Communication & Conflict Resolution Flashcards

A newly appointed ICS security manager inherits a culture where operations staff routinely ignore security advisories. What is the MOST effective long-term communication strategy?

Answer: Build relationships with operations leads and co-develop security practices that respect operational constraints

Cultural change in ICS environments requires trust-building and collaborative development of practices that operations staff see as workable.

Which of the following BEST illustrates a 'two-person integrity' (TPI) communication control in an ICS context?

Answer: Requiring two authorized personnel to both confirm and log any critical control system command

TPI requires two people to independently confirm critical actions, preventing both errors and insider threats in high-consequence ICS operations.

When an ICS security team identifies a conflict between two competing regulatory requirements (e.g., NERC CIP vs. a state environmental regulation), the BEST resolution approach is to:

Answer: Consult legal and compliance counsel to determine which requirement takes precedence and document the decision

Conflicting regulatory requirements must be resolved through legal and compliance analysis to ensure defensible, documented decision-making.

In an ICS environment, what is the communication significance of a 'safety instrumented system (SIS)' operating on a separate network from the control system?

Answer: It ensures that a cyberattack on the control network cannot prevent the SIS from communicating safety shutdowns

Network isolation of the SIS preserves its ability to execute safety functions even if the control network is compromised.

A vendor engineer disagrees with an ICS site's patching policy during a maintenance window. The MOST professional way to handle this conflict is to:

Answer: Pause the activity, document the disagreement, and escalate to both the site's and vendor's management for resolution

Escalating through proper channels with documentation ensures both organizations can review and agree on the correct approach.

Why is plain, jargon-free language important when writing ICS security procedures intended for control room operators?

Answer: Operators with varied technical backgrounds must be able to follow procedures accurately under stress without misinterpretation

Clear, accessible language reduces procedural errors in high-stress scenarios where ambiguous wording can lead to incorrect actions.

Which concept BEST describes the communication failure when ICS security teams and operations teams each assume the other is monitoring a specific system, resulting in no one monitoring it?

Answer: Responsibility gap caused by ambiguous ownership

Ambiguous ownership creates gaps where no team takes responsibility, a common ICS security failure mode resolvable through clear RACI assignments.