Information Security Policy

Information Security Policy

Drafts a formal Information Security Policy satisfying multi-framework regulatory requirements with enforceable operational guidance.

Prerequisites

1. Org profile — industry sector, employee count, jurisdictions of operation
2. Regulatory triggers — applicable frameworks (HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, GLBA, FERPA, PCI DSS, SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST CSF)
3. Existing governance docs — current policies, data classification schemes, incident response plans
4. Data inventory — sensitive data categories handled (PHI, PII, payment card data, student records, trade secrets)
5. Approving authority — CEO, Board, CISO, General Counsel signature blocks needed

Output Structure

Document Control Block

Field	Content
Policy Title	Information Security Policy
Version / Effective Date	[#] / [Date]
Approved By / Owner	[Title] / CISO or equivalent
Next Review	[Date + 1 year]
Supersedes	[Prior version or N/A]

Section Outline

1. Purpose & Authority

• Business rationale (financial, reputational, regulatory risk)
• Authorizing resolution; relationship to other org policies

2. Scope

• Entities: parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, JVs
• Personnel: employees, contractors, vendors, partners
• Assets: electronic data, physical records, IP, BYOD, remote environments
• Exclusions: publicly available info, de-identified data (define standard)

3. Definitions Define with legal precision; flag where definitions vary by jurisdiction:

• Confidential Information, Personal Data / PII (per GDPR Art. 4, CCPA § 1798.140, HIPAA 45 C.F.R. § 160.103)
• Data Breach, Security Incident, Data Owner, Data Custodian, Authorized User
• Classification Levels: Public / Internal / Confidential / Restricted

4. Data Classification

Level	Description	Examples
Public	Approved for external release	Marketing materials
Internal	Business use; not for external distribution	Org charts, internal memos
Confidential	Limited distribution; legal obligations	Customer PII, financial data
Restricted	Highest sensitivity; regulatory protection	PHI, payment card data, credentials

5. Access Controls

• Least privilege; separation of duties
• Lifecycle: request → data owner approval → provisioning → quarterly review → revocation on role change/termination
• Privileged access: separate admin accounts; logged and audited

6. Authentication

Requirement	Standard
Password length	12+ characters; mixed case, numbers, symbols
MFA required for	Remote access, privileged accounts, Restricted data, cloud admin
Acceptable MFA	TOTP, hardware token, biometric; SMS discouraged for high-risk
Shared credentials	Prohibited

7. Encryption Standards

Context	Minimum Standard
Data at rest (Confidential/Restricted)	AES-256
Data in transit	TLS 1.2+ (1.3 preferred)
Portable devices	Full-disk encryption
Email (Restricted)	End-to-end or secure portal
Backup media	Encrypted; separate key management

Review annually; superseded by org Security Standards if more stringent.

8. Acceptable Use

• Prohibited: illegal activity, harassment, circumventing controls, credential sharing
• Monitoring: org reserves right; no expectation of privacy on org systems
• BYOD: MDM enrollment, encryption, remote wipe on loss/termination

9. Physical Security

• Lock unattended devices; clean desk for Confidential/Restricted materials
• Secure disposal: cross-cut shredding (paper); cryptographic erasure or destruction (media)
• Visitor access: escorted in secure areas; logs maintained

10. Data Retention & Disposal

Category	Period	Basis
PHI	6 years	HIPAA 45 C.F.R. § 164.530(j)
Financial records	7 years	IRS / GLBA
Student records	Per FERPA	34 C.F.R. § 99
Incident logs	3 years min	[Regulatory basis]

Certificate of destruction required for Restricted data.

11. Roles & Responsibilities

Role	Obligations
Board / Exec	Policy approval; resource allocation
CISO	Program ownership; standards; audit; regulator liaison
IT / Security	Controls; patching; monitoring; vulnerability mgmt
Legal / Privacy	Breach notification decisions; regulatory liaison
Managers	Access approval; team compliance; off-boarding
All Employees	Credential protection; incident reporting; training
DPO	Required under GDPR Art. 37 if applicable

12. Incident Response

Lifecycle:

1. Detect & Report — within [1–4 hours] to security hotline
2. Assess — severity triage; activate IRT if Sev 1/2
3. Contain — isolate systems; preserve evidence; chain of custody
4. Eradicate — remove threat; patch vulnerability
5. Recover — restore from clean backups; verify integrity
6. Post-Incident Review — within 14 days; root cause; corrective action plan

IRT: CISO (lead), IT Security, Legal, HR, PR/Comms, Executive Sponsor.

13. Breach Notification

Framework	Deadline	Recipients
HIPAA	60 days (individuals); 60 days HHS + media if 500+	Individuals, HHS, media
GDPR	72 hours to SA; without undue delay to individuals if high risk	SA, affected individuals
CCPA/CPRA	Expedient / without unreasonable delay	Consumers; AG if 500+ CA
State laws	30–90 days (varies)	Residents, AGs, credit bureaus
PCI DSS	Immediately	Card brands, acquiring bank

Legal counsel notified immediately upon any incident involving personal data.

14. Third-Party & Vendor Management

• Security assessment before vendor access to Confidential/Restricted data
• Required contractual provisions: DPA / BAA as applicable
• Right-to-audit for Restricted data vendors
• Access revoked immediately on contract termination

15. Regulatory Compliance Matrix

Framework	Applicability	Key Requirements
HIPAA (45 C.F.R. §§ 164.302–318)	Healthcare / PHI	Admin, physical, technical safeguards; BAAs
GLBA (16 C.F.R. § 314)	Financial institutions	Risk assessment; safeguards; service provider oversight
FERPA (34 C.F.R. § 99)	Education	Student record protection; disclosure restrictions
GDPR	EU personal data	Lawful basis; data subject rights; DPIAs; SCCs
CCPA/CPRA	CA residents	Consumer rights; opt-out; privacy notice
PCI DSS v4.0	Payment cards	Detailed controls in separate PCI procedures
NIST CSF 2.0	Voluntary	Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover, Govern
ISO 27001	Voluntary	ISMS; Annex A controls

16. Training & Awareness

• All personnel: at hire + annually; phishing simulation semi-annually
• High-risk roles (sysadmins, developers, finance): role-specific training annually
• Completion tracked; non-completion escalated; records retained 3 years

17. Compliance Monitoring & Audit

• Annual risk assessment; quarterly vulnerability scans; annual penetration test
• Access reviews: semi-annual (Confidential), quarterly (Restricted)
• Remediation SLAs — Critical: 30 days, High: 60 days, Medium: 90 days

18. Enforcement Progressive discipline: retraining → written warning → suspension/termination → civil liability → criminal referral. Factors: intent, severity, prior violations, self-reporting.

19. Policy Administration

• Review: annually or upon major incident, regulatory change, material org change
• Approval: [CEO/Board] on CISO + General Counsel recommendation
• Employees acknowledge receipt in writing; at-will status unaffected

Signature Block

Role	Name	Signature	Date
CEO
CISO
General Counsel

Employee Acknowledgment

I acknowledge receipt of, have read, and agree to comply with the Information Security Policy (Version [#], effective [Date]).

Name: ______ Title: ______ Date: ______ Signature: ______

Guidelines

• Multi-jurisdiction conflicts: apply most stringent standard or add jurisdiction-specific schedules
• Encryption floors: AES-256 / TLS 1.2+ are minimums; revise per NIST guidance updates
• GDPR DPO: required if org is public authority, conducts large-scale monitoring, or processes special category data at scale — confirm applicability before drafting [VERIFY]
• HIPAA BAAs: policy cross-references but does not replace BAA; maintain separate vendor register
• PCI DSS: detailed technical controls in separate PCI documentation to allow updates without policy re-approval
• At-will disclaimer: verify enforceability under applicable state law [VERIFY]
• Collective bargaining: if unionized workforce, confirm no bargaining obligation before implementation
• Do not fabricate citations — use [VERIFY] for any citation not confirmed against primary source