Overview – Trust Services Criteria
COSO’s A1.1 for the component Additional Criteria For Availability requires the following “The entity maintains, monitors, and evaluates current processing capacity and use of system components (infrastructure, data, and software) to manage capacity demand and to enable the implementation of additional capacity to help meet its objectives.”
Points of Focus
Below are the points of focus and any related mappings to other frameworks and standards.
| Description | Mapping to other frameworks and standards |
| Measures Current Usage — The use of the system components is measured to establish a baseline for capacity management and to use when evaluating the risk of impaired availability due to capacity constraints. | NIST CSF – PR.DS-4 – Adequate capacity to ensure availability is maintained |
| Forecasts Capacity — The expected average and peak use of system components is forecasted and compared to system capacity and associated tolerances. Forecasting considers capacity in the event of the failure of system components that constrain capacity. | NIST CSF – PR.DS-4 – Adequate capacity to ensure availability is maintained |
| Makes Changes Based on Forecasts — The system change management process is initiated when forecasted usage exceeds capacity tolerances. | NIST CSF – PR.DS-4 – Adequate capacity to ensure availability is maintained |
What is the COSO Framework?
COSO means the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. It is a joint initiative of five private sector organizations and provides thought leadership through the development of frameworks and guidance on enterprise risk management, internal control, and fraud deterrence.
Source: https://us.aicpa.org/interestareas/businessindustryandgovernment/resources/riskmanagmentandinternalcontrol/coso-integrated-framework-project
The COSO Internal Control Framework was developed to help “organizations design and implement internal control in light of the many changes in business and operating environments.” The Treadway Commission designed the framework with SOX in mind, but the framework goes beyond financial reporting controls since it applies to operations, compliance, and reporting (both internal and external). For most public companies, the process of using the COSO Internal Control Framework is an exercise in mapping their SOX controls to the COSO Internal Control Framework and then evaluating the control environment in total against the framework.
The COSO Internal Control Framework is a comprehensive model comprising of the following five (5) integrated Components supported by seventeen (17) Principles. Below are the five (5) Components:
- Control Environment
- Risk Assessment
- Control Activities
- Information and Communication
- Monitoring
Source: https://www.auditboard.com/blog/difference-between-coso-and-sox/
Internal Control Categories
The COSO framework divides internal control objectives into three (3) categories: Operations, Reporting and Compliance.
- Operations objectives, such as performance goals and securing the organization’s assets against fraud, focus on the effectiveness and efficiency of your business operations.
- Reporting objectives, including both internal and external financial reporting as well as non-financial reporting, relate to transparency, timeliness and reliability of the organization’s reporting habits.
- Compliance objectives are internal control goals based around adhering to laws and regulations that the organization must comply with.
Source: https://www.i-sight.com/resources/coso-framework-what-it-is-and-how-to-use-it/