Reader small image

You're reading from  Information Security Handbook

Product typeBook
Published inDec 2017
Publisher
ISBN-139781788478830
Edition1st Edition
Right arrow
Author (1)
Darren Death
Darren Death
author image
Darren Death

Darren Death is ASRC Federal's Chief Information Security Officer. He is responsible for managing the enterprise cybersecurity program across a 3 billion-dollar portfolio of business sectors, including financial services, government contracting, and construction. A proven technology leader with over 20 years of experience deploying enterprise systems for large private and public organizations, Darren Death has led, designed, and implemented large-scale, organizational-wide enterprise IT systems with far-reaching impact. Before joining ASRC Federal, while at the Department of Justice, he was responsible for creating a nationwide enterprise processing capability across the US Attorney, Marshalls Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms divisions. At the Library of Congress, Darren was responsible for all emerging technologies related to information security. He holds a doctoral degree in information technology, specializing in information assurance and cybersecurity.
Read more about Darren Death

Right arrow

Policies


A policy is a foundational aspect to the development of a strong information security program. When developing a policy, you should ensure that you follow a few key principles:

  • Receive board-level / CEO approval and support:
    • Without CEO or board-level backing, a security program is doomed to fail
  • You should only create a policy that you intend to follow:
    • This means do not create a policy for the sake of the documentation. A policy that sits on the shelf and is never used does not help anyone.
    • Policies that you don't follow will be used by an auditor to show that you are deficient:
      • If you have policies follow them.
  • Ensure your policies are implementable:
    • There are many ways that a security standard can be met, and your policies should reflect the way that your organization wants to implement a standard
    • Do not describe four points in a policy if you intend to only implement two of them if those two provide adequate risk mitigation
  • A policy needs to take into account the organization's appetite for accepting risk:
    • Consider the value of the information that your organization owns.
    • Consider what would happen to the organization if you lost control over the confidentiality, integrity, and/or availability of the information:
      • Are you trying to safeguard trade secrets or sensitive proprietary information (confidentiality)?
      • Does information need to be accurate at all times (integrity)?
      • Could the organization effectively operate without its information (availability)?
    • Answers to questions like these, combined with an understanding of you organizations risk appetite, will inform your policy development.
Previous PageNext Page
You have been reading a chapter from
Information Security Handbook
Published in: Dec 2017Publisher: ISBN-13: 9781788478830
Register for a free Packt account to unlock a world of extra content!
A free Packt account unlocks extra newsletters, articles, discounted offers, and much more. Start advancing your knowledge today.
undefined
Unlock this book and the full library FREE for 7 days
Get unlimited access to 7000+ expert-authored eBooks and videos courses covering every tech area you can think of
Renews at $15.99/month. Cancel anytime

Author (1)

author image
Darren Death

Darren Death is ASRC Federal's Chief Information Security Officer. He is responsible for managing the enterprise cybersecurity program across a 3 billion-dollar portfolio of business sectors, including financial services, government contracting, and construction. A proven technology leader with over 20 years of experience deploying enterprise systems for large private and public organizations, Darren Death has led, designed, and implemented large-scale, organizational-wide enterprise IT systems with far-reaching impact. Before joining ASRC Federal, while at the Department of Justice, he was responsible for creating a nationwide enterprise processing capability across the US Attorney, Marshalls Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms divisions. At the Library of Congress, Darren was responsible for all emerging technologies related to information security. He holds a doctoral degree in information technology, specializing in information assurance and cybersecurity.
Read more about Darren Death