2018.1 Example WISP NIST CSF Written Information Security Program
2018.1 Example WISP NIST CSF Written Information Security Program
PROGRAM (WISP)
INTRODUCTION
The Written Information Security Program (WISP) provides definitive information on the prescribed measures used to establish and
enforce the cybersecurity program at ACME Business Solutions, Inc. (ACME).
ACME is committed to protecting its employees, partners, clients and ACME from damaging acts that are intentional or
unintentional. Effective cybersecurity is a team effort involving the participation and support of every ACME user who interacts with
data and systems. Therefore, it is the responsibility of every user to know these policies and to conduct their activities accordingly.
Protecting company data and the systems that collect, process, and maintain this information is of critical importance. Consequently,
the security of systems must include controls and safeguards to offset possible threats, as well as controls to ensure availability,
integrity, confidentiality and safety:
Commensurate with risk, security measures must be implemented to guard against unauthorized access to, alteration, disclosure
or destruction of data and systems. This also includes protection against accidental loss or destruction.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the Written Information Security Program (WISP) is to prescribe a comprehensive framework for:
Creating a leading practice-based Information Security Management System (ISMS) that is structured on the NIST
Cybersecurity Framework (CSF);1
Protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of ACME data and systems;
Protecting ACME, its employees, and its clients from illicit use of ACME systems and data;
Ensuring the effectiveness of security controls over data and systems that support ACME’s operations.
Recognizing the highly-networked nature of the current computing environment and provide effective company-wide
management and oversight of those related cybersecurity risks; and
Providing for the development, review, and maintenance of minimum security controls required to protect ACME’s data
and systems.
The formation of these cybersecurity policies is driven by many factors, with the key factor being a risk. These policies set the ground
rules under which ACME operates and safeguards its data and systems to both reduce risk and minimize the effect of potential
incidents.
These policies, including their related control objectives, standards, procedures, and guidelines, are necessary to support the
management of information risks in daily operations. The development of policies provides due care to ensure ACME users
understand their day-to-day security responsibilities and the threats that could impact the company.
1
NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) - https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework
Some standards apply specifically to persons with a specific job function (e.g., a System Administrator); otherwise, all personnel
supporting ACME business functions shall comply with the standards. ACME departments shall use these standards or may create a
more restrictive standard, but none that are less restrictive, less comprehensive, or less compliant than these standards.
These policies do not supersede any other applicable law or higher-level company directive or existing labor management
agreement in effect as of the effective date of this policy.
Appendix E: Information Security Roles & Responsibilities provides a detailed description of ACME user roles and responsibilities, in
regards to Information Security.
ACME reserves the right to revoke, change, or supplement these policies, standards and guidelines at any time without prior notice.
Such changes shall be effective immediately upon approval by management unless otherwise stated.
POLICY OVERVIEW
To ensure an acceptable level of cybersecurity risk, ACME is required to design, implement and maintain a coherent set of policies,
standards, procedures and guidelines to manage risks to its data and systems.
The WISP addresses the policies, standards and guidelines. Data/process owners, in conjunction with asset custodians, are
responsible for creating, implementing and updated operational procedures to comply with WISP requirements.
ACME users are required to protect and ensure the Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability and Safety (CIAS) of data and systems,
regardless of how its data is created, distributed or stored.
Security controls will be tailored accordingly so that cost-effective controls can be applied commensurate with the risk and
sensitivity of the data and system; and
Security controls must be designed and maintained to ensure compliance with all legal requirements.
VIOLATIONS
Any ACME user found to have violated any policy, standard or procedure may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including
termination of employment. Violators of local, state, Federal, and/or international law may be reported to the appropriate law
enforcement agency for civil and/or criminal prosecution.
EXCEPTIONS
While every exception to a standard potentially weakens protection mechanisms for ACME systems and underlying data,
occasionally exceptions will exist. When requesting an exception, users are required to submit a business justification for deviation
from the standard in question.
UPDATES
Updates to the Written Information Security Program (WISP) will be announced to employees via management updates or email
announcements. Changes will be noted in the Record of Changes to highlight the pertinent changes from the previous policies,
procedures, standards and guidelines.
Personal Data / Personally Identifiable Information (PII). A term describing any information relating to an identified or identifiable
natural person ("data subject"); an identifiable person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference
to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the
physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that person. 3
PII Controller / Data Controller. A term describing the privacy stakeholder (or privacy stakeholders) that determines the purposes
and means for processing personally identifiable information (PII) other than natural persons who use data for personal purposes
PII Principal / Data Principle. A term describing the natural person to whom the personally identifiable information (PII) relates
PII Processor / Data Processor. A term describing the privacy stakeholder that processes personally identifiable information (PII) on
behalf of and in accordance with the instructions of a PII controller
Policy: A term describing a formally established requirement to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. Essentially, a policy
is a statement of expectation that is enforced by standards and further implemented by procedures.
Procedure: A term describing an established or official way of doing something, based on a series of actions conducted in a certain
order or manner. Procedures are the responsibility of the asset custodian to build and maintain, in support of standards and policies.
Sensitive Data: A term that covers categories of data that must be kept secure. Examples of sensitive data include sensitive
Personally Identifiable Information (sPII), Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI), and all other forms of data classified as
Restricted or Confidential in Appendix A: Data Classification & Handling Guidelines.
Sensitive Personal Data / Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (sPII): A term describing personal data, revealing:
The first name or first initial and last name, in combination with any one or more of the following data elements: 4
o Social Security Number (SSN) / Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) / National Identification Number (NIN);
o Driver License (DL) or another government-issued identification number (e.g., passport, permanent resident card,
etc.);
o Financial account number; or
o Payment card number (e.g., credit or debit card);
Racial or ethnic origin;
Political opinions;
Religious or philosophical beliefs;
Trade-union membership;
Physical or mental health;
Sex life and sexual orientation;
Genetic data; and/or
Biometric data.5
Standard: A term describing formally established requirements in regard to processes, actions, and configurations.
System: A term describing an asset; an information system or network that can be defined, scoped, and managed. Includes, but is
not limited to, computers, workstations, laptops, servers, routers, switches, firewalls, and mobile devices.
Target Audience: A term describing the intended group for which a control or standard is directed.
3
European Union General Data Protection Requirement – Article 4(1)
4
The source of this definition comes from two state laws - Oregon Consumer Identity Theft Protection Act - ORS 646A.600(11)(a) -
http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/646a.html and Massachusetts 201 CMR 17.00” Standards For The Protection of Personal
Information of Residents of The Commonwealth - MA201CMR17.02
http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/docs/idtheft/201cmr1700reg.pdf
5
European Union General Data Protection Requirement – Article 9(1)
An Information Security Management System (ISMS) focuses on cybersecurity management and technology-related risks. The
governing principle behind ACME’s ISMS is that, as with all management processes, the ISMS must remain effective and efficient in
the long-term, adapting to changes in the internal organization and external environment.
In accordance with leading practices, ACME’s ISMS incorporates the typical "Plan-Do-Check-Act" (PDCA), or Deming Cycle, approach:
Plan: This phase involves designing the ISMS, assessing IT-related risks, and selecting appropriate controls.
Do: This phase involves implementing and operating the appropriate security controls.
Check: This phase involves reviewing and evaluating the performance (efficiency and effectiveness) of the ISMS.
Act: This involves making changes, where necessary, to bring the ISMS back to optimal performance.
6
ISO 27002 5.1
Management Intent: The purpose of the Capacity & Performance Planning (CAP) policy is to prevent avoidable business interruptions
caused by capacity and performance limitations through requiring both technology and business leadership to maintain situational
awareness of current and future performance.
Policy: ACME shall protect against avoidable impacts to operations by proactively managing the capacity and performance of its
critical technology and supporting infrastructure.
Supporting Documentation: This policy is supported by the following control objectives, standards, and guidelines.
Guidelines: Data/process owners must consider the types of auditing to be performed and the audit processing requirements when
allocating audit storage capacity. Allocating sufficient audit storage capacity reduces the likelihood of such capacity being exceeded
and resulting in the potential loss or reduction of auditing capability.
Guidelines: Priority protection helps prevent lower-priority processes from delaying or interfering with the system servicing any
higher-priority processes. Quotas prevent users or processes from obtaining more than predetermined amounts of resources. This
control does not apply to system components for which there are only single users/roles.
Guidelines: Asset custodians should review functions and services of systems, to determine which functions and services are
candidates for elimination (e.g., Instant Messaging, SMS, auto-execute, and file sharing). ACME may utilize network scanning tools,
intrusion detection and prevention systems, and endpoint protections such as firewalls and host-based intrusion detection systems
to identify and prevent the use of prohibited functions, ports, protocols, and services.
Guidelines: The software inventory system should track the version of the underlying operating system as well as the applications
installed on it. The software inventory systems should be tied into the hardware asset inventory, so all devices and associated
software are tracked from a single location. Tracking systems can include, for example, simple spreadsheets or fully automated,
specialized applications depending on organizational needs. ACME should:
Employ tracking systems for software and associated documentation protected by quantity licenses to control copying and
distribution; and
Control and document the use of peer-to-peer file sharing technology to ensure that this capability is not used for the
unauthorized distribution, display, performance, or reproduction of copyrighted work.
Management Intent: The purpose of the Continuous Monitoring (MON) policy is to establish and maintain situational awareness
across the enterprise through the centralized collection and review of security-related event logs. Without comprehensive visibility
into infrastructure, operating system, database, application and other logs, ACME will have “blind spots” in its situational awareness
that could lead to system compromise and/or data exfiltration.
Policy: Only through the ongoing and continuous monitoring of ACME’s technology assets can situation awareness of cybersecurity
events be maintained. Therefore, technology assets must adhere to configuration management requirements to log security events
and forward those events to allow for the centralized monitoring and review of logs to identify anomalous behavior so that
appropriate steps can be taken to remediate potential cybersecurity incidents.
Supporting Documentation: This policy is supported by the following control objectives, standards, and guidelines.
Guidelines: Generating audit trails of suspect activities alerts the system administrator, sends data to other monitoring mechanisms
(like intrusion detection systems), and provides a history trail for post-incident follow-up. Logging of the following events enables
Restricted · SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE would occur if Restricted information were to become available to
unauthorized parties either internal or external to ACME.
Potential
Impact of Loss · Impact could include negatively affecting ACME’s competitive position, violating regulatory
requirements, damaging the company’s reputation, violating contractual requirements, and
posing an identity theft risk.
Confidential information is highly valuable, sensitive business information and the level of
Definition
protection is dictated internally by ACME
Public · NO DAMAGE would occur if Public information were to become available to parties either
Potential internal or external to ACME.
Impact of Loss
· Impact would not be damaging or a risk to business operations.
The table below shows examples of common data instances that are already classified to simplify the process. This list is not inclusive
of all types of data, but it establishes a baseline for what constitutes data sensitivity levels and will adjust to accommodate new
types or changes to data sensitivity levels, when necessary.
IMPORTANT: You are instructed to classify data more sensitive than this guide, if you feel that is warranted by the content.
Internal Use
Confidential
Restricted
Data
Sensitive Data Elements
Class
Public
Social Security Number (SSN) X
Employer Identification Number (EIN) X
Driver’s License (DL) Number X
Client or Employee Personal Data
Medical Data X
Workers Compensation Claim Data X
Education Data X
Dependent or Beneficiary Data X
Business Plan (including marketing strategy) X
Marketing
Data
Legal Billings X
Strategic
Budget-Related Data X
Unannounced Merger and Acquisition Information X
Trade Secrets (e.g., design diagrams, competitive information, etc.) X
Electronic Payment Information (Wire Payment / ACH) X
Operating
Paychecks X
Incentives or Bonuses (amounts or percentages) X
Stock Dividend Information X
Bank Account Information X
Assets and services are categorized by two primary attributes: (a) the potential impact they pose from misuse and (b) the data
classification level of the data processed, stored or transmitted by the asset or process. These two attributes combine to establish
a basis for controls that should be assigned to that system or asset. This basis is called an Assurance Level (AL).
SC-1
Enhanced Enhanced Enhanced Enhanced
Mission Critical
Criticality
Safety &
SC-2
Enhanced Enhanced Basic Basic
Business Critical
SC-3
Enhanced Basic Basic Basic
Non-Critical
Figure D-1: Asset Categorization Risk Matrix
Policy: ACME shall protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of its data and information systems, regardless of how its
data is created, distributed, or stored. Security controls will be tailored accordingly so that cost-effective controls can be applied
commensurate with the risk and sensitivity of the data and information system, in accordance with all legal obligations.
Policy: ACME shall protect its assets and data by implementing and maintaining appropriate IT Asset Management (ITAM) business
practices across the enterprise.
Policy: ACME shall establish and manage the capability for maintaining the Continuity of Operations (COOP) to ensure the availability
of critical technology resources during adverse conditions.
Policy: ACME shall protect against avoidable impacts to operations by proactively managing the capacity and performance of its
critical technology and supporting infrastructure.
Policy: All technology changes to production environments must follow a standard process to reduce the risk associated with change.
ACME requires active stakeholder involvement to ensure changes are appropriately tested, validated, and documented before
implementing any change on a production network.
COMPLIANCE (CPL)
Management Intent: The purpose of the Compliance (CPL) policy is to ensure safeguards are in place to be aware of and comply
with applicable statutory, regulatory and contractual compliance obligations.
Policy: In accordance with all applicable legal requirements, ACME shall ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect
sensitive business data against loss, unauthorized access, or disclosure.
The diagram depicted below is an illustration of the process flow that generally takes place to implement a Written Information
Security Program (WISP) within an organization. There will most likely be some level of customization of the WISP that is
necessary to meet [Company Name]’s unique requirements and staffing levels.
[Official Company Name] ([Company Name]) is committed to protecting its employees, partners, clients and [Company Name] from
damaging acts that are intentional or unintentional. Effective security is a team effort involving the participation and support of
every [Company Name] user who interacts with data and information systems. The reason for implementing [Company Name]’s
Written Information Security Program (WISP) is not to impose restrictions that are contrary to [Company Name]’s established
culture of openness, trust, and integrity, but to strengthen [Company Name]’s ability to guard against unauthorized access to,
alteration, disclosure or destruction of data and information systems. This also includes against accidental loss or destruction.
The purpose of the Written Information Security Program is to ensure that security controls are properly implemented and that
clients and business partners are confident their information is adequately protected. Protecting company information and the
systems that collect, process, and maintain this information is of critical importance. Therefore, the security of information systems
must include controls and safeguards to offset possible threats, as well as controls to ensure accountability, availability, integrity,
and confidentiality of the data:
Confidentiality – This security component addresses preserving authorized restrictions on information access and
disclosure, including means for protecting personal privacy and proprietary information.
Integrity – This security component addresses the property that sensitive data has not been modified or deleted in an
unauthorized and undetected manner.
Availability – This security component addresses ensuring timely and reliable access to and use of information.
The WISP establishes the foundation for the Information Security Program at [Company Name] . The formation of the policies is
driven by many factors, with the key factor being a risk. These policies set the ground rules under which [Company Name] shall
operate and safeguard its data and information systems to both reduce risk and minimize the effect of potential incidents.
These policies, including their related procedures, standards, and guidelines, are necessary to support the management of
information risks in daily operations. The development of policies provides due care to ensure [Company Name] users understand
their day-to-day security responsibilities and the threats that could impact the company.
Implementing consistent security controls across the company will help [Company Name] comply with current and future legal
obligations to ensure long term due diligence in protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of [Company Name] data.
It is the responsibility of every user to know these policies and to conduct their activities accordingly. The WISP is effective as of
[enter date policy is effective].
Respectfully,
[owner/manager’s signature]
[insert owner/manager’s printed name]
[insert owner/manager’s title]
I acknowledge that if I do have any questions regarding any information within [Company Name]’s WISP, it is my responsibility to
address those issues with my manager for further clarification. I acknowledge that ignorance on my part is not an excuse and I take
full responsibility for my actions and the actions I fail to do. I acknowledge and understand that failure on my part to practice due
care and due diligence may also result in the termination of my employment for cause.
I agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless [Company Name] , its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, and each of its respective
owners, officers, directors, managers, employees, shareholders and agents (each an "indemnified party" and, collectively,
"indemnified parties") from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, liabilities, suits, actions, demands, proceedings (whether
legal or administrative), and expenses (including, but not limited to, reasonable attorney's fees) threatened, asserted or filed by a
third-party against any of the indemnified parties arising out of or relating to any and all gross negligence and/or misconduct on my
part.
Incident Report
Damage Assessment
Resources Used
Type of
Domain Administrator Local Administrator Power User Other
Rights:
Request
Reason(s):
Requestor Signoff
As the end user specified on this form, I certify that the information provided in this document is both true and accurate.
The end user also recognizes the increased responsibilities inherent to having an account with elevated privileges and will follow
all policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines required by [Company Name] users with administrative rights. Failure to follow
these standards will result in immediate revocation of elevated privileges.
Requestor’s Supervisor
Completed Date
Signature: X / /
By: Received:
(print name)
By the very nature of every incident being somewhat different, the guidelines provided in this Incident Response Plan (IRP) do not
comprise an exhaustive set of incident handling procedures. These guidelines document basic information about responding to
incidents that can be used regardless of hardware platform or operating system. This plan describes the stages of incident
identification and handling, with the focus on preparation and follow-up, including reporting guidelines and requirements.
PLAN OBJECTIVES
The objective of Incident Response Plan (IRP) is to:
Limit immediate incident impact to customers and business partners;
Recover from the incident;
Determine how the incident occurred;
Find out how to avoid further exploitation of the same vulnerability;
Avoid escalation and further incidents;
Assess the impact and damage in terms of financial impact and loss of image;
Update company policies, procedures, standards and guidelines as needed; and
Determine who initiated the incident for possible criminal and/or civil prosecution.
INCIDENT DISCOVERY
Denial of Service
You might be experiencing a DoS if you see…
(DoS) Examples
Responsible
Step Incident Response Plan (IRP) Actions Completed
Entity
Detection and Analysis Phase
1.0 Anyone Determine If an Incident Occurred
1.1 Anyone Analyze the precursors and indications. (Appendix 16-1)
1.2 Anyone Look for correlating information. (Appendix 16-2)
1
1.3 Anyone Perform research (e.g. search engines, vendor knowledge base, peer review, etc.)
As soon as the incident handler believes an incident has occurred, he/she must begin
1.4 Anyone
documenting the incident and gathering evidence.
2.0 Anyone Notify IT Support
2.1 Anyone The incident handler contacts IT Support and provides available documentation and evidence.
2.2 IT Support IT Support classifies the incident according to Appendix 16-1
2
If the IT Support categorizes the event as a full investigation, the IT Support technician should
2.3 IT Support
create a case file.
IT Support on-call analyst consolidates documentation and evidence and, if applicable, stores
2.4 IT Support
the documentation in the case folder for the incident.
3.0 IT Support Incident Prioritization
3.1 IT Support IT Support prioritizes handling the incident based on the business impact.
3 IT Support will identify which IT resources have been affected and forecast which resources
3.2 IT Support
will be affected.
3.3 IT Support IT Support will estimate the current and potential technical effect of the incident.
4.0 IT Support Incident Notification
4
4.1 IT Support IT Support will contact affected asset owners and business units, alerting them to the situation.
5.0 Multiple Entities Incident Escalation (If Required)
If the incident is believed to be significant, the IT Support technician or asset owner is
5 5.1 IT Support
responsible for notifying management for escalation.
5.2 Management Management is responsible for coordinating further incident escalation steps, as required.
Containment, Eradication, and Recovery Phase
6.0 IT Support Secure, Document, Acquire, Preserve & Analyze Evidence (If Required)
6 IT Support will follow its Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for evidence seizure and
6.1 IT Support
analysis.
A Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) specifies emergency response procedures, including specifying individual responsibility for
responding to emergency situations and specifying procedures to enable team members to communicate with each other and with
management during and after an emergency.
DRP CLASSIFICATION
Information system criticality and mission importance for the DRP is the same Mission Assurance Category (MAC) levels as defined
in Appendix D: Baseline Security Categorization Guidelines.
High security required; must be in High security required; must be in High security required; must be in
Restricted
Disaster Recovery Plan Disaster Recovery Plan Disaster Recovery Plan
Moderate security required; must Moderate security required; may Moderate security required; need
Confidential
be in Disaster Recovery Plan be in Disaster Recovery Plan not be in Disaster Recovery Plan
Data
Sensitivity
Minimal security required; must be Minimal security required; may be Minimal security required; need
Internal Use
in Disaster Recovery Plan in Disaster Recovery Plan not be in Disaster Recovery Plan
Minimal security required; must be Minimal security required; may be Minimal security required; need
Public
in Disaster Recovery Plan in Disaster Recovery Plan not be in Disaster Recovery Plan
Backup copies of data and software that are sufficient for recovery from an emergency situation pertaining to critical assets must
be stored at a secure, external site providing standard protection against hazards such as fire, flood, earthquake, theft, and decay.
Requirements and procedures for such offsite backup shall be included in the DRP, including procedures and authorities for
obtaining access to such sites in the event of an emergency.
Disaster recovery requirements should be specified when establishing maintenance agreements with vendors supplying
components of critical resources. Ensure that vendors can provide replacement components within a reasonable period of time
when planning system upgrades or deployments.