Over the years these Cybersecurity Policy Templates have been modified by feedback from our clients and through years of being in the Technology Industry of seeing different ways to curb behavior but also have a process in place that eliminates confusion and miscommunication. Please use one, some, or all of them to build out your Cybersecurity Policy Documentation.
We hope you gain a lot from this documentation. Please enjoy and have a great day.
What Is A Security Policy?
Information security governs all data flow in an organization while cyber security policies focus on protecting digital data. A security policy is a set of standardized practices and procedures designed to protect a business’s network from malicious attacks. Security policies are considered best practice when developing and maintaining a cyber security program.
Why Is A Security Policy Important?
Security policies help to protect a company’s network from both external and internal threats. For example, 91% of cyber-attacks start with a phishing email. While employees may not be intentionally compromising a network, bad actions such as clicking on malicious links or downloading documents containing malicious code create security vulnerabilities. Therefore, implementing a security awareness training program to educate employees on security threats and how to identify them help to reduce this risk.
How Do You Write A Security Policy?
Writing a security policy for your organization can feel like an overwhelming challenge. There’s pressure to both implement a solution quickly while ensuring the policies achieve their goals. But writing a security policy does not have to be a chore.
To get started, consider the following questions:
- Who Does What, When, And Why?
- Who Gets Access to What?
- What is the Penalty?
- What Are the Compliance Requirements?
Who Does What, When, And Why?
Cybersecurity policies provide a roadmap to employees of what to do and when to do it. For example, most password management policies today prompt you to change your password every 90 days. Without a password expiration policy, it is likely that most employees would continue to use the same password, posing a serious risk that could compromise the security of your network.
Who Gets Access to What?
Cybersecurity policies ensure data and information is only accessed by those who have permission. In effect, controls are implemented to limit who has access to what information, why, and reasons for accessing it. For example, Human Resources should not be widely available on a company’s shared network drive.
What is the Penalty?
Cybersecurity policies outline the consequences for failing to abide by the organization’s rules. We all have choices to make as to whether we are going to comply with the policy that has been outlined, that’s just human nature. But people like to know, and need to know, what the consequence is for failing to follow a policy. Policies and procedures provide what the expectation is, how to achieve that expectation, and what the consequence is for failure to adhere to that expectation. This eliminates all surprises as this will be clearly outlined, thus protecting the organization.
Compliance Requirements
Cybersecurity policies are necessary and often required for organizations to have in place to comply with various Federal, State, and Industry regulations. This includes NIST compliance, PCI, HIPAA compliance, FISMA, etc. The development, implementation, and review of these policies and procedures can be another challenge completely.