Quick policy checklist |
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| 15 Mar 2005 | SearchSecurity.com |
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By Kevin Beaver, CISSP
Here's a quick checklist you can run through with your existing or new policy to help make sure you're on
the right track:
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SECURITY POLICIES CHECKLIST |
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How long is your policy document? Two or three pages at most are usually more than enough to cover the issues at hand. |
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Does the roles and responsibilities section contain more than just IT personnel? It should -- policies are a management issue, not just an IT or security issue. |
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Has your policy been customized to your organization's needs based on e-mail usage, known vulnerabilities, etc.? |
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If you hand your policy document to a middle- or even elementary-school student could he or she repeat back to you what it says? Policies should be easy to read and understand. |
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Does your policy state, "this is how we do it here"? |
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Would an average adult say that your policy is reasonable and realistic? |
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RELATED INFORMATION:
Kevin Beaver is founder and principal consultant of Atlanta-based Principle Logic, LLC where he specializes in information security assessments for those who take security seriously and incident response for those who don't. He is author and co-author of several information security books including the The Definitive Guide to E-mail Management and Security (Realtimepublishers.com), Hacking For Dummies (Wiley), and the upcoming Hacking Wireless Networks For Dummies. Kevin can be reached at kbeaver @ principlelogic.com.
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