Implement a Multi-Year Information Security Training Plan to Mitigate Advanced Security Threats

Today, strategic information security planning is the way to make sure that your data remains safe as you work towards your set goals. It is important to know that strategic planning as well as cyber security training helps employees to know how they will reach the short term as well as long term goals.

A good security plan makes it possible for organizations to know which direction they are heading in. However, despite all this, there are several organizations that don’t have a strong security plan. Due to this, it is seen that there is lack of direction, ownership as well as inconsistency. Organizations that think having a security plan is not worth the money or effort are at a serious information security risk.

Learning about Information Security Strategic Plans

A security plan is needed by organizations to avoid hacks and information risks linked with processes, people, and customers. In addition to this, it helps organizations maintain data integrity and confidentiality. Let’s have a look at how a strategic training plan can help you out:

• It will help human resources to effectively manage the internal staff.
• It will make early detection of security threats a possibility.
• It will help in making proactive decisions that will give more efficient results.
• The organization will evolve by making sure that security is integrated seamlessly in the workflow.
• It will help you to define consistent methodologies that will help with the implementation process.

Implementing Information Security Training Plan to Combat Security Threats

The first step in the implementation of security training plan is to perform an analysis of the organization’s current state. Having a defined standard will make it easier to plan efficiently. Additional steps that will help with the process include aligning the security training plan with the organization’s business strategies. The training plan will be more effective if a more holistic approach is used, one that makes sure all the steps taken to integrate the processes and people are business-balanced and help in overcoming risks. It is important to know that having a foolproof security plan is important for an organization that wants to minimize security threats that includes information risk.

Risk Assessment

One important step that would help with information security is to perform a risk assessment. You can’t implement a plan if a risk assessment has not been performed. This is important because it gives you a framework for implementing security plans. To that end, here are some of the questions that you need to ask:

• What needs protection?
• What are the risks involved?
• How much effort and money it will take against these threats?

Some of the items that are generally at a threat include audit records, personnel records, computer hardware, archives and backups, software distribution media, sensitive organizational data, among others.

Potential Risks

Once you know the things that need to be protected, your next step is to know the risks. Some of them include:

• Component failure
• Misuse of software and hardware
• Malicious external breaches
• Software bugs and flaws
• Unauthorized deletion or modification
• Unauthorized disclosure of information
• Viruses, Trojan horses, and/or worms

Learning about the Type of Threats

The threats can be divided into natural disaster threats as well as human threats. Human threats are further divided into malicious threats which are intentional in nature as well as non-malicious threats which are unintentional and generally happen due to human error. The most common methods of attack include:

• Denial of service attack tools
• IP spoofing
• Packet modification
• Packet replaying
• Password cracking
• Social engineering
• Viruses, worms, and Trojan horses

Security Planning

Security planning involves developing security policies as well as having the right kind of tools. For implementation purposes, it is important to have proactive as well as reactive security planning. The proactive planning will prevent security threats, whereas the reactive planning is the Plan B in case proactive planning fails.

As a part of proactive planning, you need to have security policies in place. Some of these policies include:

• Administrative Responsibilities
• Backup and restore policies
• E-mail policies
• Internet policies
• Password policies
• User Responsibilities

Tools Needed to Implement Security Training Plan

• Authentication
• Digital Signatures
• Encryption File System
• Public Key Infrastructures
• Secure Access, Secure Data, Secure Code
• Secure E-mail
• Secure Sockets Layer
• Using Smart Cards

Technologies to Secure Network Connectivity

Among the technologies that can be used to secure the connectivity among networks, are firewalls, application gateways, VPNs, complex or hybrid gateways, static, interception and modification-based tools.

 In case a security breach does happen, the contingency plan should include implementing the recovery plans that should already be in place, while making the involved teams aware of the threat to its fullest extent. In addition, the clients and consultants should be informed to the extent that the enterprise deems necessary within beneficial transparency parameters.