Operations Security

Week 3 Assignment: Lab Project

Defining an Information Systems Security Policy Framework for an IT Infrastructure

In any company, a security policy helps to mitigate the risks and threats the business encounters. However, unless a company happens to be in the information security industry, the task of identifying, assessing, and categorizing the myriad of risks can be an overwhelming one. Thankfully, a company’s IT infrastructure can be divided in a logical manner to more easily sort the risks. These divisions are the seven IT domains.

The purpose of the seven domains of a typical IT infrastructure is to help organize the roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities for risk management and risk mitigation.

In this lab, you will identify known risks, threats, and vulnerabilities, and you will determine which domain of a typical IT infrastructure is affected. You will then discuss security policies to address each identified risk and threat within the seven domains of a typical IT infrastructure. You will next determine which appropriate security policy definition will help mitigate the identified risk, threat, or vulnerability. You will organize your results into a framework that can become part of a layered security strategy.

You will submit 2 files at the end of this lab: 1) Lab Report file, and 2) Lab 3 Assessment worksheet

Steps:

1. This assignment also includes a link to download the Lab 3 Assessment worksheet. Review the objectives and the questions from this worksheet. You will find answers to these questions as you proceed through the lab steps.

2. Review the seven domains of a typical IT infrastructure. You can find a chart showing these domains and their components on page 80 of the textbook, or you can search the powerpoint over chapter 4.

3. Go to this link: http://www.continuitycompliance.org/security-policy-components-of-a-good-policy/ and review the information to determine the components of an information systems security policy.

4. Create a Lab Report file, a word document recording the information you find. For the first section of this file, identify the major components of an information systems security policy.

5. Review the following table of risks, threats, and vulnerabilities that were found in a health care IT infrastructure:

Risks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities	Domain
Unauthorized access from public Internet
Hacker penetrates IT infrastructure
Communication circuit outages
Workstation operating system (OS) has a known software vulnerability
Unauthorized access to organization-owned data
Denial of service attack on organization’s email
Remote communications from home office
Workstation browser has software vulnerability
Weak ingress/egress traffic-filtering degrades performance
Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access points are needed for Local Area Network (LAN) connectivity within a warehouse
User destroys data in application, deletes all files, and gains access to internal network
Fire destroys primary data center
Intraoffice employee romance gone bad
Loss of production data
Need to prevent rogue users from unauthorized WLAN access
LAN server OS has a known software vulnerability
User downloads an unknown email attachment
Service provider has a major network outage
User inserts CDs and USB hard drives with personal photos, music, and videos on organization-owned computers
Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunneling between the remote computer and ingress/egress router

6. In your Lab Report file, copy the chart and align or assign reach of the risks, threats, and vulnerabilities identified in the previous table to the domain impacted (refer to step 2 above).

7. In your Lab Report file, explain how risks like these can be mitigated with an information systems security policy.

8. Go to this link: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/231b/c2ca1c556cb7b46bc46dd49e86f0e6ab8050.pdf and read the SANS Institute document, “A Short Primer for Developing Security Policies.”

9. In your Lab Report file, define what a policy is according to the SANS Institute.

[Note: It is important to understand how and why a policy differs from a standard, a procedure, and a guideline. From the top down, the policy should not change or need modification unless a major shift in corporate values or business process occurs. On the contrary, guidelines should be reviewed, and possibly changed, often. Similarly, even though a policy should be written clearly and concisely, it is a high-level document answering the “why” questions. Standards are also high-level, but instead should answer the “what” questions. Finally, the procedures and guidelines provide the “how.”]

10. Using the SANS primer, in your Lab Report file, describe the basic requirements of policies, their benefits, the control factors, and policies every organization needs.

11. Review the identified risks, threats, and vulnerabilities in the table in step 8, and then select an appropriate policy definition that might help mitigate each of them. You can select one of the SANS policies or choose one from the following list:

a. Acceptable Use Policy

b. Access Control Policy Definition

c. Business Continuity—Business Impact Analysis (BIA) Policy Definition

d. Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Policy Definition

e. Data Classification Standard & Encryption Policy Definition

f. Internet Ingress/Egress Traffic Policy Definition

g. Mandated Security Awareness Training Policy Definition

h. Production Data Backup Policy Definition

i. Remote Access Policy Definition

j. Vulnerability Management & Vulnerability Window Policy Definition

k. Wide Area Network (WAN) Service Availability Policy Definition

12. In your Lab Report file, add your selected security policies and definitions, identifying what risks, threats, or vulnerabilities each selected policy would mitigate.

This completes the Lab Report file. Save your file using a name that includes your last name.

Now, complete the Lab 3 Assessment Worksheet. You can type in this PDF file, adding your answers. Make sure you also enter your name in the field at the top. Resave the worksheet with a new name that includes your last name.

Submit both files when you submit the Week 3 Assignment.