In light of the recent information breach issues and the increase in the number of cyberattacks, the significance of information security has become especially high. By leaving loopholes in its information security management (ISM) approach, a company not only jeopardizes its own success but also endangers every single staff member working for it. The exposure of people’s personal data to the third party is inadmissible; therefore, it is crucial that a proper assessment tool for the efficacy of the information security management approach should be introduced into the company’s framework.
Although the current ISM strategy has proven to deliver quite positive results for the entrepreneurship in question, it may have several debts according to the current ISO 27001 standards, particularly, in terms of executing control over the provision of information security. Therefore, a tool that will allow for consistent supervision of the subject matter should be introduced into the framework with a preliminary test (Hsu & Marinucci, 2012).
According to the existing description of the standard, the process of facilitating a control over the data management processes in a company is crucial to the security of its members. Seeing that the tools for executing control over the data flow processes occurring in a company are very numerous, the current standards state that it is up to the managers to locate the appropriate ones. However, the supervision thereof is imperative:
The selection of controls is dependent upon organizational decisions based on the criteria for risk acceptance, risk treatment options and the general risk management approach applied to the organization, and should also be subject to all relevant national and international legislation and regulations. Control selection also depends on the manner in which controls interact to provide defence in depth. (ISO/IEC TR 27008:2011 Information technology — Security techniques — Guidelines for auditors on information security controls, 2014)
The above measure is doubtlessly essential. Without the provision of an appropriate control tool, the outcome of the information transfer may turn out to be detrimental to the organization and harmful to its members. Therefore, the requirement in question can be deemed as essential to the overall success of the organization and the security of its members.
In order to conduct the assessment of the company’s IMS security, one will have to adopt an elaborate system of audits that will allow for a detailed analysis of the current system status and locate the possible dents in its framework. To be more accurate, regular inspections permitting to check whether thee employees follow the existing information safety requirements should be viewed as the primary instrument for assessing the current information security rates (Williams, 2013).
However, apart from the tool above, the introduction of self-regulation needs to be considered. It is crucial that the staff members should realize the importance of the measures undertaken by the company. Consequently, it will be required that the company members should be able to take responsibilities and make important decisions on their own, therefore, assuming their professional responsibilities. As a result, a rapid increase in cyber awareness can be expected as the employees will accept the existing safety standards more eagerly and follow them diligently.
One must admit that it would be far too naïve to expect an immediate improvement in the information management process. Although the above framework provides a set of rigid rules that prevent the instances of exposing the staff members to a possible cyber attack, it still may fail as long as there are employees who are unaware of the basic principles of information security. Nevertheless, the application of the above model is expected to have a gradual positive influence on the security rates in the company. Particularly, it is assumed that the use of the framework in question will help the staff members recognize the need to follow the existing rules as well as apply them in a more orderly fashion (Fitzgerald, 2011).
Indeed, scrutinizing the current information management environment in the organization, one must mention that the employees display a disturbing lack of concern for the usage and further transfer of data. Once the company members recognize the necessity to secure information, fewer threats will be posed to the entrepreneurship and its employees. Therefore, the ISO 27001 principles regarding data security control need to be followed closely. By complying with the principal guidelines of ISO 27001, the organization will create prerequisites for its staff members to develop responsibility toward carrying out their workplace tasks (ISO/IEC 27001 – Information security management, 2014).
In other words, the promotion of the above framework as the foundation for the informational security of the company will promote the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) among the staff members. By definition, the above phenomenon serves as the means of controlling the behavior of the employees so that they should not break the primary rules of the company, including the ones related to the provision of information security. Specifically, the employees will be able to develop an intrinsic understanding of the significance of the information security. Consequently, fewer instances of being exposed to the threat of a cyberattack ill emerge in the future. Moreover, a successful promotion of the above approach will create premises for reducing the threat rates to zero.
Reference List
Fitzgerald, T. (2011). Information security governance Simplified: From the boardroom to the keyboard. New York, NY: CRC Press.
Hsu, D.F., & Marinucci, D. (2012). Advances in cyber security: Technology, operations, and experiences. New York, NY: Fordham University Press.
ISO/IEC 27001 – Information security management. (2014). Web.
Williams, B. L. (2013). Information security policy development for compliance: ISO/IEC 27001, NIST SP 800-53, HIPAA standard, PCI DSS V2.0, and AUP V5.0. New York, NY: CRC Press.