Section 30 - Policies and Procedures Flashcards
Policies are one part of a larger concept known as…?
IT governance
What is IT governance?
This is used to provide us a comprehensive security management framework for the organization to build on.
How do you apply IT governance?
By using:
- Policies
- Standards
- Baselines
- Guidelines
- Procedures
- Information Classification
- Lifecycle
What are “policies”?
These are used to define the role of security inside of an organization and it establishes the desired end state for that security program
*** This is usually provided by senior management and clarifies the level in which the company is going to enforce security
Policies tend to be very broad and they provide the basic foundation upon which is going to be built?
Standards
Baselines
Guidelines
Procedures
Security policies are built to fill in one of three levels. What are these levels called?
Organizational
System-specific
Issue-specific
What are organizational security policies?
These provide direction and goals. They give you the framework to meet the business goals and define the roles, responsibilities and terms associated with it.
What are system specific policies?
These address the security of a specific technology, application, network or computer system.
*** These are very technical and focus on protecting a certain piece of system or technology.
What are issue-specific policies?
These are built to address a specific security issue such as email privacy, employee termination procedures, etc.
Policies can be further separated down into one of three categories inside of information security. What are these categories called?
Regulatory
Advisory
Informative
What are regulatory policies?
These address mandatory standards and laws that are going to affect the organization
What are advisory policies?
These provide guidance on what is and what is not considered an acceptable activity
*** The most common type of this policy is called a AUP (acceptable use policy) that tells employees what they can/can’t do on a network
What are informative policies?
This focuses on a certain topic and it’s designed to be educational.
What are “standards”?
These are used to implement a policy in an organization
This includes things like mandatory actions, steps or rules that are needed to achieve the desired level of security
What are “baselines”?
These are created as reference points
They are used to document any kind of system so you can look back later and compare it for analysis
What is a “guideline”?
These are not required actions but they are recommended ones.
For this reason, they tend to be flexible.
What are “procedures”?
A detailed step-by-step instruction that is created to ensure personnel can perform a given action
*** This is where your policies turn into actionable steps
What is an important distinction to remember for procedure vs a policy?
A policy is something that gives you generic guidance to the organization
A procedure is very specific
What is data classification based on?
The value to the organization and the sensitivity of that information if it’s going to be disclosed
Who decides the level of data classification?
The data owner
What is considered sensitive data?
Any information that can result in the loss of security or loss of advantage to a company, especially if it’s accessed by unauthorized persons.
There are two different classification schemes that are normally used by organizations. This is based on whether…?
you’re a commercial business or a governmental one
If you are a commercial business, you will use one of four potential classification levels. These are…?
These go from lowest to highest:
Public
Sensitive
Private
Confidential
What is commercial public data?
Data that would have no impact to your company if it were released
*** This is usually information that’s posted to your website and other platforms