Are employees aware of the IT security policies in the Employee Handbook?

IT Audit Policy and Plans
Company Background & Operating Environment
Red Clay Renovations is an internationally recognized,
awarding winning firm that specializes in the renovation and rehabilitation of
residential buildings and dwellings. The company specializes in updating homes
using “smart home” and “Internet of Things” technologies while maintaining
period correct architectural characteristics. Please refer to the company
profile (for additional background information and information about the
company’s operating environment.
Policy Issue & Plan of Action
The corporate board was recently briefed by the Chief
Information Officer concerning the company’s IT Security Program and how this
program contributes to the company’s risk management strategy. During the
briefing, the CIO presented assessment reports and audit findings from IT
security audits. These audits focused upon the technical infrastructure and the
effectiveness and efficiency of the company’s implementation of security
controls. During the discussion period, members of the corporate board asked
about audits of policy compliance and assessments as to the degree that
employees were (a) aware of IT security policies and (b) complying with these
policies. The Chief Information Officer was tasked with providing the following
items to the board before its next quarterly meeting:
(a) Issue
Specific Policy requiring an annual compliance audit for IT security policies
as documented in the company’s Policy System
(b) Audit
Plan for assessing employee awareness of and compliance with IT security
policies
a. Are
employees aware of the IT security policies in the Employee Handbook?
b. Do
employees know their responsibilities under those policies?
(c) Audit
Plan for assessing the IT security policy system
a. Do
required policies exist?
b. Have
they been updated within the past year?
c. Are
the policies being reviewed and approved by the appropriate oversight
authorities (managers, IT governance board, etc.)?
Your Task Assignment
As a staff member
supporting the CISO, you have been asked to research this issue (auditing IT
security policy compliance) and then prepare an “approval draft” for a
compliance policy. You must also research and draft two separate audit plans
(a) employee compliance and (b) policy system audit. The audit policy should
not exceed two typed pages in length so you will need to be concise in your
writing and only include the most important elements for the policy. Make sure
that you include a requirement for an assessment report to be provided to
company management and the corporate board of directors.
·
For the employee compliance assessment, you must
use an interview strategy which includes 10 or more multiple choice questions
that can be used to construct a web-based survey of all employees. The
questions should be split between (a) awareness of key policies and (b)
awareness of personal responsibilities in regards to compliance.
·
For the policy system audit, you should use a
documentation assessment strategy which reviews the contents of the individual
policies to determine when the policy was last updated, who “owns” the policy,
who reviewed the policy, and who approved the policy for implementation.
Research:
1.
Review the table of contents and relevant chapters
in the Certified Information Privacy Professional textbook to find information
about legal and regulatory drivers.
2.
Review the weekly readings including the example
audit assessment report.
3.
Review work completed previously in this course
which provides background about the IT Policy System and specific policies for
the case study company.
4.
Find additional resources which discuss IT
compliance audits and/or policy system audits.
Write:
1.
Prepare briefing package with approval drafts of
the three required documents. Place all three documents in a single MS Word
(.doc or .docx) files.
2.
Your
briefing package must contain the following:
·
Executive Summary
·
“Approval Drafts” for
o Issue
Specific Policy for IT Security Policy Compliance Audits
o Audit
Plan for IT Security Policy Awareness & Compliance (Employee Survey)
o Audit
Plan for IT Security Policies Audit (Documentation Review)
As you write your policy and audit plans, make sure that you address
security issues using standard cybersecurity terminology.
3.
Use a professional format for your policy
documents and briefing package. Your
policy documents should be consistently formatted and easy to read.
4.
You must include
a cover page with the assignment title, your name, and the due date. Your
reference list must be on a separate page at the end of your file. These pages
do not count towards the assignment’s page count.
5.
Common phrases do not require citations. If
there is doubt as to whether or not information requires attribution, provide a
footnote with publication information or use APA format citations and
references.
6.
You are expected to write grammatically correct
English in every assignment that you submit for grading. Do not turn in any
work without (a) using spell check, (b) using grammar check, (c) verifying that
your punctuation is correct and (d) reviewing your work for correct word usage
and correctly structured sentences and paragraphs.
7.
Consult the
grading rubric for specific content and formatting requirements for this assignment.
8.
Submit your briefing package in MS Word format
(.docx or .doc file) for grading using your assignment folder. (Attach the
file.)

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