We understand that for many smaller businesses, there is a need to find the right information security policies but with a huge amount of options available on the internet, it’s not easy to know what the right one is.

That’s why CAS partners with Policy Vault as the simple and low-cost method to get personalised and managed policies. It’s hard keeping up to date with legislation changes as well as finding the right words to meet current regulations – Policy Vault was created to help SMEs with all of those challenges.

What is a Security Policy?

Information security governs all data flow in business whilst cyber security policies focus on protecting digital data. A security policy is a set of standardised practices and procedures designed to protect a business’s network from the kind of cyber attacks found here. Security policies are considered best practice when developing and maintaining a cyber security program. Therefore, it’s important to create policies with other security controls in mind such as:

⦁ Social engineering
⦁ Passwords
⦁ Email spam filters
⦁ Vulnerability scans
⦁ Network firewalls

Why Is a Security Policy important?

Security policies help to protect a company’s network from both external and internal threats. For example, we know that 91% of cyber attacks start with a phishing email. While employees may not be intentionally compromising a network, bad actions such as clicking on malicious links or downloading documents containing malicious code create security vulnerabilities. Therefore, having the right policies combined with a security awareness training program, helps people better identify security threats and reduce your overall cyber risks.

Policies can also help evidence to third parties and regulators that you have fulfilled their requirements and are both contractually and legally compliant.

How do you write a Security Policy?

Writing a security policy for your company can feel like an overwhelming challenge. There’s pressure to both implement a solution quickly whilst ensuring the policies achieve their goals. But writing a security policy doesn’t have to be a chore. To get started, consider the following questions:

⦁ Who Does What, When, And Why?
⦁ Who Gets Access To What?
⦁ What’s The Penalty?
⦁ What Are The Compliance Requirements?

Who does what, when, and why?

Cyber security policies provide a roadmap to employees of what to do and when to do it. For example, most password management policies today prompt you to change your password every 90 days. Without a password expiration policy, it’s likely that most employees would continue to use the same password, posing a serious risk that could compromise the security of your network.

For further help, visit Policy Vault and get a few free policies to download now. You can then see what other policies you need and either pay individually or save more and buy them in packs. Policy Vault provides you with your own Policy Directory where you can see what policies need completing or reviewing. You can also share a policy securely with a third-party on a time-based link without having to worry about misplacing or having out-of-date policies.