What Does it Mean to Have Effective Information Security Policies
With rapid and simultaneous developments in the worlds of cybercrime and cybersecurity, information security has become the keyword of the decade. Information security policies dictate your organization’s action plan to forestall any potential risks to your digital assets. However, designing effective information security policies requires rigorous understanding of the probable risks, the target audience, as well as prevention and mitigation routes among other factors.
Below are some features that an effective information security policy must have.
It should be able to foresee, detect,and thwart security threats
Any effective information security policy must be able to help you foresee potential threats to your digital assets. When a cyber-threat is around the corner, your security policy should help you detect it and take the appropriate steps to keep it at bay.It is important to design information security policies with an intimate knowledge of cybersecurity and new potential risks in the cybersphere.
It should command compliance
An information security policy is of no use until your employees comply with the rules delineated within the policy itself. It can be difficult to convince some employees to give up some privacy or freedoms in the workplace for the security of the organization. When your information security policy lays down the framework of the what, why,and how of all your security measures,it becomes easier for people to adhere to it.
It should be able to protect your customers and employees
A compromised information security will gravely impact your customers and employees.A lot of sensitive and confidential information is at stake here. Data thefts can manifest into identity, finance,or health related frauds. An effective information security policy must follow federal regulations to the letter. If your organization is not governed by federal regulations on information security, you still need to protect your customers and employees. This means that a thorough and robust disaster mitigation plan needs to be defined in your information security policy.
It should override all bosses
An information security policy will only be effective if everyone, and that means everyone, follows it stringently. It should not matter if it is a top-tier manager or board member or manager, or any other employee of your organization. No one should be exempt from complying with the security policy. This feature must be inscribed in the policy itself. All members of the organization should be a part of the scope of your policy. The policy should also dictate restrictions on the availability of data on a need-to-know basis.
It should take care of physical assets as well
Your organization’s data must also be secured from threats to the physical systems that contain them.Considering only the network and software aspects of information security is only half the conquest. The internal and external hard drives, servers,and other devices that store your most important data need to be kept safe too. Thus, your information security policies must also incorporate physical security risk assessments and prevention to be fully effective.
Conclusion
An effective information security policy can save your organization its time, money, customers,and reputation. When so much is at stake, why not follow our tips to design and identify effective information security policies for your organization?