Tech Tip: Upgrade Your Policies and Procedures

ByDaniel Gottilla

Tech Tip: Upgrade Your Policies and Procedures

So much about vulnerability management has to do with technology. From the hardware and software you use to the communications tools you rely on for remote employees, most information security measures address what you can do to make the technology safer. That’s why so many businesses rely on their IT departments and IT consultants to help them create and maintain their systems.

However, there is another aspect to vulnerability management that has little to do with the equipment you use: policy and procedure management. Considered the real “business” side of running a business, the policies and procedures you present to your employees are the backbone of your company. Your policies and procedures determine a standard for activity, morality, and business practices. They also provide a written resource for use across the board.

That’s why any good vulnerability management plan will include a look at your IT policies and procedures. When done correctly, this means you will address:

• Employee rights and responsibilities
• Data confidentiality issues
• Personal computer best practices
• Routine maintenance and repair
• Workstation configuration
• Risk management
• Security procedures
• Damage control

Putting these types of issues into writing and integrating them into company policy means that you have an additional layer of protection – especially when it comes to legal issues arising from federal information security standards.

After all, you can’t watch all your employees all the time, but by enforcing a general standard company-wide, you can ensure that you’re doing your best to cover all your bases when it comes to information security.