The Policy Revision Cycle

About this interactive

It would be nice to write a security program once and leave it, but it is never right the first time, and the business keeps changing how it works and what it is aiming for. So the program, and every policy in it, goes round a cycle: Gather the requirements the policy has to meet. Develop the policy and the procedures that carry it out. Get it approved. Implement it. Monitor how well it works in practice. Assess what needs to change: a first version is often too cumbersome and needs dialling back, or too thin and needs more detail. Then go round again: revise the document, approve the change and issue it as the next revision. Each pass is faster than the first. Because the documents keep changing, each version gets a revision number, 1, then 2, then 3, or the date it was updated, so everyone can tell which version is current.

What you'll learn

Put the monitoring and revision cycle of a security program in order, from gathering requirements through approval, implementation and monitoring to a revised document with a new revision number

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

5.1 Summarize elements of effective security governance.

ISC2 CISSP

1.6 Develop, document, and implement security policy, standards, procedures, and guidelines

Key terms

Monitoring: The ongoing process of observing and evaluating a security program or policy to assess effectiveness and identify needed changes.
Revision Number: A numeric or date-based identifier assigned to a document to track its version history and successive updates.
Security Policy: A formal document that defines an organization's security goals, rules, and responsibilities.
Cybersecurity Program: An ongoing organizational function that encompasses risk assessment, policy development, regulatory compliance, employee training, and accountability to protect the organization continuously.

Topics

Security Policy Monitoring Revision Interactive Ordering

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