A pilot study investigating the process of risk assessment and re-accreditation in UK public sector systems

Conference item

The provision of security of information and its supporting ICT infrastructures within the UK Public Sector is long-standing and well established, underpinned by a wide range of standards and literature. For the many security practitioners that are employed in the sector, a number of important concerns have experientially emerged over several iterations of policy and standards that have been developed over time to govern this activity. The aim of this qualitative pilot study was to explore these concerns from the perspective of security practitioners employed in the sector. Data was collected from six security practitioners via semi-structured interviews. Subsequent transcripts were analysed using a Thematic Analysis approach. This identified four significant themes that suggest that re-accreditation rarely occurs outside of the formal accreditation cycle, and point to the underlying reasons why this is the case. Given that the National Technical Authority (NTA) is undertaking a comprehensive review of Information Assurance in the Public Sector, this pilot study is well-timed. This qualitative investigation of the issue is novel, and while aspects of these themes may be recognised anecdotally by consultants in this field, this pilot study provides an inductive, data-driven account of the issues with re-accreditation that transpired both within and across participants transcripts. Finally, this study gives some indication of potential further research that could be undertaken in the area.

Authors: Davies, M; Happa, J; Agrafiotis, I

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: York Doctoral Symposium
• Host title: York Doctoral Symposium on Computer Science and Electronics
• Journal: York Doctoral Symposium on Computer Science and Electronics
• Pages: 39-46
• Publication date: 2015-10-28
• Acceptance date: 2015-10-02
• Keywords: public sector; system accreditation; thematic analysis