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.