How To Create An Effective Cybersecurity Policy

Introduction

Cybersecurity is a serious matter for any company, but especially so if your business deals with sensitive information or assets. While there are many things to think about when it comes to implementing a cybersecurity policy, here are some of the most important ones that will help ensure you’re doing everything you can to protect yourself from cybercriminals:

Evaluate your network security.

How?

Get an outside perspective on your organization’s IT infrastructure, whether it be from a third-party consultant or another employee with more expertise in cybersecurity than you currently have. If you are the only one responsible for developing and implementing the cybersecurity policy, this can be difficult to do alone.
Conduct a risk assessment on your network security by analyzing each of its components: information systems and applications; data storage devices; physical access control measures; personnel screening practices; etcetera (as detailed in Section 1).
Evaluate how well these elements meet industry standards as well as best practices for cybersecurity protection by looking at whether they’re up-to-date with current trends in technology and human behavior (such as phishing scams or social engineering attacks). Do they have any gaps that need filling? Are any of their policies outdated or ineffective? The answers to these questions will help determine if the system is effective—or not—in protecting its users’ data from external threats like malware or ransomware attacks while also safeguarding internal information integrity within this same system itself.”

Map out acceptable employee usage of company devices.

There are a few areas you should consider when mapping out acceptable employee usage of company devices. First and foremost, you need to have clear rules about what is okay and what isn’t. For example, if the use of social media on work computers is prohibited except for during lunch breaks, that should be made clear in your policy. You can also make it clear if certain websites or apps are off-limits for your employees; for example, if Facebook Messenger is banned because it uses data but WhatsApp does not (or vice versa).

Another important aspect of creating an acceptable employee usage policy is enforcing it. It may seem obvious that employees should follow their company’s policies—but sometimes they don’t! Make sure to include disciplinary measures in your plan so that anyone who doesn’t comply with these guidelines receives consequences accordingly.

Finally, remember that this document should be checked frequently as new technologies emerge and employees learn how they can use them at work—and make sure to keep up with any changes in legislation surrounding cybersecurity!

Develop a plan for dealing with breaches.

One of the most important steps in creating a cybersecurity policy is to develop a plan for dealing with breaches. A breach is any unauthorized access into your system, whether accidental or malicious. These can include:

Data breaches
Ransomware attacks
Phishing attacks (spear phishing)
Social engineering attacks

Educate your employees on the do’s and don’ts of cybersecurity.

In order to be successful, you need to educate your employees on the do’s and don’ts of cybersecurity. This education can be formal or informal and should be based upon their roles within the organization.

Here are some ways you can go about this:

Create a comprehensive training program that includes everything from proper use of company devices to best practices in handling sensitive data. Your program should also include information on how to identify phishing schemes, spam emails and other cyber threats.
Make sure your training is both accessible (accessible by email or web portal) as well as available in person at least once per year for staff members who work remotely or outside normal working hours (i.e., part time workers). If everyone is physically located in one location, then it may suffice that they receive at least two hours of annual training over two weeks instead of daily or weekly courses all year long like those who telecommute often do not have access during business hours due too travel constraints such as public transportation routes being limited with little flexibility.* Set up reminders so that all staff members complete their security awareness training every quarter before renewing their access credentials.* Track employee compliance with these policies using tools like this one which tracks both computer usage history across multiple devices including mobile phones; tablets etcetera since many companies now have BYOD policies allowing employees greater freedom when it comes time setting up devices themselves rather than having IT do everything behind closed doors.”

Create a written policy outlining the above information and distribute it to employees.

Once you have created and finalized your cybersecurity policy, distribute it to all employees. The written policy should be distributed in a format that allows employees to print, save or download the document. The policy should contain:

A summary of what the organization’s cyber security policies are;
An explanation of how to report incidents;
Guidelines for protecting personal information;
Instructions for terminating access to network resources; and
Information about reporting potential violations of the system use standards.

Implementing a cybersecurity policy is an ongoing process that requires careful evaluation, planning and employee participation.

It’s not a one-time event. Cybersecurity policies should be reviewed regularly to ensure they are still in sync with your organization’s goals, objectives and capabilities.
Update your cybersecurity policy when necessary or as needed—ideally on an annual basis at least—to reflect changes to technology, regulations or other factors affecting the security environment.
The primary purpose of any cybersecurity policy should be to protect your organization from cyber threats by raising employee awareness about potential risks in order for them to take appropriate steps to protect their personal information from unauthorized access (as well as preventing misuse of company assets). However, it is equally important that employees understand how such threats impact their ability function effectively within the organization itself so they can look out for themselves while working together toward achieving common goals (i.e., achieving company objectives).

Conclusion

The most important thing is to understand that creating an effective cybersecurity policy is an ongoing process that requires careful evaluation, planning and employee participation. Once you have these three things down, though, it should be easy for your business to implement a plan that keeps everyone safe and secure!