4.1 Identification of Information Assets
The first step in assessing the business impact and risk of an IT system is to determine the scope of the effort. The boundaries of the IT system is identified along with the resources and information that make up the system. This identification of information assets establish the scope of the risk assessment effort, delineates the operational authorization boundaries, and provides information essential to defining the risk.
This exercise can be carried out via questionnaire, on-site interviews, document review or use of automated scanning tool. Information gathering can be conducted throughout the risk assessment process.