Why is information security?

 information security engineer

For many organisations, information is their most important asset, so protecting it is crucial.

Information security is “the practice of preventing unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, inspection, recording or destruction of information”. Information can take many forms, such as electronic and physical.

Information security performs four important roles:

1. Protects the organisation’s ability to function.
2. Enables the safe operation of applications implemented on the organisation’s IT systems.
3. Protects the data the organisation collects and uses.
4. Safeguards the technology the organisation uses.

The challenges

In an increasingly interconnected environment, information is exposed to a growing number and wider variety of risks. Threats such as malicious code, computer hacking and denial-of-service attacks have become more common, ambitious and sophisticated, making implementing, maintaining and updating information security in an organisation more of a challenge.

How do you move forward?

Implementing information security in an organisation can protect the technology and information assets it uses by preventing, detecting and responding to threats, both internal and external.

Both senior management and IT are responsible for the organisation’s information security strategy, although in smaller organisations this job will likely sit with risk and security, data and compliance, and IT and information security managers and directors (sometimes this is just one person).

To support the information security strategy, it’s important to improve staff awareness of information security issues through training and initiatives. Organisations also need to enforce their information security policies and review them regularly in order to meet security requirements.

Threats and vulnerabilities must be evaluated and analysed. This means establishing and implementing control measures and procedures to minimise risk, and auditing to measure the performance of controls.

Another key part of your information security strategy and project is GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance. Cisco’s 2019 Data Privacy Benchmark Study found that organisations that met the majority of the GDPR’s requirements were 15% less likely to be breached than organisations that were more than a year away from compliance.

Introducing CyberComply – Save time and money, and maintain and accelerate your cyber compliance

 Vigilant Software aims to make data protection, cyber security, information security and risk management straightforward and affordable for all. Drawing on our years of experience developing and deploying risk management tools and services, our products reduce the complexity of your implementation project.

Our CyberComply platform guides organisations through cyber risk and privacy monitoring and compliance. It’s designed for risk and security, data and compliance, and IT and information security professionals working in small- and medium-sized organisations for which cyber risk and privacy management are critical.

It has been developed to:

• Be scalable to address evolving and increasing threats;
• Be repeatable for frequent risks assessments;
• Reduce variability by helping you make consistent decisions based on fact rather than human interpretation;
• Be maintainable for multiple stakeholders across your organisation; and
• Have everything you need in one place for governance, risk and compliance, making it a quick and cost-effective route to compliance.

Integrated into the platform are the cyber risk management tools vsRisk Cloud and Compliance Manager, the privacy management tools the Data Flow Mapping Tool and the DPIA Tool, and the GDPR compliance tool GDPR Manager.

For more information on CyberComply or to see the full suite of products available, visit our website.