A well written and understood security policy is key to protecting an organization from security breaches or pit falls associated with DDos , malware and virus attacks. During 2016 DDoS or distributed denial of service attacks were up by 71% and most used an attack incorporating botnet malware. Botnets are used to send email spam and engage in click fraud attacks and generate malicious traffic for DDoS attacks. These attacks can not only slow down an organizations network traffic, but can cost a company massive amounts of loss in capitol. A well-constructed security policy is the basis and structure to help create a comprehensive security program for any organization. Some key areas that need to be developed for a good security policy …show more content…
It’s also key to remember the policy is designed to support the organization and not the other way around.
The need for a comprehensive Security policy outweighs its cost for average size companies. According to an article from Inc.com company’s loss $400 billion a year from hackers and companies will spend at least $170 billion on cybersecurity by 2020. These numbers are staggering and a major cyber breach on an organization can do costly and sometime irreparable damage. Not only does a breach financially impact an organization, the public image of a company can be tarnished by an attack. The 2013 data breach of Target cost the company $ 10 million dollars to settle with effected customers and tarnished the company’s ability to make sales during the holiday shopping period when it occurred. The settlement required Target to improve its data security, appoint a chief information security officer and reimburse the 40 million customers affected by the breach. If this story alone is not an incentive for an organization to develop a comprehensive security policy there are many more examples that can be presented. It is human nature to say, “it will never happen to me”, but when you organization is responsible to customers data and privacy, a company has a not only legal responsibility but also an ethical one.
Elements of an effective security policy that an organization
Despite the presence of network security devices such as firewalls and other security appliances, today's corporate networks are still vulnerable to both internal and external attacks by hackers intent on creating havoc. By proactively
Again though, policies are only as good as long as they are followed and staff is aware of them. More than just having a policy exist, there needs to be double checks, check lists and ongoing education. In instances
Sadly, there is no way to alleviate the numerous amounts of threats that haunt networks and computers worldwide. The foundation and framework for choosing and implementing countermeasures against them are very important. A written policy is vital in helping to insure that everyone within the organization understands and behaves in an appropriate manner with regards to the fact that sensitive data and the security of software should be kept safe.
internal and external users to whom access to the organization’s network, data or other sensitive
“Security needs to be addressed as a continued lifecycle to be effective. Daily, there are new attack signatures being developed, viruses and worms being written, natural disasters occurring, changes in the organization workplace taking place and new technologies evolving, these all effect the security posture in the organization” (King, 2002). This being said, it is important to evaluate firewall and router rule sets more frequently. The possible threats against this policy include improperly configured network infrastructure which leads to a domino effect that could start with malicious programming which could end in data loss. Many of these threats may be unintentional as some users may not be aware of the risks and how their processes and procedures open the door for such attacks. For this reason alone, a more frequent evaluation is needed. This vulnerability could lead to data loss and the exposure of trade secrets, client lists and product design. The exposure of such information for most companies could mean a financial collapse as it no longer has the competitive edge that makes it the industry leader. While the likelihood of this threat is very high, “security risks to the network exist if users do not follow the security policy. Security weaknesses emerge when there is no clear cut or written security policy document. A security policy meets these goals:
* Recommend other IT security policies that can help mitigate all known risks, threats, and
* Review the results of a qualitative Business Impact Analysis (BIA) for a mock organization
As a business becomes larger it is important to formalize certain aspects so that they can be applied similarly across all employee and situations. “Policies can be considered business rules and are mandatory, the equivalent of organization-specific law…” (quote from SANS 524.1 Security Policy awareness) Policies will vary from business to business in order to suit their needs. Here are some ideas to help a business’s create policies to defend against cyber attack.
This policy provides a framework for the management of information security throughout Cañar Networking organization. It applies to:
Global Distribution, Inc. (GDI) is a distribution company that manages thousands of accounts across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. A public company traded on the NYSE, GDI specializes in supply chain management and in coordinating the warehousing, staging, distribution, transportation, and wholesaler/VAR relationship for their customers.
This paper explores two references that report the Defense in Depth Strategy created by Intel in order to be better prepared for a possible network attack. According to the website “Defense in Depth Strategy Optimizes Security” Intel created the strategy by developing a solution broken out into four separate categories: “Prediction” which prepares the organization for possible attacks as well as what kind that may happen. The second category being “Prevention” allows ways that could prevent the attack by being prepared. The third category is “Detection” allows the organization to receive an alert if there is a possible attack. Finally, the fourth being “Response”. This strategy provides the time needed to respond to a possible attack. Due to these strategies, there has been a reduction in attacks. The website “Security Awareness - Implementing an Effective Strategy” (2002), IT Security Mangers will need to be effective when implementing the above named strategies. Establishing security needs as well as providing security awareness training to employees.
Security Officers must obtain a consensus for which mitigating controls are key, which can be a trying negotiation between the CISO, Chief Technology Officer, Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), Infrastructure Engineering, Audit and Assurance teams, and the Investment and Audit committees. How do you harness your entire organization to focus on a common agreed-upon list of key security controls?
The purpose for an IT security policy is to provide “strategy, policy, and standards regarding the security of and operations in cyberspace, and encompasses the full range of threat reduction, vulnerability reduction, deterrence, international engagement, incident response, resiliency, and recovery policies and activities, including computer network operations, information assurance, law enforcement, diplomacy, military, and intelligence missions as they relate to the security and stability of the global information and communications infrastructure” ("Cyberspace policy RevIew", 2016).
Technology users must abide by federal, state and local laws as well as University guidelines and policies. The user is responsible for the communication/information that he or she chooses to access, send, or display. The user shall respect the rights of others by complying with all college polices, guidelines, and procedures. Wamsley University recognizes and adheres to U.S. and international copyright laws and software licenses.
To optimize the working of the network, we need to administrate the network with best practice in place. There are many roles and responsibilities associated to in maintaining a network such as building, configuring, managing user’s permissions to performing regular test and optimizing network, but with the rise in the shift the organization do their business also increases the threats associated to them. That is where the need for security arises to protect with the increasing threats of malicious attack such as viruses, hacking and botnets etc.