{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Episode 195 - Annual Policy Review - Making it Worthwhile","description":"Episode 195 - Annual Policy Review - Making It Worthwhile   Define policy vs. standards vs. procedures What is a Policy? It is a guiding principle to set the direction of an organization. High level, governing, statements. Do not include technical details. Example: Policy statement = Users must authenticate with a unique ID and password Standard: User passwords must be: # of characters, include one uppercase letter, one special character, be at least 10 characters in length. This type of information would go into an Access Control Standard. What is a Standard? Standards support the policy, make it more meaningful and effective. What is a Procedure? A procedure is a step by step, how to guide to which is consistent with the end result being the same. These are the steps for configuring your firewalls, setting up a new user, building a server, etc. Every policy guide everywhere says you need to review your policies regularly which almost always means annually. Failure to do the annual review can get you in hot water with your regulator and\/or auditor. It just Makes Sense. Why review your policies? It\u2019s the one time a year you can nudge the organization where it needs to go Past Problems Current Issues Future Challenges Killing off\/modifying policies that get in the way of people doing work will Make Friends And Influence People There is no better way to ensure your team is working on what needs to be worked on than aligning with stated policy. Making Sense of Policy Review Alert The Approvers Line Them Up Divide and Conquer Bring The Business Into The Process Internal Audit Legal Risk Corporate Security IT Marketing \/ Public Relations As Needed Bring In Change Crosswalks FTW Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. The Review Process Have a process to deal with questions.  Route questions to the authoritative source for an answer - don\u2019t answer stuff you can\u2019t\/shouldn\u2019t Questions? Resources?   More Notes   Make sure what is being added is enforceable. This is a legal document and can be used in court. Statements support what is being done today, not what you would like to do or wish the program would do in the future. Go back to those \u201cparking lot\u201d statements that were not added or removed from a draft because you couldn\u2019t enforce them at the time. Can they be added? Don\u2019t lose sight of them if they are important to your security program   Does the corporate culture \/ C levels support statements in the policy? As a security practitioner you may firmly believe that your security program must abide by certain policy statements but the corporate culture or your CEO\/CFO even CISO may not support it. They may become \u201cparking lot\u201d items for a future version or you may be able to successfully display that the program can support that statement without affecting the culture. Legal is an important reviewer. It feels nitpicky during the review but Legal knows when \u201cshould\u201d and \u201cmust\u201d are appropriate. Don\u2019t reinvent the wheel. ISO 27001 is a good framework for your policy. Use it. Don\u2019t try to come up with statements because you think you have to appear to be an Info Sec Policy God. KISS! Don\u2019t write standards and procedures in your policy! We\u2019ve reviewed countless policies that had what we\u2019d consider a standard or \u201cstep by step instructions for making firewall changes. That\u2019s a procedure! Keep it out of your policy. ","author_name":"The Southern Fried Security Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/www.southernfriedsecurity.com","html":"