As stated in the NMFS "Use and Implementation of Electronic Signatures" policy directive, a risk assessment needs to be made to determine the risks most likely to occur due to the replacement of the current process with an electronic one and the mitigation techniques used by the system. Since NPS is a system that will be used to collect, process, and store permit related data, the greatest risks involved with implementing and switching over to NPS are:
- Unauthorized access to the data
- Losing data that has been collected
- Repudiation of the data