28 May 2008

New guides to shake off management complacency

Rob Stringer

The ISAF (Information Security Awareness Forum) plans to raise awareness of information security within company management through a series of directors guides.

Jointly sponsored by IAAC, ISAF and BT, the guides have been issued to advise and educate on how to approach the risks posed in information security.

They contain the culmination of the amassed knowledge gained by members of ISAF, an umbrella organisation formed in February incorporating ISACA, the BCS and IAAC amongst others.

"The publication of these guides could scarcely be more timely,” insists Ray Stanton, global head of BT business continuity, security and governance practice. “While the technology and systems we employ to keep data secure continue to improve; the biggest threats to security [are] lapses in concentration when it comes to doing the basics correctly. A large part of that is due to poor communication.”

The guides are intended for all levels of management and are jargon-free to encourage accessibility.

“The Regulation and Legislation guide clearly illustrates a few of the myriad legal and regulatory obligations that all directors and senior managers face, obligations that they simply cannot pass on to others,” says Lars Davies, CEO of Kalypton Limited. He warns that “Not only can directors face personal liability for offences committed by their organisations, but they can face severe personal sanctions, in some cases a term of imprisonment of up to seven years, if they are party to the destruction, mutilation, or falsification of company information irrespective of whether that information is paper-based or electronic.”

Davies maintains that there is often a sense of entitlement in directorship which can lead to a slack attitude towards company security.

“If these guides achieve nothing other than to shake directors out of their self-imposed complacency, a complacency cultivated over the past two decades, then they will have achieved their purpose admirably.”

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