Every Policy Should Contain Provisions for Periodic Review and a Timetable for That Review

How Often Should You Review Your Policies and Procedures?

When was the last fourth dimension your organization reviewed its information security policies and procedures? Although many individuals tend to view these policies and procedures as inflexible and unchanging, they should really be living, animate documents that evolve and alter every bit your company grows, or new technologies are implemented, or new threats are detected, or your industry implements new regulations.

Data security policies and procedures piece of work to ensure that your organization is protecting its data finer. Without reviewing your company's policies, information technology's incommunicable to tell if they're working to minimize the risk of breaches, identify potential threats, spot suspicious activity, and offer a program of action if something does happen.

A thorough IT security policy is a boxing plan that guides your organization. So, to brand sure it stays that way how oftentimes should you review your information security policies and procedures?

Review Your Policies and Procedures Annually

With then many tasks on your plate every solar day, it'southward like shooting fish in a barrel to overlook a policy review. Even so, information technology's of import to schedule a review in your calendar annually.

Once a year you should look to strengthen your company'due south data security policy design and clarify its effectiveness. By taking the time to review your security policy and procedures you'll help ensure your business concern' security measures are working when needed and are consequent with manufacture all-time practices.

For high-risk industries such every bit healthcare, public safety, and financial services it might even be wise to review your system'south policies and procedures twice a yr. Want more tips like these in your inbox? Subscribe here to get notified when  we share valuable cybersecurity tips and news.

Review Your Policies When There Are Major Changes

Your company's policies and procedures should be reviewed at least in one case a year merely when new business requirements come up into place, don't wait until the scheduled policy review.

Changes tin include:

  • Complying with new global laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation
  • Land changes in cybersecurity regulations
  • A information breach at the company
  • New management
  • Adopting new technologies
  • New types of threats

After all, the security policy and procedures are in that location to minimize risk. If y'all wait too long to update your policy with new regulatory changes, new laws, or the use of new technologies you're defeating the purpose of the policies and procedures. Typically, policies will need to be inverse much less often than procedures. Policies are at a college level, while procedures may need to exist changed if you change a software tool, or with other relatively minor changes. Major changes such equally new regulations or new management may necessitate a change at the policy level as well.

For example, when USB sticks started to become mainstream, many businesses waited years before updating their policies on how to properly use USB sticks within their enterprise. Past declining to review and update their policies and procedures, many companies exposed themselves to an increased take chances of data loss. Now, with the growth of IoT technology, organizations need to ensure their policies and procedures reflect the risks these devices impose.

Reviewing and revising these policies are a vital role of managing your business organization effectively and ensuring everything aligns with your arrangement's mission, vision, and values.

Don't Expect for an Incident to Occur

Did you lot know the boilerplate price of a security alienation in 2018 was $3.86 meg?

What's more than, 46% of Information technology security incidents are caused by uninformed or careless employees.

A regular review can go a long mode in preventing security breaches at the end-user level by keeping your employees upwardly to date on safe business practices - and it can salve your visitor a lot of money in the long run.

Place Policies and Procedures that Need Updating

Reviewing your policies annually volition help employees make sound decisions in the face of risk. Still, if an incident does take identify, make certain to debrief with your team to determine whether your policy had its intended issue.

Analyze the details of the upshot to see if procedures were performed correctly and make certain in that location were no gaps in preparation or your employee'due south understanding of the policy. This will help you figure out where changes to the policy in question need to be fabricated. Of form, you might not have to revamp the entire policy due to 1 violation. Sometimes it's an isolated incident, that only needs additional training or remediation for those involved.

However, if you run into more than one incident in the same area, this is a sure sign that your policy or procedures need to be reviewed and revised. Oft, multiple incidents mean that your policy is outdated, confusing, or requires additional preparation.

Policy Reviews Don't Accept to be as Intimidating every bit They Sound

Although you should review your policies and procedures at least one time a year, this doesn't mean you'll demand to make significant changes every year. Sometimes yous might be required to address a new law or regulation but other times just a few modest tweaks might be all that is needed.

When conducting a review information technology's important to ask questions nearly your organization's policy and procedures:

  • Is the policy outdated?
  • Are the procedures difficult to follow?
  • Accept yous begun using new technologies or processes that are non yet written into your procedures?
  • Does proper implementation of the policy and procedures require more than employee training?

Don't forget to enquire for employee feedback to help effigy out what else can be done to ensure that policies and procedures are followed, or if any wording needs to exist improved..

Your organization's data security policies play a vital role in protecting your company from fiscal, reputational, and data losses. Past making the necessary updates to the data security policies at to the lowest degree once a year your business will stay ahead of potential threats, minimize chance, and meliorate comply with all laws and regulations.

A picayune bit of piece of work can go a long way in keeping your company alee of the curve when it comes to data security policies and procedures. nist guide assess cybersecurity risk

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Source: https://blog.24by7security.com/how-often-should-you-review-your-policies-and-procedures

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