White Paper "Information Security

Risk Management"
Protection objectives: confidentiality, integrity, availability

Version: 1.1
Date: March 3, 2021
Classification: public
V D A W H I T E P A P E R - INFORMATION SECURITY RISK MANAGEMENT

Content

Introduction and Motivation ................................................................................ 3

Topical Integration in the Context of TISAX and VDA ISA ................................. 4

Definitions of Terms ........................................................................................... 5

Organizational Framework Conditions ............................................................... 6

Definition of the Scope of Application ............................................................. 6

Roles and Responsibilities ............................................................................. 6

Risk Assessment ................................................................................................ 7

Risk Identification ........................................................................................... 8

Risk Analysis ................................................................................................ 10

Risk Evaluation ............................................................................................ 11

Risk Treatment ................................................................................................. 13

Risk Monitoring and Communication ................................................................ 16

Conclusion and recommendation ..................................................................... 18

List of Authors .................................................................................................. 19

Document and Version History ......................................................................... 19

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Introduction and Motivation

Business decisions are associated with both opportunities and risks. The assess-
ment of which risks can be taken in a controlled manner for a company and for
the company's assets must be systematically controlled. This process is called
risk management.

Risk management enables companies to establish appropriate measures for the

protection of corporate assets while weighing the opportunities and risks. An ef-
fective risk management system is therefore a control instrument for the com-
pany´s management and thus makes a significant contribution to the success of
the company.

Risk management is an essential component of information security and forms

the backbone of every effective information security management system (ISMS).
Several laws (e.g. AktG, EU-DSGVO, IT security law) as well as common stand-
ards and best practices (e.g. ISO/IEC 27001, VDA ISA) require an established
risk management.

The objective of this White Paper is to inform companies in the automotive indus-
try with regard to risk-oriented information security management and to enable
those to establish an effective information security risk management (ISRM). In-
formation security risks exist in the creation and processing of information and
relate to potential events that have a negative effect on the achievement of the
information security protection objectives.

This White Paper focuses on the protection objectives confidentiality, integrity

and availability. The terms “company” and “organization” as well as “information
security risks” and “threats” are used synonymously in this document.

The explanations in this White Paper are based on the risk management stand-
ards ISO 31000 and ISO/IEC 27005, but additionally take into account specific
requirements of the automotive industry.

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Topical Integration in the Context of TISAX and VDA

ISA
In 2017, the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) has defined
a uniform methodology for determining the information security level of an organ-
ization. The title of this methodology is TISAX (Trusted Information Security As-
sessment Exchange).

TISAX is based on the VDA's catalogue of requirements - the Information security

assessment catalogue (“VDA ISA”). This catalogue contains control questions for
determining the level of information security.

The requirements associated with the control questions were determined by a

risk assessment carried out by the VDA Working Group on Information Security
and are to be considered as minimum requirements for the protection of infor-
mation processed during collaboration within the automotive industry.

In addition, the VDA ISA (current version 5.0) contains a specific control question
on information security risk management (1.4.1):

"To what extent are information security risks managed?"

"The objective of information security risk management is the early identifica-

tion, evaluation and treatment of risks in order to achieve the protection ob-
jectives of information security. It thus enables the organization to establish
appropriate measures to protect the assets of the organization while weighing
the opportunities and risks. It is advisable to make the organization’s infor-
mation security risk management as simple as possible in order to operate
effectively and efficiently. “

Listing 1: Control question and its objective according to VDA ISA

The following recommendations are intended to help companies to effectively

implement the requirements arising from this control issue.

In the following two examples are attached to each of the process steps for illus-
tration purposes. These are carried along throughout the entire process.

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Definitions of Terms
Information Assets

Information assets represent company assets, processes or information worthy

of protection. This information can be in physical (e.g. documents, prototypes)
and/or digital form (e.g. as a file or in databases). The White Paper is especially
dedicated to information in the automotive industry, e.g. design and construction
data, development know-how or logistics information.

Threat

A threat is a circumstance or event that can impair the protection objectives of

information security. The cause of a threat can originate inside or outside a com-
pany and may be intentional or unintentional.

Vulnerability

A vulnerability is a security relevant gap in processes, systems and/or organiza-

tions (e.g. employees). A vulnerability can lead to a threat becoming effective and
causing damage.

Probability of Occurrence

The probability of occurrence is an estimate of the frequency with which a threat

exploits a vulnerability.

Damage

Damage is caused by the occurrence of a threat by exploiting a vulnerability. This

means a negative impact on the organization.

Risk

A risk describes the combination of threat and vulnerability, evaluated in terms of

probability of occurrence and potential damage. The occurrence of a risk can lead
to a negative deviation from operational or strategic objectives.

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Organizational Framework Conditions

Definition of the Scope of Application
The risk management of information security is based on the scope of the ISMS.

Roles and Responsibilities

Different tasks, competencies and responsibilities are required for risk assess-
ment and management. These are typically represented in roles. In principle, and
especially in very small organizations, several roles can be performed by the
same person. When combining several roles to one person, it should be noted
that conflicts of interest may arise. These should be taken into account.

Risk Manager

The risk manager controls the risk management in the company and "keeps the
overview" of the risks. He1 consolidates the individual risks and reports them to
the organization's management. He defines processes, methods, tools / tem-
plates and is responsible for the quality assurance of reported risks.

Risk Owners

The risk owner is responsible for assessing and handling the risks assigned to
him. The risk owner must therefore be determined at a hierarchical level within
the organization that is empowered to make appropriate decisions in dealing with
those risks. In practice, the risk owner usually works in a “business department“
and is the information owner. To assess and deal with risks, the risk owner should
draw on professional expertise from the business. The risk owner can delegate
the implementation of risk assessment and handling, but never the responsibility.

All Employees and Third Parties

Any employee or third party who has access to information or to the organiza-
tion's IT systems is responsible for identifying threats that may jeopardize the
information security objectives and communicating them to the risk owner (if
known), risk manager or security officer of the organization. Risk management
essentially consists of the steps risk assessment, risk treatment and monitoring.

1
In this White Paper the male gender is used only for convenience, but refers to all genders equally.

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Risk Assessment
This chapter explains how the requirements of VDA ISA control question 1.4.1
can be implemented with regard to the first step - risk assessment.

+ Risk assessments are carried out both regularly and on an ad hoc basis

+ If the environment changes (e.g. organizational structure, location, change

of rules and regulations), a prompt reassessment is carried out

+ Information security risks are assessed according to the probability of oc-

currence and potential damage

+ A procedure exists for identifying, assessing and dealing with information

security risks within the organization

+ Information security risks are documented

+ Each information security risk is assigned to a responsible person (risk

owner). This person is responsible for the assessment and handling of infor-
mation security risks.

Listing 2: Measures according to VDA ISA for risk assessment

In addition to the systematic recording of risks as part of a regular process, it is

also necessary that risks identified at short notice are considered in risk manage-
ment and documented as required.

The result of the risk assessment is an overview ("risk register") of all identified
risks, the clustering into "very high", "high", "medium" and "low" risks and the
allocation of risks to the risk owners. This overview is the basis for the next step
- risk treatment.

The sub-steps for identifying, analyzing and assessing risks are explained in the
following and can be seen as a process description, supplemented by the respec-
tive responsibilities for the individual steps.

The risk assessment consists of the following activities:

1) Risk identification
2) Risk analysis (and evaluation)

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Risk Identification
The purpose of risk identification is to systematically record the risks affecting an
organization. Possible tools for identifying risks are workshops (with technical ex-
perts) or assessments (e.g. a TISAX self-assessment using the VDA ISA).

The requirements described in the VDA ISA already represent risk-reducing

measures (if effectively implemented) and reflect an accepted level of risk by the
members of the VDA. A TISAX assessment is therefore well suited to identify
possible deviations from the requirements and thus potential vulnerabilities in the
organization.

The following aspects should be considered in the context of risk identification:

▪ information assets to be protected
▪ relevant threats
▪ potential weaknesses/vulnerabilities

1) Starting point: identification of the information assets to be protected

Possible risks should be recorded based on the identified critical information as-
sets and assigned to the respective responsible persons (VDA ISA control ques-
tion 1.3.1). In accordance with control question 1.3.2, the identified information
assets are then categorized during the process of information classification with
regard to their respective protection requirements (see VDA "White Paper "Har-
monization of Classification Levels").

Examples:

▪ Information asset 1: Immobilizer-relevant data transmitted from an automo-

bile manufacturer to a supplier - very high protection requirement.
▪ Information asset 2: Research and development information in physical and
digital form - high protection requirements.

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2) Identification of relevant threats

To identify threats, opinions of internal experts should be obtained, experience

from past information security incidents or information from IT security companies
or authorities should be taken into account. Standardized threat catalogs (e.g.
“Elementary threats” in the IT-Grundschutz Compendium of the German Federal
Office for Information Security (BSI) or Annex of ISO/IEC 27005) can be used to
support this process.

Examples:

▪ Threat 1: Attack by hackers

▪ Threat 2: Unauthorized access to development offices with criminal intent

3) Identification of potential vulnerabilities

The third aspect of risk identification is the identification of potential vulnerabili-

ties.

In control question 5.2.6, the VDA ISA requires the timely sourcing of information
(e.g. information from IT security companies) regarding potential vulnerabilities
and, in addition, in 5.2.7, the testing of IT systems for vulnerabilities. In addition,
the opinion of internal technical experts should be obtained or taken into account
in order to identify concrete potential vulnerabilities (depending on the information
asset).

Examples:

▪ Vulnerability 1: Lack of security patches in IT systems

▪ Vulnerability 2: Lack of encryption of stored data
▪ Vulnerability 3: Issued access authorizations are not regularly checked and
are not automatically withdrawn

Finally, the results of the individual steps of risk identification are combined.
These results can be presented in the form of damage/risk scenarios.

Examples:

▪ Risk scenario 1: An attack by hackers (Threat 1) on IT systems with missing

security patches (vulnerability 1) can steal immobilizer-relevant data (infor-
mation asset 1). The damage occurs because the data is not stored in en-
crypted form (vulnerability 2).
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▪ Risk scenario 2: Unauthorized access to the development offices (threat 2)

can lead to the theft of research and development information in physical and
digital form (information asset 2), as authorizations once granted are not reg-
ularly checked or automatically revoked (vulnerability 3), e.g. when employ-
ees leave the company.

The risks described in this way form the result of the risk identification process
and represent the input for the risk analysis.

Risk Analysis
During risk analysis, the risks identified in risk identification are further examined.
The objective is to assess the existing risk in the form of risk classes. For exam-
ple, the calculation can be done as follows:

Risk class = probability of occurrence x potential damage

In a pragmatic way, the potential damage is taken directly from the information
classification according to the protection classes defined in the VDA ISA ("nor-
mal", "high" and "very high"), supplemented by the protection class "low" (recom-
mendation of the BSI).

The probability of occurrence indicates how likely the vulnerability will be ex-
ploited. Again, a four-step scheme (e.g. "unlikely", "possible", "likely" and "very
likely") can be used.

With regard to the probabilities of occurrence, the use of relative frequencies of

occurrence in relation to years has become common practice:

Probability of occurrence Frequency of occurrence Asset

most likely Annually or more frequently 100%

probably About every 2 years 50%

Possible About every 5 years 20%

unlikely About every 10 years 10%

Table 1: Examples of the probabilities of occurrence

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Risk Evaluation
The risk evaluation enables the identified risks to be weighted and thus a risk-
oriented approach: Risks threatening the continued existence of the company
require different treatment and control measures than insignificant risks. In the
course of the evaluation, all identified risks are analyzed and their probability of
occurrence and extent of damage are assessed.

The combination probability of occurrence and protection class results in a 4 x 4

matrix from which the resulting risk class can be taken. The rating of the individual
fields as "low", "medium", "high", "very high" and their coloring depends on the
individual organization and its willingness to take risks ("risk appetite").

Protection class low normal high very high

Probability
of occurrence

most likely low medium high very high

probably low medium high high

possible low low medium medium

unlikely low low low low

Table 2: Example of a 4 x 4 risk matrix (basis: BSI)

The classification of the risk in the corresponding risk class ("low", "medium",
"high" or "very high") concludes the risk assessment. The risk assessment rep-
resents a conscious decision process by the risk owner.

The results of identification, analysis and evaluation of risks are documented in

the risk register with the risks prioritized according to risk classes. Subsequently,
it must be decided how the risks are to be dealt with. This risk treatment is docu-
mented in the risk treatment plan.

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Examples

▪ Risk scenario 1: The probability of an attack on IT systems with missing se-

curity patches is assessed as "very probable" by technical experts. A "very
high" need for protection has already been identified in the information clas-
sification for the immobilizer-relevant data, so the risk category is to be as-
sessed as "very high".
▪ Risk scenario 2: The probability of unauthorized access to development of-
fices was assessed as "probable". Access to the offices is via a key card
reader controlled door or a key/lock cylinder. Evaluations have shown that
several employees, who have already left the company, still have access au-
thorizations and the whereabouts of two keys could not be clarified. For re-
search and development information in physical and digital form, a "high"
need for protection was identified in the information classification; therefore
the risk class is to be rated as "high".

As the risk class of risk scenario 1 ("very high") is higher than the risk class of
risk scenario 2 ("high"), risk scenario 1 has to be prioritized with regards to risk
treatment. The prioritized risks are entered in the risk register.

Risk scenario Risk class Prio Risk owners

Theft of immobilizer-relevant data very high 1 Person A

Unauthorized access to development offices high 2 Person B

Table 3: Example representation of a risk register

A risk owner must be determined and documented for each risk. This is usually
the information owner.

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Risk Treatment
This chapter explains how the requirements of the VDA ISA control question 1.4.1
can be implemented with regard to the second process - risk treatment.

+ Criteria for the assessment and treatment as well as acceptance of infor-

mation security risks are available.

+ Measures for dealing with information security risks and their responsible
parties are defined and documented.

- A measure plan or status overview of the measure implementation exists.

Listing 3: Measures in accordance with VDA ISA for risk treatment

Risks must be adequately addressed according to their individual assessment

result. The basis for this is the risk register.

There are different ways of dealing with risks. A basic distinction is made between
four types of risk treatment:

▪ Risk Avoidance
▪ Risk Mitigation
▪ Risk Transfer
▪ Risk Acceptance

In order to achieve an acceptable residual risk level (risk class after effective
treatment), a risk can be treated in one or more ways. The risk owner decides on
the type of risk treatment.

Risk Avoidance

The risk is eliminated or completely avoided if activities or processes that cause

the risk (e.g. a project to establish a new production site, a new product variant
or performance of business trips to a certain region) are completely stopped or
eliminated. This implies that a threat no longer leads to a risk.

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Risk Mitigation

Risk mitigation is the most common type of risk treatment. A mitigation of risk
can, for example, be achieved by one or more complementary measures that
counteract the risk. In this case, the probability of occurrence and/or the extent of
damage is reduced by security measures. Risk-reducing measures can be of a
technical or organizational/process-related nature (e.g. implementation of secu-
rity training, restructuring of processes/procedures, construction measures).

Risk Transfer

In the case of a risk transfer, the potential loss is borne by another area of re-
sponsibility or another institution. This can be done, for example, by outsourcing
or - as a prevention against financial risks - by taking out insurance (e.g. contin-
gency insurance, cyber security insurance). Responsibility for the risk remains
with the risk owner within the organization.

Risk Acceptance (Assumption)

In the context of risk acceptance, risks are accepted in their present risk class.

Risk acceptance can be a suitable approach if the business opportunities are

greater than the risks or if measures are lacking that can reduce the risk in a
financial efficient manner. Violations of laws (e.g. with possible consequences
under criminal or civil law) must generally not be accepted by means of risk ac-
ceptance.

Risks may only be accepted by risk owners whose financial responsibility at least
corresponds to the respective risk category.

Since risk acceptance can have consequences beyond the area under consider-
ation, organization-wide regulations and requirements (e.g. thresholds for the ac-
ceptance of risks, materiality limits) must be defined. Among other things, this is
intended to prevent a risk owner from accepting a risk that could become critical
for the entire organization.

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In this case, the management of the organization (e.g. executive manage-

ment/board of directors) must be informed and involved in the decision or ideally
take the decision themselves.

The acceptance of a risk, whose risk class exceeds a defined threshold, must be
documented in the form of a risk acceptance form.

For risks resulting from a deviation from the agreed requirements of the automo-
tive industry (VDA ISA), risk acceptance by an organization is not possible.

Risk Treatment Plan

The handling of each individual information security risk is defined in a Risk Treat-
ment Plan. It specifies how the respective assessed risk is to be handled, who is
responsible for implementation and by when implementation is to take place.

Examples:

▪ Risk scenario 1: The risk owner decides to reduce the risk by patching all
affected IT systems (measure 1) and installing encryption mechanisms on
relevant IT systems and data carriers (measure 2) used for processing im-
mobilizer-relevant data.
▪ Risk scenario 2: The risk owner would gladly accept the risk and would not
take any further measures to deal with the risk. However, since customer
data could be affected on the premises of research and development within
the scope of projects, risk acceptance is not possible and the risk must be
reduced. The risk owner then decides to replace the locking cylinder and all
keys (Measure 3) and to withdraw all outdated access authorizations (Meas-
ure 4).

Responsibilities for all measures are defined and time frames for implementation
are agreed. The measures are documented in the risk treatment plan.

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Risk scenario Risk class Risk own- Measure Person responsible,

ers Implementation pe-
riod

Theft of immobilizer-rel- very high Person A Patching the IT sys- Person 1

evant data tems
2 weeks

Theft of immobilizer-rel- very high Person A Encryption of the Person 2

evant data data
2 weeks

Unauthorized access to high Person B Exchange of key Person 3

development offices and locking cylinder
4 weeks

Unauthorized access to high Person B Withdrawal of obso- Person 4

development offices lete access authori-
2 weeks
zations

Table 4: Example of a risk treatment plan

Risk Monitoring and Communication

Follow-up of risks and implementation of treatment plans

A functioning risk management requires the effective handling of risks.

For this reason, a process must be established to track measures to be imple-

mented and provide opportunities for countermeasures in the event of delay or
failure to address risks. This includes at least the following points:

▪ Management and control of treatment plans as uniformly and centrally as

possible (e.g. via database or collaboration platform)
▪ Define clear responsibilities (who is responsible for the implementation of
which measure in which period)
▪ Regular tracking of progress
▪ Defined communication and escalation paths
▪ Consequences of non-implementation (e.g. escalation to the next higher
management level, possibly risk acceptance)
▪ Measures tracking as integral part of internal and external audits

This is where the risk awareness of the management comes into effect. If treat-
ment plans are not implemented properly, management must react as soon as it
becomes aware of the problem.

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Documentation and Reporting

The approaches and measures described in this White Paper (e.g. roles and re-
sponsibilities, scope, risk management process) must be documented. In this
context, it may be useful to connect to or merge with any existing risk manage-
ment approaches or systems (e.g. environmental management, quality manage-
ment, compliance). The main results of risk management should be reported reg-
ularly to the organization’s management.

Examples

▪ Risk scenario 1: Measures 1 (patching) and 2 (encryption) are reported back

in time by the persons responsible for implementation. The risk class is re-
duced to "low" (probability of occurrence "unlikely" and protection class "very
high") due to the effectiveness of the implemented measures.
▪ Risk scenario 2: Measure 4 (withdrawal of old access authorizations) is re-
ported back in time by the person responsible for implementation. Measure
3 (replacement of the locking cylinder and all keys) is not implemented on
time. After an escalation by the risk manager via the organizational manage-
ment, the measure is completed with an extended implementation period.
After implementation of all measures, the risk class is reduced to "low" (prob-
ability of occurrence "unlikely" and protection class "high"). The measures will
continue to be monitored.

Risk scenario Risk Risk Description

class Owner

Theft of immobilizer- low Person A Measures 1 and 2 were implemented on

relevant data xx.xx.xxxx. The risk class is thus reduced to
"low

Unauthorized access low Person B Measure 4 was implemented on xx.xx.xxxx.

to Development of- Implementation period Measure 3 extended
fices after release/risk acceptance by organiza-
tional management until xx.xx.xxxx

Table 5: Example of the adjusted risk register

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Conclusion and recommendation

This White Paper is intended to support organizations in preparing or conducting
a TISAX assessment to meet the requirements of the VDA ISA control question
1.4.1. It´s content it is to be considered as implementation recommendations, not
as a mandatory requirements.

The ISRM of an organization should be designed as simple as possible in order

to operate effectively and efficiently. The employees of an organization also play
a decisive role here. They must know how to identify and report risks.

It is also important that the ISRM process is geared to the specific needs of the
respective organization and is integrated into any existing risk management sys-
tem, even if most of the risks identified in information security do not exceed the
threshold assets of corporate risk management.

The definition of clear responsibilities is another crucial success factor of ISRM.

For each documented risk, one risk owner should be determined so that no dis-
cussions arise regarding responsibilities in risk handling. In conclusion the correct
and controlled treatment of information security risks is important in order to limit
the resulting effects of an occurrence of a risk.

The VDA recommends its members to use this White Paper as a guide.

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List of Authors

Name Company E-mail address

Jens Frölich AUDI AG [email protected]

Thomas Donner BMW AG [email protected]

Oliver Schmitt Robert Bosch GmbH [email protected]

Jürgen Rilling Daimler AG [email protected]

Thomas Harich MAHLE Ltd. [email protected]

Matthias Teuscher Rheinmetall AG [email protected]

Burkhard Kesting ZF Friedrichshafen AG [email protected]

Document and Version History

Version Date Status, remarks

1.0 July 31, 2020 Final

Page 9: Change of threat catalog in “Elementary threats” in the IT-

1.1 March 3, 2021
Grundschutz Compendium

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