How Proper Documentation Can Help Improve the Effectiveness of Your Cybersecurity Program

When building an effective cybersecurity program it’s important to determine what information should be documented, who should own the documentation, and how the documentation should be maintained.

Hi, I’m Jeremy Dodson, CISO here at NextLinkLabs, and today we’re talking about how proper documentation can help you improve the effectiveness of your cybersecurity program.

Proper documentation can provide internal and external auditors with important information about your security posture.

When maintained properly and reviewed periodically, it can also provide your teams with a clear reference for what policies are in place, what procedures have worked or failed in the past, what training is required of them, and what assets are available to them.

Most compliance standards that organizations deal with today have guidelines about what information should be documented and how to maintain those documents.

If your organization is not subject to such a compliance standard or is not using a standard industry framework, it is still important to document. Stanford University researchers and cybersecurity firm Tessian reported that 88% of all data breaches are a result of human error.

Documenting your policies and procedures can help improve organizational situational awareness and demonstrate organizational accountability.

The documents your organization can most benefit from will depend on your industry, your business goals, and the type of data you handle. Some common and impactful documents to develop and maintain include an Interconnection Agreements, a Disaster Recovery Plan, Remote Access Policy, or Asset Configuration Documentation.

For more information on when and how to create these documents, please keep an eye out for more videos from the DevOps consulting services team at NextLink Labs, where we will take a deeper dive into each type of document. We would be happy to answer any questions to support your organization and your endeavor to improve your cybersecurity program.

As always, stay safe, stay secure, and stay curious.