The Official (ISC)2 CISSP CBK Reference. Aaron Kraus
Control 11: Secure Configuration for Network Devices, such as Firewalls, Routers, and Switches
CIS Control 12: Boundary Defense
CIS Control 13: Data Protection
CIS Control 14: Controlled Access Based on the Need to Know
CIS Control 15: Wireless Access Control
CIS Control 16: Account Monitoring and Control
CIS Control 17: Implement a Security Awareness and Training Program
CIS Control 18: Application Software Security
CIS Control 19: Incident Response and Management
CIS Control 20: Penetration Tests and Red Team Exercises
NOTE The controls and subcontrols within the CIS CSC break down into what are known as Implementation Groups. According to CIS, “Implementation Groups provide a simple and accessible way to help organizations of different classes focus their security resources, and still leverage the value of the CIS Controls program ….” In essence, these Implementation Groups help organizations prioritize controls and identify the subcontrols that are most reasonable for level of expertise and their risk profile. Visit www.cissecurity.org for more information on the CSC and their Implementation Groups.
Due Care and Due Diligence
Governance requires that the individuals setting the strategic direction and mission of the organization act on behalf of the stakeholders. The minimum standard for their governance action requires that they act with due care. Due care is a legal term used to describe the conduct that a reasonable person would exercise in a given situation. In business, due care is using reasonable care to protect the interests of your organization. More specifically, in regard to information security, due care relates to the conduct that a reasonable person would exercise to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their organization's assets. This concept of “reasonable” can be a bit nebulous at first, but it is intended to protect a person or organization from accusations of negligence. In short, court decisions around the world have demonstrated that a person's actions can be assumed “reasonable” if a person of similar background and experience, confronted with the same situation would enact the same or similar actions. Examples of due care in security are activities like scanning and patching security vulnerabilities, enabling security logging, and writing restrictive firewall rules that enforce least privilege (discussed in Chapter 3, “Security Architecture and Engineering”).
Due diligence is another legal concept that relates to continually ensuring that behavior maintains due care. In other words, due diligence is the ongoing execution and monitoring of due care. In relation to information security, due diligence relates to the ongoing actions that an organization and its personnel conduct to ensure organizational assets are reasonably protected. Examples of due diligence in security are activities like reviewing security log output for suspicious activity and conducting penetration tests to determine if firewall rules are sufficiently restrictive.
The concepts of due care and due diligence are incredibly important in the legal and finance world, but they must also be understood by information security professionals. Exercising due care and conducting due diligence are required to avoid claims of negligence in court. The CISSP CBK aims to establish the set of knowledge and activities required of a “reasonable” security leader.
DETERMINE COMPLIANCE AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS
(ISC)2 defines compliance as adherence to a mandate; it includes the set of activities that an organization conducts to understand and satisfy all applicable laws, regulatory requirements, industry standards, and contractual agreements.
Legislative and Regulatory Requirements
Many compliance expectations come from statutory or regulatory requirements that apply broadly to all industries. Others are specific to certain industries or products. This ever-changing set of expectations requires a continuous review of organizational practices to ensure that information is protected in compliance with all applicable requirements.
NOTE Because there are many compliance requirements that relate to information security, many people often confuse the two or assume that being compliant is the same as being secure. As a CISSP, you should understand that compliance requirements generally serve as a solid baseline for security, but being compliant with security regulations and standards is only the first step toward being secure.
The first challenge in identifying compliance requirements involves knowing which jurisdiction has the legal authority to set those requirements. Jurisdiction is a legal concept that establishes the official power to make legal decisions and judgments. It is not enough to know the relevant geography or political boundaries; jurisdiction may also be influenced by international treaties and agreements, the activity of your organization, or any number of other factors. Regardless of the example laws and regulations listed in this text, information security practitioners must be aware of the nuances of the jurisdictions in which they operate.
In most jurisdictions, laws are established to define what is permissible and what is not. In U.S. law, the word law refers to any rule that, if broken, subjects a party to criminal punishment or civil liability. Laws may be generally categorized into two parts: statutes and regulations. Statutes are written and adopted by the jurisdiction's legislative body (e.g., U.S. Congress), while regulations are more detailed rules on how the execution of a statute will be performed. Both statutes and regulations are legally enforceable, but regulations are subordinate to statutes.
TIP While you don't need a law degree to be an information security professional, it certainly helps to Article 17 have a basic understanding of legal jargon. Since you must learn to read laws and understand how they apply to information security, it's important that you can interpret how laws are usually cited, particularly in the United States. If you see 18 U.S.C. § 1030, for example, you should understand that this refers to Section 1030 of Title 18 of the United States Code. You may see C.F.R. used to reference the Code of Federal Regulations. In the United Kingdom, laws are cited in the following manner: Title of Act Year, Chapter Number (where the chapter is optional); “Computer Misuse Act 1990, c. 18” is an example.
There is a growing number of legislative and regulatory requirements in the United States and around the world, but there are two overarching U.S. laws that you should be familiar with:
U.S. Computer Security Act of 1987
U.S. Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002
U.S. Computer Security Act of 1987
The Computer Security Act was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1987 with the objective of improving the security and privacy of sensitive information stored on U.S. federal government computers. The act contains provisions that require establishment of minimally acceptable security practices for federal government computer systems, as well as establishment of security policies for government agencies to meet those practices. As part of this act, security awareness training was established as a requirement for any federal government employee using government computer systems.
The Computer Security Act establishes that the National Institute for Standards and Technology, an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, is responsible for setting computer security standards for unclassified, nonmilitary government computer systems, while the National Security Agency (NSA) is responsible for setting security guidance for classified government and military systems and applications.