Security Policy

A security policy is a comprehensive document that outlines an

organization's rules, expectations, and strategies for protecting its
information assets. It establishes a framework for safeguarding the
confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive data, systems, and
infrastructure.

Elements of a Security Policy

What is a security policy?
Security threats are constantly evolving, and compliance requirements are
becoming increasingly complex. Organizations must create a
comprehensive information security policy to cover both challenges. An
information security policy makes it possible to coordinate and enforce a
security program and communicate security measures to third parties and
external auditors.
To be effective, an information security policy should:
• Cover end-to-end security processes across the organization
• Be enforceable and practical
• Be regularly updated in response to business needs and evolving threats
• Be focused on the business goals of your organization
About this Explainer:
This content is part of a series about information security.

The importance of a security policy

Information security policies can have the following benefits for an
organization:
• Facilitates data integrity, availability, and confidentiality – Effective
information security policies standardize rules and processes that protect
against vectors threatening data integrity, availability, and confidentiality.
• Protects sensitive data – Information security policies prioritize the
protection of intellectual property and sensitive data such as personally
identifiable information (PII).
• Minimizes the risk of security incidents – An information security policy
helps organizations define procedures for identifying and mitigating
vulnerabilities and risks. It also details quick responses to minimize damage
during a security incident.
• Executes security programs across the organization – Information security
policies provide the framework for operationalizing procedures.
• Provides a clear security statement to third parties – Information security
policies summarize the organization’s security posture and explain how the
organization protects IT resources and assets. They facilitate quick response
to third-party requests for information by customers, partners, and
auditors.
• Helps comply with regulatory requirements – Creating an information
security policy can help organizations identify security gaps related to
regulatory requirements and address them.

12 Elements of a Security Policy

A security policy can be as broad as you want it to be, from everything
related to IT security and the security of related physical assets, but
enforceable in its full scope. The following list offers some important
considerations when developing an information security policy.
1. Purpose
First state the purpose of the policy, which may be to:
• Create an overall approach to information security., especially as touches
standards, security requirements, and best practices adopted by the
organization.
• Detect and preempt information security breaches such as misuse of
networks, data, applications, and computer systems.
• Maintain the reputation of the organization, and uphold ethical and legal
responsibilities and applicable governance.
• Respect employee and customer rights, including how to react to inquiries
and complaints about non-compliance.
2. Audience
Define the audience to whom the information security policy applies. You
may also specify which audiences are out of the scope of the policy (for
 example, staff in another business unit which manages security separately
may not be in the scope of the policy).
3. Information security objectives
Guide your management team to agree on well-defined objectives for
strategy and security. Information security focuses on three main
objectives:
• Confidentiality — Only authenticated and authorized individuals can access
data and information assets.
• Integrity — Data should be intact, accurate and complete, and IT systems
must be kept operational.
• Availability — Users should be able to access information or systems when
needed.
 4. Authority and access control policy
• Hierarchical pattern – A senior manager may have the authority to decide
what data can be shared and with whom. The security policy may have
different terms for a senior manager vs. a junior employee or contractor.
The policy should outline the level of authority over data and IT systems for
each organizational role.
• Network security policy – Critical patching and other threat mitigation
policies are approved and enforced. Users are only able to access company
networks and servers via unique logins that demand authentication,
including passwords, biometrics, ID cards, or tokens. You should monitor all
systems and record all login attempts.
5. Data classification
The policy should classify data into categories, which may include “top
secret,” “secret,” “confidential,” and “public.” The objectives for classifying
data are:
• To understand which systems and which operations and applications touch
on the most sensitive and controlled data, to properly design security
controls for that hardware and software (see 6.)
• To ensure that sensitive data cannot be accessed by individuals with lower
clearance levels
• To protect highly important data, and avoid needless security measures for
unimportant data
6. Data support and operations
• Data protection regulations – systems that store personal data, or other
sensitive data — must be protected according to organizational standards,
best practices, industry compliance standards, and relevant regulations.
Most security standards require, at a minimum, encryption, a firewall, and
anti-malware protection.
• Data backup – Encrypt data backup according to industry best practices,
both in motion and at rest. Securely store backup media, or move backup to
secure cloud storage.
• Movement of data – Only transfer data via secure protocols. Encrypt any
information copied to portable devices or transmitted across a public
network.
 7. Security awareness and behavior
Share IT security policies with your staff. Conduct training sessions to
inform employees of your security procedures and mechanisms, including
data protection measures, access protection measures, and sensitive data
classification.
• Social engineering – Place a special emphasis on the dangers of social
engineering attacks (such as phishing emails or informational requests via
phone calls). Make all employees responsible for noticing, preventing, and
reporting such attacks.
• Clean desk policy – Secure laptops with a cable lock. Shred sensitive
documents that are no longer needed. Keep printer areas clean so
documents do not fall into the wrong hands.
• Work with HR to define how the internet should be restricted both on work
premises and for remote employees using organizational assets. Do you
allow YouTube, social media websites, etc.? Block unwanted websites using
a proxy.
8. Encryption policy
Encryption involves encoding data to keep it inaccessible to or hidden from
unauthorized parties. It helps protect data stored at rest and in transit
between locations and ensure that sensitive, private, and proprietary data
remains private. It can also improve the security of client-server
communication. An encryption policy helps organizations define:
• The devices and media the organization must encrypt
• When encryption is mandatory
• The minimum standards applicable to the chosen encryption software
9. Data backup policy
A data backup policy defines rules and procedures for making backup
copies of data. It is an integral component of overall data protection,
business continuity, and disaster recovery strategy. Here are key functions
of a data backup policy:
• Identifies all information the organization needs to back up
• Determines the frequency of backups, for example, when to perform an
initial full backup and when to run incremental backups
• Defines a storage location holding backup data
• Lists all roles in charge of backup processes, for example, a backup
administrator and members of the IT team
10. Responsibilities, rights, and duties of personnel
Appoint staff to carry out user access reviews, education, change
management, incident management, implementation, and periodic
updates of the security policy. Responsibilities should be clearly defined as
part of the security policy.
11. System hardening benchmarks
The information security policy should reference security benchmarks the
organization will use to harden mission-critical systems, such as the Center
for Information Security (CIS) benchmarks for Linux, Windows Server, AWS,
and Kubernetes.
12. References to regulations and compliance standards
The information security policy should reference regulations and
compliance standards that impact the organization, such as the General
Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act
(CCPA), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS),
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), and the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA).

9 best practices for successful information security

policies
1. Information and data classification – helps an organization understand the
value of its data, determine whether the data is at risk, and implement
controls to mitigate risks
2. Developers, security, and IT operations – should work together to meet
compliance and security requirements. Lack of cooperation between
departments may lead to configuration errors. Teams that work together in
a DevSecOps model can coordinate risk assessment and identification
throughout the software development lifecycle to reduce risks.
3. Security incident response plan – helps initiate appropriate remediation
actions during security incidents. A security incident strategy provides a
guideline, which includes initial threat response, priorities identification,
and appropriate fixes.
4. SaaS and cloud policy – provides the organization with clear cloud and SaaS
adoption guidelines, which can provide the foundation for a unified cloud
ecosystem and standards of configuration, especially for development
environments. This policy can help mitigate ineffective complications and
poor use of cloud resources.
5. Acceptable use policies (AUPs) – helps prevent data breaches that occur
through misuse of company resources. Transparent AUPs help keep all
personnel in line with the proper use of company technology resources.
6. Identity and access management (IAM) regulations – let IT administrators
authorize systems and applications to the right individuals and let
employees know how to use and create passwords in a secure way. A simple
password policy can reduce identity and access risks.
7. Data security policy – outlines the technical operations of the organization
and acceptable use standards in accordance with all applicable governance
and compliance regulations.
8. Privacy regulations – government-enforced regulations such as GDPR and
CCPA protect the privacy of end users. Organizations that don’t protect the
privacy of their users risk fines and penalties, and in some cases court
action.
9. Personal and mobile devices – Nowadays, most organizations have moved
business processes to the cloud. Companies that permit employees to
access company software assets from any location from any device risk
introducing vulnerabilities through personal devices such as laptops and
smartphones. Creating a policy for proper security of personal devices can
help prevent exposure to threats via employee-owned assets.