Governments and Regulatory agencies have put in place several security regulations to help companies improve their Information Security.
Each sector has compliance expectations and guidelines to fit into the specific industry sector security strategy.
Privacy compliance has become a prevalent business concern and is designed to protect unauthorized access to personally identifiable information (PII).
It ensures that sensitive data is protected from fraud and prevents individuals from experiencing the negative side effects of a data breach or copyright infringement.
Managing compliance with contract, regulatory, policy, process and other obligations for a good risk minimization practice.
Though Business Continuity or Disaster Recovery regulations may not apply in every business situation, it is a general understanding of legislation governing data integrity, availability and compliance for any organization develops a Business Continuity strategy.
Environmental, Occupational Health and safety (EOHS) risks are critical component of any business’ overall risk management portfolio. An organization must develop all strategic digital capabilities to maximally leverage and practically apply corporate security to achieve business goals.
IT strategy (information technology strategy) is a comprehensive plan that outlines how technology should be used.
Leadership maximizes productivity, shapes and promotes a positive and harmonious culture. The right IT leader will always be equipped with the correct skills, knowledge, and abilities to cope with the growing demands of IT.
Companies of all sizes, industries, and business environments face the challenge of ensuring the security of their critical systems and data. A Security Framework helps address these challenges, through a strategic, well-thought cybersecurity plan to protect its critical infrastructure and information systems.
A set of policies issued by an organization to ensure that all information technology users within the domain of the organization or its networks comply with rules and guidelines related to the security of the information stored digitally at any point in the network or within the organization’s boundaries of authority.
The purpose of this Guideline is to establish a framework for classifying institutional data based on its level of sensitivity, value and criticality to the University as required by the University’s Information Security Policy. Classification of data will aid in determining baseline security controls for the protection of data.
It describes the categorization, management, and monitoring of a specific set of goals and requirements for an enterprise network, ideally from a centralized point of control.
One of the biggest risks an organization could face would be the lack of a full knowledge and understanding of its extended enterprise. The board needs to ensure that the organization gains this understanding by developing a complete inventory of its third-parties and overseeing the controls and processes that management puts in place to proactively manage third-parties, with the objective of mitigating risks while improving quality and reliability of the third-party relationships
It is the review and evaluation of automated information processing systems, related non-automated processes and the interfaces among them. Planning the IT audit involves two major steps. The first step is to gather information and do some planning the second step is to gain an understanding of the existing internal control structure.
A set of hardware, software and facility elements, arranged in a specific configuration, which serves as a fabric to support the business operation of an enterprise
A set of policies, precautions and practices adopted to avoid unauthorized access and manipulation of a data center’s resources. The perimeter controls what comes into the network and what traffic can be allowed out and as such is a critical piece to the entire Defense in Depth Architecture of a solid security program.
BCP and DRP are important to enable an organization’s recovery of its critical business processes and IT systems in an efficient and timely manner in the event of a disaster.
An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) monitors all incoming and outgoing network activity and identifies any signs of intrusion in your system that could compromise your systems. Its main function is to raise an alert when it discovers any such activity and hence it is called a passive monitoring system. An Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) is a step ahead of IDS with its ability to not only detect anomalies but also prevent such activities on a company’s network. That’s why IDS/IPS are both vital in protecting your network. They work together to monitor traffic and report attacks. A good security strategy is to have them work together simultaneously. Data loss prevention (DLP) is a set of tools and processes used to ensure that sensitive data is not lost, misused, or accessed by unauthorized users. DLP software classifies regulated, confidential and business critical data and identifies violations of policies defined by organizations or within a predefined policy pack, typically driven by regulatory compliance such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, or GDPR.
A firewall is a barrier or shield that prevents unauthorized access to and from a private network, enhancing the security of devices connected to a network like the Internet or a Local-Area Network. Firewalls monitor network traffic while identifying and blocking unwanted traffic. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a great tool to protect your privacy and increase your security on the Internet. It basically connects two computers securely and privately on the internet. A VPN is designed to provide a secure, encrypted tunnel to transmit the data between the remote user and the company network. The main purpose of load balancing is to prevent any single server from getting overloaded and possibly breaking down. In other words, load balancing improves service availability and helps prevent downtimes.
Cloud security, also known as cloud computing security, consists of a set of policies, controls, procedures and technologies that work together to protect cloud-based systems, data, and infrastructure. From authenticating access to filtering traffic, cloud security can be configured to the exact needs of the business.
Physical and environmental security programs define the various measures or controls that protect organizations from loss of connectivity and availability of computer processing caused by theft, fire, flood, intentional destruction, unintentional damage, mechanical equipment failure and power failures.
It is a set of processes and technologies that supports the collection, managing, and publishing of information in any form or medium. When stored and accessed via computers, this information may be more specifically referred to as digital content, or simply as content.
Database security refers to the range of tools, controls, and measures designed to establish and preserve database confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Mobile security involves protecting both personal and business information stored on and transmitted from smartphones, tablets, laptops and other mobile devices. The term mobile security is a broad one that covers everything from protecting mobile devices from malware threats to reducing risks and securing mobile devices and their data in the case of theft, unauthorized access or accidental loss of the mobile device.
Email security is a procedure that protects email communication and accounts against unauthorized access, loss or compromise. Email security service providers have techniques in place to fully secure email accounts and sensitive information from hackers. Email encryption involves encrypting, or disguising, the content of email messages to protect potentially sensitive information from being read by anyone other than intended recipients. Email encryption often includes authentication.
DNSSEC stands for Domain Name System Security Extensions, and it is a technology used to protect information on the Domain Name System (DNS) which is used on IP networks. It provides authentication for the origin of the DNS data, helping to safeguard against attacks and protect data integrity.
For a simple definition, it is short for development, security and operations. Every organization with a DevOps framework should be looking to shift towards a DevSecOps mindset and bringing individuals of all abilities and across all technology disciplines to a higher level of proficiency in security. From testing for potential security exploits to building business-driven security services,
It is a category of tools and technology used for protecting computer hardware devices–called endpoints—from potential threats. EDR platforms are made from tools that focus on detecting possible malicious endpoint activities, commonly through employing continuous monitoring.
Log Management Systems, Detection and Response tools, Incident Management services, Regulatory Compliance policies & Next Gen Anti-virus are few of the key SOC essentials
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is a software solution that aggregates and analyzes activity from many different resources across your entire IT infrastructure.
SIEM collects security data from network devices, servers, domain controllers, and more. SIEM stores, normalizes, aggregates, and applies analytics to that data to discover trends, detect threats, and enable organizations to investigate any alerts.
Security Device Management provides specialized expertise in managing devices, releasing in-house staff for other vital initiatives, providing on-demand device configuration, tuning, updates, and maintenance, and meeting all best practice and regulatory requirements.
It entails sourcing threat intelligence from a variety of sources outside the organization. These can include open source intelligence that is publicly available (blogs, news reports, public block lists, etc.), private or commercial sources such as vendors of threat intelligence software and even corporate sharing groups that have agreed to pool information on potential cyber security threats. Integrate your existing environment and threat data so you can compare and correlate your internal cyber events with what’s going on around you.
Digital risk is the consequences arising from adoption of new technologies. These consequences are new and unexpected. Digital risk management is focused on the threats and risks for enterprise information and the underlying IT systems processing them as they are implementing the full set of business processes.
Vulnerability management is the “cyclical practice of identifying, classifying, prioritizing, remediating, and mitigating” software vulnerabilities. Vulnerability management is integral to computer security and network security, and must not be confused with Vulnerability assessment.
Digital forensics is a division of computer forensics that focuses on examining the digital components of an individual or business to determine if illegal action has been taken, either by the owner of the equipment or through a vicious cyberattack. Incident response refers to the complementary set of processes that occur when an incident has been identified.
Malware analysis is the study or process of determining the functionality, origin and potential impact of a given malware sample such as a virus, worm, trojan horse, rootkit, or backdoor.
Identity and access management (IAM) is a framework of business processes, policies and technologies that facilitates the management of electronic or digital identities. With an IAM framework in place, information technology (IT) managers can control user access to critical information within their organizations.
Securing IoT devices and their data streams is critical. IoT initiatives require integration between information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) to deliver critical data, without compromising security or accessibility. Without secure device management, IoT data and the processes that rely on it are at risk of cyberattacks. Secure IoT relies on implementing a zero-trust process that leverages an identity-centric approach to secure devices, the information coming from the devices and the identities of the people with access to this information.
Gartner defines OT security as, “Practices and technologies used to (a) protect people, assets, and information, (b) monitor and/or control physical devices, processes and events, and (c) initiate state changes to enterprise OT systems.” OT security solutions include a wide range of security technologies from next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) to security information and event management (SIEM) systems to identity access and management, and much more.
A federated identity in information technology is the means of linking a person’s electronic identity and attributes, stored across multiple distinct identity management systems.
Federated identity is related to single sign-on (SSO), in which a user’s single authentication ticket, or token, is trusted across multiple IT systems or even organizations. SSO is a subset of federated identity management, as it relates only to authentication and is understood on the level of technical interoperability and it would not be possible without some sort of federation.
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a technology for authenticating users and devices in the digital world. The basic idea is to have one or more trusted parties digitally sign documents certifying that a particular cryptographic key belongs to a particular user or device. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is defined as a security mechanism that requires an individual to provide two or more credentials in order to authenticate their identity. In IT, these credentials take the form of passwords, hardware tokens, numerical codes, biometrics, time, and location.
IT GRC tools provide coordination and standardization of policies and controls. They offer a common interface for users and create a common repository for information covering internal and regulatory requirements, and for data gathered from documents, questionnaires, and other security and IT systems.
Risk Repository or a Risk Register is a tool for documenting risks, and actions to manage each risk. It is essential to the successful management of risk. As risks are identified they are logged on the register and actions are taken to respond to the risk.
Risk mitigation is a strategy to prepare for and lessen the effects of threats faced by a data center. Comparable to risk reduction, risk mitigation takes steps to reduce the negative effects of threats and disasters on business continuity (BC).
A cyber insurance policy, also referred to as cyber risk insurance or cyber liability insurance coverage (CLIC), is designed to help an organization mitigate risk exposure by offsetting costs involved with recovery after a cyber-related security breach or similar event.
An IT Risk Assessment is a comprehensive review of the IT organization, with the objective of identifying existing flaws that could be exploited to threaten the security of the network and data. It serves as the basis for deciding what countermeasures, if any, to take in reducing risk to an acceptable level, based on the value of the information resource to the organization.
A gap analysis is a method of assessing the differences in performance between a business’ information systems or software applications to determine whether business requirements are being met and, if not, what steps should be taken to ensure they are met successfully.
Situational awareness can be defined simply as “knowing what is going on around us” or – more technically – as “the perception of the elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning and the projection of their status in the near future.
Coined by research company Gartner, Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) is a term used to describe the convergence of three distinct technology markets: security orchestration and automation, security incident response platforms (SIRP), and threat intelligence platforms (TIP). SOAR technologies enable organizations to collect and aggregate vast amounts of security data and alerts from a wide range of sources. This assists human and machine-led analysis, as well as the standardization and automation of threat detection and remediation.
Data Analysis Repository is really built on a different architecture than the typical data warehouses. It collects and aggregates data from different sources like your core tools or by using the API Engine as well from external systems and applications. The DAR provides a pre-defined set of reports that can be transferred to any destination as well as RAW data that can be requested by the customers warehouse system and finally processed there.
A Workflow is a sequence of tasks that processes a set of data. Workflows occur across every kind of business and industry. Anytime data is passed between humans and/or systems, a workflow is created. Workflows are the paths that describe how something goes from being undone to done, or raw to processed. Online cash management programs allow different levels of security to be granted to each authorized user. Make sure that authority to originate and authorize transactions is given only to those employees who need it. Transaction dollar limits should be set appropriately, and dual control procedures implemented where possible. Users should be trained and made aware of cyber security risks.
Dashboard reporting is a process used to represent key performance indicators and relevant business data in a visual and interactive way. Dashboard reporting tools are analytics solutions that allow users to extract, monitor, analyze, visualize, and interact with data on a single screen where they find detailed information about business performance which helps them to easily accomplish objectives. Identifying business opportunities and potential risks requires up-to-the-minute information. A sophisticated dashboard reporting software keeps you up-to-date with in-depth business analytics.
The purpose of a Cyber Security Playbook, or Security Playbook, is to provide all members of an organization with a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities regarding cyber security – before, during and after a security incident. Playbooks are also available in the form of stored repositories of automated cybersecurity responses or “plays” — in other words, a handbook of processes for responding to specific security incidents. They overlay the entire network and can be combined and initiated automatically to thwart cyber threats, even for incompatible network technologies.
It provides a coherent description of the systems in place. It is conformant to your principles, standards and plans. It is compatible with the legacy technical landscape. It helps determine whether the chosen technology and design is likely to achieve the project’s goals and objectives.
A policy gap analysis measures the effectiveness of current policies and the potential of new policies that the business would like to execute. There will be no need for the development of policies if there are no issues and concerns that are essential to be addressed.
An information security framework is a series of documented, agreed and understood policies, procedures, and processes that define how information is managed in a business, to lower risk and vulnerability, and increase confidence in an ever-connected world. A security assessment is performed on this framework to identify the current security posture of an information system or organization. It provides recommendations for improvement, which allows the organization to a reach a security goal that mitigates risk, and also enables the organization.
It is the security testing that is designed to identify and help address cyber security vulnerabilities. VAPT could include anything from automated vulnerability assessments to human-led penetration testing and red team operations.
Compliance refers to the reports created by companies in order to comply to rules, standards, laws and regulations set by regulatory bodies and government agencies. Failure to comply means businesses are subject to regulatory penalties, including fines and imprisonment.
Analysis and evaluation of a firm’s information system (whether manual or computerized) to detect and rectify blockages, duplication, and leakage of information. The objectives of this audit are to improve accuracy, relevance, security, and timeliness of the recorded information.
The CISO oversees a team that together has as a view of the risks facing the enterprise and puts in place the necessary security technologies and processes to minimize the risks to the organization. He/She is empowered to communicate risks to decisions makers and take action independently when necessary and is primarily responsible for translating complex business problems into effective information security controls.
Security Metrics – Metrics are tools designed to facilitate decision-making and improve performance and accountability through collection, analysis, and reporting of relevant performance-related data. IT Security Metrics are metrics based on IT security performance goals and objectives.
An IT KPI or key performance indicator helps to keep track of all relevant aspects of quality regarding an IT project. KPIs help deliver projects on budget and time by analyzing and optimizing the IT ticket management, IT problem-solving and IT cost management. It is a quantitative measure used to evaluate project performance against expected results; they confirm that the project has achieved its objectives.
Communications management is the systematic planning, implementing, monitoring, and revision of all the channels of communication within an organization, and between organizations; it also includes the organization and dissemination of new communication directives connected with an organization, network, or communications technology.
A quality management system (QMS) is a set of policies, processes and procedures required for planning and execution (production/development/service) in the core business area of an organization (i.e., areas that can impact the organization’s ability to meet customer requirements). IT Quality management is the process of understanding how your customers feel and making software products and services that they will love, and, as a consequence, value.
Document management is a system or process used to capture, track and store electronic documents such as PDFs, word processing files and digital images of paper-based content. … It provides benefits such as document security, access control, centralized storage, audit trails and streamlined search and retrieval.
It is the process used by project managers to minimize any potential problems that may negatively impact a project’s timetable. Risk is any unexpected event that might affect the people, processes, technology, and resources involved in a project. Effective risk management strategies allow you to identify your project’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
The main goal of knowledge management is to improve an organization’s efficiency and save knowledge within the company. Often it is referring to training and learning in an organization or of its customers. It consists of a cycle of creating, sharing, structuring and auditing knowledge, in order to maximize the effectiveness of an organization’s collective knowledge.
Information technology planning is a discipline within the information technology and information systems domain and is concerned with making the planning process for information technology investments and decision-making a quicker, more flexible, and more thoroughly aligned process.
It is the process of measuring the results of a firm’s policies and operations in monetary terms. It is used to measure firm’s overall financial health over a given period of time and can also be used to compare similar firms across the same industry or to compare industries or sectors in aggregation.
It is made up of processes, procedures, and standards that should be followed. A framework that holds stakeholders answerable to understand their roles and responsibilities.
This structure gives control over different aspects of project management which include management of scope, budget control, time management and deliverables. It is imperative to conduct regular reviews of the lesson learned to make sure that the execution of the projects in the future will improve. The other significant aspect of adhering to project lifecycle is transparency and accountability.
Information Technology Vendor Management is a sub-component of the Information Technology (IT) Resource Management dealing with the intelligent sourcing of IT goods (procurement) and services (contracting/consulting). Vendor management requires familiarity with business needs and transforming those needs to goods and services from qualified and accredited suppliers. It also involves the implementation of technologies, processes, policies and procedures that support the effective running of the sourcing process and function.
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