Never Say Never: In the absence of further information, written information security policies are by default generally considered information that is "for internal use only" or "restricted." There are many good reasons to refuse to release information security policies to outsiders. But the trend these days is towards greater transparency, greater accountability, and a more [...]
Tag Archives: information security policy
We recently posted a video on how to create a draft information security policy in minutes using templates from Information Security Policies Made Easy. While our libraries contain thousands of individual policy statements, we also provide sample policy documents that you can customize. How to Create a Security Policy in 5 Minutes (or less)
With a dramatic increase in legislation and consumer awareness of identity theft, businesses are finding that security and privacy policies are becoming an essential business tool. In some highly regulated market, it is difficult to do business at all without a sound set of policies. In this overview we discuss various ways that effective, written […]
The US Supreme Court has overturned a lower-court ruling and concluded that management has a right to review employee text messages on company-issued devices. If used as a precedent, this case may have far-reaching consequences for employee expectations of privacy in workplace communications. However, the ruling should also serve as a wake-up call for organizations […]
The Information Security Policy Weblog is published by Information Shield. We provide this weblog (aka blog) to share and discuss various ideas that relate to the protection of both corporate and personal information through information security policies. We hope this will provide a forum to discuss real-world issues involving the practice of protecting information. We […]
Is it possible to declare some security policies as more critical than others? When it comes to protecting sensitive data, all security policies are important to reduce the risk of loss. However, when we look at risk mitigation from the perspective of stopping the latest attacks, some security controls rise to the top. In September […]
Part 7. A Written Exception Process It may be impossible for every part of the organization to follow all of the information security policies at all times. This is especially true if policies are developed by the legal or information security department without input from business units. Rather than assuming there will be no exceptions […]
Part 5. An Effective Date Range Written information security policies should have a defined “effective date” and “expiration” or “review” date. This is critical so that individuals and organizations know when they are subject to the rules outlined in the policy, and when they can expect updates. The effective dates within your security policies should […]
How mature is your information security policy program? Do you have a set of outdated documents stored in a binder or intranet site? Or do you have a documented management program that keeps your policies up to date, your users informed and your internal auditors sleeping at night? This is the first article in the [...]
A few weeks ago, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) released the results of its Annual Global Security Survey for 2008. The survey focuses on the information security needs, practices and priorities of the financial industry, which is among the most regulated of all vertical markets. Not surprisingly, the top priority for the security officers interviewed was [...]