FIREWALLS & NETWORK SECURITY with Intrusion Detection and VPNs, 2 nd ed. 3 Security Policies, Standards, and Planning By Whitman, Mattord, & Austin© 2008

FIREWALLS & NETWORK SECURITY with Intrusion Detection and VPNs, 2nd ed.

3Security Policies,

Standards, and Planning

By Whitman, Mattord, & Austin © 2008 Course Technology

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this material, you should be able to:– Define management’s role in the development,

maintenance, and enforcement of information security policy, standards, practices, procedures, and guidelines

– Describe an information security blueprint, identify its major components, and explain how it is used to support a network security program

– Discuss how an organization institutionalizes policies, standards, and practices using education, training, and awareness programs

– Explain contingency planning and describe the relationships among incident response planning, disaster recovery planning, business continuity planning, and contingency planning

Slide 2Firewalls & Network Security, 2nd ed. - Chapter 3

Introduction

To secure its network environment, organization must establish a functional and well-designed information security program

Information security program begins with creation or review of organization’s information security policies, standards, and practices

Selection or creation of information security architecture and development and use of detailed information security blueprint will create plan for future success

Without policy, blueprints, and planning, organization’s security needs will not be met


Information Security Policy, Standards, and Practices Management must consider policies as basis for

all information security efforts Policies direct how issues should be addressed

and technologies used Security policies are the least expensive control

to execute but the most difficult to implement Shaping policy is difficult because policy must:

– Never conflict with laws– Stand up in court, if challenged– Be properly administered through dissemination

and documented acceptance


Information Security Policy, Standards, and Practices (continued)

For a policy to be considered effective and legally enforceable:

Dissemination (distribution): organization must be able to demonstrate that relevant policy has been made readily available for review by all employees

Review (reading): organization must be able to demonstrate that it disseminated document in intelligible form, including versions for illiterate, non-English reading, and reading-impaired employees


Information Security Policy, Standards and Practices (continued)

Comprehension (understanding): organization must be able to demonstrate that employees understand requirements and content of policy

Compliance (agreement): organization must be able to demonstrate that employees agree to comply with policy through act or affirmation OR ELSE

Uniform enforcement: organization must be able to demonstrate policy has been uniformly enforced


Definitions

Policy is set of guidelines or instructions an organization’s senior management implements to regulate activities of members of organization who make decisions, take actions, and perform other duties

Policies are organizational laws Standards, on the other hand, are more detailed

statements of what must be done to comply with policy

Practices, procedures, and guidelines effectively explain how to comply with policy


Figure 3 -1 Policies, Standards, & Practices


Enterprise Information Security Policy (EISP)

EISP is also known as general security policy, IT security policy, or information security policy

Sets strategic direction, scope, and tone for all security efforts within the organization

Executive-level document, usually drafted by or with CIO of the organization and usually 2 to 10 pages long


Issue-Specific Security Policy (ISSP)

Guidelines needed to use various technologies and processes properly

The ISSP:– Addresses specific areas of technology– Requires frequent updates– Contains issue statement on the organization’s

position on an issue Three approaches:

– Create several independent ISSP documents– Create a single comprehensive ISSP document– Create a modular ISSP document


Systems-Specific Policy (SysSP)

SysSPs frequently codified as standards and procedures used when configuring or maintaining systems

SysSPs fall into two groups:– Managerial guidance SysSPs: created by

management to guide implementation and configuration of technology as well as to regulate behavior of people in the organization

– Technical specifications SysSPs: technical policy or set of configurations to implement managerial policy


Systems-Specific Policy (SysSP) (continued)

Technical SysSPs are further divided into:– Access control lists (ACLs) consist of access

control lists, matrices, and capability tables governing rights and privileges of a particular user to a particular system

– Configuration rule policies comprise specific configuration codes entered into security systems to guide execution of the system

Firewalls & Network Security, 2nd ed. - Chapter 3 Slide 12

Policy Management

Policies are living documents that must be managed and are constantly changing

Special considerations should be made for organizations undergoing mergers, takeovers, and partnerships

To remain viable, security policies must have:– An individual responsible for reviews

– A schedule of reviews

– A specific policy issuance and revision date


Frameworks and Industry Standards

Security blueprint is basis for design, selection, and implementation of all security program elements including policy implementation, ongoing policy management, risk management programs, education and training programs, technological controls, and maintenance of security program


Frameworks and Industry Standards (continued)

Security framework is outline of overall information security strategy and roadmap for planned changes to the organization’s information security environment

Number of published information security frameworks, including ones from government sources

Because each information security environment is unique, security team may need to modify or adapt pieces from several frameworks


Benchmarking and Best Practices

Benchmarking and best practices are reliable methods used by some organizations to assess security practices

Possible to gain information by benchmarking and using best practices and thus work backwards to effective design

Federal Agency Security Practices Site (fasp.nist.gov) designed to provide best practices for public agencies and is adapted easily to private organizations


Figure 3-4 Spheres of Security


Design of Security Architecture

Defense in depth– One of the foundations of security architectures

is requirement to implement security in layers– Requires that the organization establish sufficient

security controls and safeguards so an intruder faces multiple layers of controls

Security perimeter– Point at which an organization’s security

protection ends and the outside world begins– Unfortunately, perimeter does not apply to

internal attacks from employee threats or on-site physical threats


Security Education, Training, and Awareness

As soon as policies exist, policies to implement security education, training, and awareness (SETA) should follow

SETA is a control measure designed to reduce accidental security breaches

Supplement general education and training programs to educate staff on information security

Security education and training builds on general knowledge that employees must possess to do their jobs, familiarizing them with the way to do their jobs securely


SETA Elements

SETA program consists of three elements:– Security education– Security training– Security awareness

Organization may not be capable or willing to undertake all elements but may outsource them


Security Education

Everyone in an organization needs to be trained and aware of information security, but not every member of the organization needs a formal degree or certificate in information security

When formal education for appropriate individuals in security is needed, an employee can identify curriculum available from local institutions of higher learning or continuing education

A number of universities have formal coursework in information security– (See, for example, http://infosec.kennesaw.edu)


Security Training

Involves providing members of the organization with detailed information and hands-on instruction designed to prepare them to perform their duties securely

Management of information security can develop customized in-house training or outsource the training program


Security Awareness

One of the least frequently implemented but most beneficial programs is the security awareness program

Designed to keep information security at forefront of users’ minds

Need not be complicated or expensive If program is not actively implemented,

employees begin to ‘tune out,’ and the risk of employee accidents and failures increases


Continuity Strategies

Plans for events of this type are referred to in a number of ways: – Business continuity plans (BCPs)– Disaster recovery plans (DRPs)– Incident response plans (IRPs)– Contingency plans

Large organizations may have many types of plans and small organizations may have one simple plan, but most have inadequate planning


Figure 3-9 Contingency Planning Timeline


Contingency Planning Team

Before any planning begins, a team has to plan the effort and prepare resulting documents

Champion: high-level manager to support, promote, and endorse findings of the project

Project manager: leads project and makes sure a sound project planning process is used, a complete and useful project plan is developed, and project resources are prudently managed

Team members: should be managers or their representatives from various communities of interest (business, IT, and information security)


Figure 3-10 Major Steps in Contingency Planning


Business Impact Analysis

Begin with business impact analysis (BIA)– If the attack succeeds, what do we do then?

CP team conducts BIA in the following stages:– Threat attack identification

– Business unit analysis

– Attack success scenarios

– Potential damage assessment

– Subordinate plan classification


Threat Attack Identification and Prioritization

Update threat list with latest developments and add the attack profile

Attack profile is the detailed description of activities during an attack

Must be developed for every serious threat the organization faces

Used to determine the extent of damage that could result to business unit if attack were successful


Table 3-7 Attack Profile


Business Unit Analysis

Second major task within the BIA is analysis and prioritization of business functions within the organization

Identify functional areas of the organization and prioritize them as to which are most vital

Focus on prioritized list of various functions that the organization performs


Attack Success Scenario Development

Next, create series of scenarios depicting the impact a successful attack from each threat could have on each prioritized functional area with:– Details on method of attack– Indicators of attack– Broad consequences

Attack success scenario details are added to attack profile, including best, worst, and most likely outcomes


Potential Damage Assessment

From previously developed attack success scenarios, BIA planning team must estimate cost of best, worst, and most likely cases

Costs include actions of response team This final result is referred to as an attack

scenario end case


Incident Response Planning

Incident response planning covers identification of, classification of, and response to an incident

Incident is attack against an information asset that poses clear threat to the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of information resources

Attacks are only classified as incidents if they have the following characteristics:– Are directed against information assets– Have a realistic chance of success– Could threaten the confidentiality, integrity, or

availability of information resources IR is more reactive than proactive, with exception

of planning and preparation of IR teams


Incident Planning

Predefined responses enable organization to react quickly and effectively to detected incident

This assumes the organization has an IR team and can detect the incident

IR team consists of those individuals needed to handle systems as incident takes place

IR consists of the following four phases:– Planning– Detection– Reaction– Recovery


Incident or Disaster

When does an incident become a disaster?– The organization is unable to mitigate the impact

of an incident during the incident– The level of damage or destruction is so severe

that the organization is unable to quickly recover Difference may be subtle Up to the organization to decide which incidents

are to be classified as disasters and thus receive the appropriate level of response


Disaster Recovery Planning

Disaster recovery planning (DRP) is planning the preparation for and recovery from a disaster

Contingency planning team must decide which actions constitute disasters and which constitute incidents

When situations are classified as disasters, plans change as to how to respond; take action to secure the system’s most valuable assets to preserve value for the longer term even at the risk of more disruption in the immediate term

DRP strives to reestablish operations at the ‘primary’ site


DRP Steps

There must be a clear establishment of priorities There must be a clear delegation of roles and

responsibilities Someone must initiate the alert roster and notify

key personnel Someone must be tasked with the

documentation of the disaster If and only if it is possible, some attempts must

be made to mitigate the impact of the disaster on the operations of the organization


Crisis Management

Crisis management occurs during and after a disaster and focuses on the people involved and addressing the viability of the business

Crisis management team responsible for managing event from enterprise perspective by:– Supporting personnel and families during crisis– Determining impact on business operations and,

if necessary, making disaster declaration– Keeping public informed– Communicating with major customers, suppliers,

partners, regulatory agencies, industry organizations, media, other interested parties


Business Continuity Planning

Business continuity planning outlines reestablishment of critical business operations during a disaster that impacts operations

If disaster has rendered the business unusable for continued operations, there must be a plan to allow the business to continue to function

BCP is somewhat simpler than an IRP or DRP Consists primarily of selecting continuity

strategy and integrating off-site data storage and recovery functions into this strategy


Summary

To effectively secure networks, an organization must establish functional, well-designed information security program

Information security program creation requires information security policies, standards, and practices; an information security architecture; and a detailed information security blueprint

Management must make policy the basis for all information security planning, design, and deployment in order to direct how issues are addressed and how technologies are used


Summary (continued)

Policy must never conflict with laws but should stand up in court if challenged

To be effective and legally enforceable, policy must be disseminated, reviewed, understood, complied with, and uniformly enforced

Information security team identifies vulnerabilities and then develops security blueprint that is used to implement security program


Summary (continued)

Security framework is outline of steps to take to design and implement information security

Purpose of security education, training, and awareness (SETA) is to enhance security by improving awareness of need to protect system resources and teaching users to perform jobs more securely, and to build knowledge to design, implement, or operate security programs


Summary (continued)

IT and InfoSec managers must assure continuous availability of information systems

Achieved with various contingency plans: incident response (IR), disaster recovery (DR), business continuity (BC)

IR plan addresses identification, classification, response, and recovery from incident

DR plan addresses preparation for and recovery from disaster

BC plan ensures that critical business functions continue if catastrophic event occurs


Documents

FIREWALLS & NETWORK SECURITY with Intrusion Detection and VPNs, 2 nd ed. 3 Security Policies, Standards, and Planning By Whitman, Mattord, & Austin© 2008