CONS-08

Will any data be transferred to the consultant's possession?

Explanation

This question is asking whether the consulting service provider will receive, store, or process any data belonging to your organization during the engagement. In a security assessment, this is crucial because any data transfer to external parties introduces potential security risks. If consultants will have access to your data (especially sensitive or regulated data), this creates additional security considerations including how the data will be protected during transfer, how it will be stored by the consultant, who will have access to it, and how it will be returned or destroyed after the engagement. The question helps assess the scope of data exposure and determines what additional security controls might be needed. For example, if sensitive data will be transferred, you might need to implement encryption, data loss prevention tools, or contractual safeguards like NDAs or specific data handling requirements. When answering, be specific about: 1. Whether any data will be transferred to the consultant 2. What types of data will be transferred (if applicable) 3. How the data will be transferred (secure methods) 4. What protections will be in place while the consultant has the data 5. Plans for data return or destruction after the engagement

Example Responses

Example Response 1

Yes, our consulting engagement will require transferring limited customer data to the consultant's systems for analysis Only de-identified transaction data will be transferred, with all PII removed before transfer Data will be transferred via our secure SFTP server with encryption in transit The consultant will store this data on encrypted systems that comply with our security requirements as specified in our consulting agreement All data will be securely destroyed within 30 days of project completion, with a certificate of destruction provided to our security team.

Example Response 2

No, our consulting arrangement is structured so that all data remains within our environment The consultants will access our systems through a secure VPN connection and temporary accounts with appropriate access controls They will perform all analysis within our environment using our tools, and no data will be extracted or transferred to their possession All consultant activity will be logged and monitored by our security operations team throughout the engagement.

Example Response 3

We have not yet determined the exact data handling requirements for this consulting engagement While we anticipate that consultants may need access to some operational metrics, we have not established whether this will require data transfer or if consultants can work within our environment This is a gap in our current planning that we need to address before finalizing the engagement We recognize this as a security risk and will develop appropriate controls once we determine the data access requirements.

Context

Tab: Case-Specific
Category: Consulting Services