Security Disciplines
Introduction
This section discusses the following security disciplines for each of these objectives: Support, Prevention, and Detection and Recovery.
Section Structure
In general, each security discipline section is constructed as follows:
- Description and Purpose—provides a summary of the discipline and the role it plays in securing information.
- Principles—identifies the qualities that should be in place in an organization that responsibly and securely manages justice information.
- Policies—contains guidance and, when applicable, references to sample policies in order to assist organizations in establishing good internal policies for securing information.
- Best Practices—includes tutorials and also overviews the best ways to apply the tools, technologies, and processes within each discipline.
- References—provides resources to assist justice organizations in designing their security practices in meeting well-established industry standards.
| Information Security Disciplines | Definition and Relevance |
|---|---|
| Governance | Identifies the practices applied to establish, manage, and enforce information security policy. |
| Physical Security | Protects against compromises in security that may arise from facility and environmental vulnerabilities. |
| Personnel Security Screening | Includes the processes applied to determine if personnel warrant the level of trust required to access sensitive justice information and systems. |
| Separation of Duties | Requires the segregation of administrative, development, security, and user functions to provide security checks and balances. |
| Identification and Authentication | Ensures those wishing to gain access to information resources are who they represent themselves to be. Typical methods include passwords, smart cards, and biometrics. |
| Authorization and Access Control | Determines what permissions and access authorization an information system user holds. |
| Data Integrity | Safeguards information content and protects against inadvertent or intentional information modification or loss. |
| Data Classification | Provides guidelines to label information by its level of sensitivity and appropriate treatment. |
| Change Management | Recommends procedures so that system configurations are controlled and understood, reducing the risk of security compromise. |
| Public Access, Privacy, and Confidentiality | Outlines tools and procedures to protect the privacy of individuals and information in light of the increased accessibility offered by networked information systems. |
| Firewalls, VPNs, and Other Network Safeguards | Identifies the tools employed to establish a barrier between private and public information in a justice organization. |
| Intrusion Detection Systems | Monitors computing and communications facilities for evidence of inappropriate access or use. |
| Critical Incident Response | Determines whether or not an incident has occurred and develops methods of control to handle and minimize disruption of service. |
| Security Auditing | Examines and verifies that organizational practices meet security policies and applicable regulations. |
| Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity | Establishes and documents the procedures to follow in the event of a disaster so that operations that depend on the accuracy and availability of information can continue and be restored. |
