Security Procedures

In the world of information technology as well as in serious companies that comply with security procedures, the rules are strictly written and must be respected. We will list only some important examples of Information Security Policies and Procedures.

  • Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

An AUP stipulates the constraints and practices that an employee using organizational IT assets must agree to in order to access to the corporate network or the internet. It is standard onboarding policy for new employees. They are given an AUP to read and sign before being granted a network ID. It is recommended that and organizations IT, security, legal and HR departments discuss what is included in this policy.

  • Access Control Policy (ACP)

The ACP outlines the access available to employees in regards to an organization’s data and information systems. Some topics that are typically included in the policy are access control standards such as NIST’s Access Control and Implementation Guides. Other items covered in this policy are standards for user access, network access controls, operating system software controls and the complexity of corporate passwords. Additional supplementary items often outlined include methods for monitoring how corporate systems are accessed and used, how unattended workstations should be secured and how access is removed when an employee leaves the organization.

  • Change Management Policy

A change management policy refers to a formal process for making changes to IT, software development and security services/operations. The goal of a change management program is to increase the awareness and understanding of proposed changes across an organization, and to ensure that all changes are conducted methodically to minimize any adverse impact on services and customers.

  • Information Security Policy

An organization’s information security policies are typically high-level policies that can cover a large number of security controls. The primary information security policy is issued by the company to ensure that all employees who use information technology assets within the breadth of the organization, or its networks, comply with its stated rules and guidelines. This policy is designed for employees to recognize that there are rules that they will be held accountable to with regard to the sensitivity of the corporate information and IT assets.

  • Incident Response (IR) Policy

The incident response policy is an organized approach to how the company will manage an incident and remediate the impact to operations. The goal of this policy is to describe the process of handling an incident with respect to limiting the damage to business operations, customers and reducing recovery time and costs.

  • Remote Access Policy

The remote access policy is a document which outlines and defines acceptable methods of remotely connecting to an organization’s internal networks. This policy is a requirement for organizations that have dispersed networks with the ability to extend into insecure network locations, such as the local coffee house or unmanaged home networks.

  • Email/Communication Policy

A company’s email policy is a document that is used to formally outline how employees can use the business’ chosen electronic communication medium. Sometimes this policy cover email, blogs, social media and chat technologies. The primary goal of this policy is to provide guidelines to employees on what is considered the acceptable and unacceptable use of any corporate communication technology.

  • Disaster Recovery Policy

An organization’s disaster recovery plan will generally include both cybersecurity and IT teams’ input and will be developed as part of the larger business continuity plan. The CISO and teams will manage an incident through the incident response policy. If the event has a significant business impact, the Business Continuity Plan will be activated.

  • Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

The BCP will coordinate efforts across the organization and will use the disaster recovery plan to restore hardware, applications and data deemed essential for business continuity. BCP’s are unique to each business because they describe how the organization will operate in an emergency.