Benchmark – Business Continuity Plan (BCP) Phase 1

Assessment Description

Planning is a quintessential bedrock of any program in the professional world. IT and cybersecurity are no different in this foundation. We plan for the worst and hope for the best.

For College of Science, Engineering and Technology students enrolled in the course, this assignment will be Phase 1 in the creation of your "Programmatic Business Continuity Plan Project” that will be completed in stages throughout your programmatic courses. The project will be finalized and submitted in CYB-690 or ITT-660, depending on your major. Review “Business Continuity Plan (BCP)” and the topic Resources for details about the project.

As you begin the project, it is important to select an industry that is of interest to you. You may select virtually any industry including retail, education, telecommunications, health care, finance, etc. Create a fictional business within this industry to be the basis for your project. As you develop your project, imagine yourself in the role of the Chief Intelligence Officer for Master of Science in Information Technology and MBA in Cybersecurity students, or the Chief Information Security Office for Master of Science in Information Assurance and Cybersecurity and Master of Science in Cybersecurity students.

In this assignment, complete the first stage of our Business Continuity Plan (BCP) by developing the primary outline for a BCP to identify key aspects of the organization.

It is important to remember that according to the definition provided in ISO 32302, a BCP is “documented procedures that guide organizations to respond, recover, resume, and restore to a pre-defined level of operation following disruption.”

Review the topic Resources associated with ISO 27001 and NIST SP 800-53 and conduct your own research about each to prepare for this assignment.

Reference the “FEMA Small Business Continuity Plan Template” and “Risk Assessment Matrix” located in the topic Resources to complete the assignment. The FEMA template can be used but copying and pasting any section of the document for the assignment constitutes plagiarism and will be treated as such. Use your own words when filling out each section of the BCP.

Develop the Phase 1 content for your company’s BCP. Phase 1 should include all the following:

  • Executive Overview: Be precise and detailed and provide a detailed understanding of the program.
  • Document Change Control: Chart should be completed.
  • Introduction: Include the Overview, Plan Scope, and Applicability that evaluates the appropriateness of cybersecurity frameworks for developing a cybersecurity program to align with business needs, Plan Objectives, and Plan Assumptions.
  • Risk Assessment Matrix Template: Complete the “Risk Assessment Matrix Template” provided as this element is not shown in the sample BCP template.
  • Critical Business Functions Overview: Detail components that are critical to business operations and provide a clear understanding of what the program is designed to address.
  • Company Organizational Chart: Create your own as this is not shown in the sample template. Include the following key positions: CEO, CFO, CIO, CISO, and COO.

Submit the BCP including the completed “Risk Assessment Matrix Template” and Company Organizational Chart.

Note: Retain a copy of this assignment for the Business Continuity Plan, which will be finalized and submitted in either CYB-690 or ITT-660, depending on your major.

Support the BCP with a minimum of three scholarly resources.

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. 

This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.  

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Class Resources if you need assistance.

This benchmark assignment assesses the following programmatic competencies: 

MBA Cybersecurity

5.2: Evaluate the appropriateness of cybersecurity frameworks for developing a cybersecurity program to align with business needs.

MS Information Assurance & Cybersecurity

2.1: Evaluate the appropriateness of cybersecurity frameworks for developing a cybersecurity program to align with business needs.

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