employees can find a method of rectifying the issues (Alcorn, Good & Pain, 2013). Internal
threats are the cause of internal combustion. There can be failure of communication due to these
types of threats.
2.2 Classification of Risk Exposure Areas
Risks can be classified in terms of various exposures due to its impact on the government.
These types of exposures are classified according to the degree of impact into high risk exposure
area, medium low risk area, medium risk area and low risk area (Lam, 2014).

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High Risk Exposure: This is a type of threat that has great impact on the operations of
the government. This is a type of threat where the government will be affected in a serious
manner and that cannot be rectified. This type of risk cannot be controlled by the government.
The external and deliberate risks are under this category. These are the types of threats that are
not under the control of the government. These are external to the government (Lam, 2014).
These threats take place due to external forces like political instability and environmental
policies. These threats cannot be controlled by the government as these are extrinsic in nature.
There are other main types of external threats like competition among the several organizations
and parties. . The deliberate threats are done purposely by any hacker or malicious software (Von
Solms & Van Niekerk, 2013). These are done for the purpose of harming the organization or
government. Eavesdropping, unauthorized access, malwares, software piracy and denial of
services are some of the type of deliberate threats (Zargar, Joshi & Tipper, 2013). These threats
do affect the operation of the government. It is very difficult to rectify these types of problems.
These types of threats take place due to theft and fraud.
Medium Risk Exposure: The medium risk exposure means that the impact is moderate
on the government. These types of threats affect the operation and flow of information in the
government in a moderate manner. These are generally the internal type of risks. The technical
errors that take place are rectifiable in nature and can be classified under this category ( Bommer,
Crowley & Pinho, 2015). These are the types of threats that are intrinsic in nature. These threats
are under the control of the government and they can take necessary steps to overcome such
threats (Man et al., 2013). There are several types of internal threats like problem among the
employees, technological obsolescence, lack of resources and financial limitations. Internal
threats are the cause of internal combustion. There can be failure of communication due to these

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types of threats. There will not be much harm due to these types of threat as the employees are
quiet aware of the situation and then the employees can find a method of rectifying the issues
(Alcorn, Good & Pain, 2013).
Medium Low Risk Exposure: These are the types of threat whose impact is medium to
low in nature. Consider a situation of spamming that goes on in the environment. They can take
place at any time.
Low Risk Exposure: These types of threats do not have any great impact on the flow of
operations and information of the government. These types of threats are not deliberate in nature.
They are accidental threats. These are the types of threats that do not have any wrong motive.
These threats take place in an accidental manner (Alcorn, Good & Pain, 2013). It does not affect
the information flow in the system due to accidental flow. There can also be transmission errors.
Deletion of information due to some mistake of the employees is a good example of accidental
threat. Accidental threats are not much harmful because this can be rectified after identification.
There harmfulness degree is less.
3. Comparison and Ranking of Accidental and Deliberate Threats
Accidental Threats: These are those kinds of threats that occur because of unwanted
errors committed by the employees. There are no malicious intentions behind such types of risks
(Man et al., 2013). The exposure level of this threat is low as this does not affect the government
in a severe manner. These threats take place in an accidental manner (Alcorn, Good & Pain,
2013). It does not affect the information flow in the system due to accidental flow. There can be
failure of communication due to this type of threat. There can be technical error and unseen

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situations that can take place in the future. There can also be transmission errors. These are the
types of threats that do not have any wrong motive.
Rank: This threat is given 2nd position.
Example: Wrong entry of data by the employees, deletion or modification of data due to
some mistake.
Reason for the rank 2: This type of threat does not have any specific wrong motive
behind the act. Here the employees are unmindful and careless and does some mistake by their
own fault.
Deliberate Threat: These threats take place due to hacking or other malware that have
wrong intention in harming the operation and information of the entire organization or the
government. It is very difficult to rectify these types of problems. The deliberate threats are done
purposely by any hacker or malicious software (Von Solms & Van Niekerk, 2013). These are
done for the purpose of harming the organization or government.
Example: Malicious software or malware (Green, Payne & Wood, 2013), hacking, denial
of service attack, virus, Trojan horses.
Reason for Rank 1: There are specific wrong motives behind this type of threat. It
attacks and harms the government in a dangerous way. The problems faced b y the government
due to this type of threat is extremely in nature.

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4. Security or Risk Management Challenges of VIC Government
Several challenges are faced by the government in deciding and selecting a risk
management method among the two.
Internal Security Management: These types of management techniques involve the
employees or members of the government to participate in the organization in order to manage
security related issues (Lam, 2014). The benefit of this plan is that the money spent will be less.
The challenges will be conflict of roles. There will be competition among the employees as to
who is powerful and this will indirectly affect the productivity of the organization.
External Security Management: The benefits of hiring external agents for managing risk
will help the government in many ways. They will be able to gather satisfactory information and
solve the problem in a proper way (Ali et al., 2014). There can be issues related to loss of control
and misunderstandings leading to more chaos (Rakow, Heard & Newell, 2015). There can be
problems like mislead also.
5. Risk and Uncertainty
Risk is known to be the winning or losing probability of anything that is worthy of
consideration. It has an extremely uncertain nature (Rasmussen, 2013). VIC considers the
security related threats to be the risks that are associated with the government. Risks can be
controlled by taking specific procedures (Silbey, 2013). Risk can never be eliminated but it can
be minimized to some extent.
Any situation whose future happenings are not known can be considered to be uncertain.
The future of any event will not be visible to the VIC government leading to tremendous risk of

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the operations (Covello et al., 2013). Uncertainties cannot be controlled by the government of
Victoria. Uncertainty is the base of risk.
6. Risk Control and Mitigation of VIC Government
The VIC government can take massive steps to mitigate risks. They need to select the
right people for the right task (Perera & Nand, 2015). The analysis approach of risk
management chooses the best option among several options. The strategy approach on the other
hand makes up various strategies to overcome the risks. The investigation approach examines
and scrutinizes various ways to find out the best way to deal with risk in the government. The
initial step involves planning followed by risk assessment and handling (Nowak, 2013). Proper
identification needs to be done before the analysis phase. Then is the procedure of risk mitigation
and risk evaluation (Cheng, Liu & Yao, 2017). These types of approaches can be used by the
VIC government in order to overcome and prevent any breach of security.
Conclusion
This report concludes that the several threats of security that are faced by the VIC
government can be resolved by a procedural risk management approach. The risks are
categorized into several categories of high risk, medium, medium low and low risk exposure area
depending on their impact on the government of Victoria, Australia. This report also described
the challenges of the internal and external risk advisors along with their benefits and challenges.
Risks and uncertainty are two different things and these are also explained in a brief manner. The
report finally concludes that risks can be mitigated by following certain approaches that are well
suited for the government.

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