Write a 6-10 page paper in which you:
Establish a system security monitoring policy addressing the need for monitoring, policy scope, and exceptions and supported by specific, credible sources.
Justify the need for monitoring.
Define the scope of the policy (the personnel, equipment, and processes to which the policy applies).
Provide guidelines for policy exceptions, if approved by the IT and Security departments.
Establish a system security patch management and updates policy addressing the need for patch management and updates, policy scope, and exceptions and supported by specific, credible sources.
Justify the need for patch management and updates, aligned with ISO/IEC 27002.
Define the scope of the policy (the personnel, equipment, and processes to which the policy applies).
Provide guidelines for policy exceptions, if approved by the IT and Security departments.
Support your main points, assertions, arguments, or conclusions with at least four specific and credible academic sources synthesized into a coherent analysis of the evidence.
Justification for System Security Monitoring
The need for continuous and comprehensive system security monitoring is grounded in three core organizational requirements: risk avoidance, regulatory compliance, and timely threat detection.
Risk Avoidance and Proactive Defense
Monitoring provides the necessary visibility to identify deviations from normal behavior that may signal an ongoing attack, such as lateral movement by an intruder, data exfiltration attempts, or unauthorized configuration changes. Without monitoring, the average time to detect a breach (Dwell Time) remains excessively long, providing malicious actors ample opportunity to achieve their objectives [Source 2]. Proactive monitoring, facilitated by technologies like Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems, allows security teams to correlate seemingly unrelated events and generate actionable alerts before a breach escalates into a catastrophic event.
Sample Answer
Foundational System Security Policies: Establishing Robust Monitoring and Patch Management Frameworks
Introduction
In the contemporary digital landscape, organizational reliance on interconnected systems and sensitive data necessitates robust cybersecurity governance. Two foundational pillars of effective information security—as recognized by international standards bodies such as ISO/IEC—are System Security Monitoring and System Security Patch Management and Updates. A failure in either area can lead to catastrophic data breaches, regulatory non-compliance, and severe reputational damage. This paper establishes detailed, evidence-based policies for both monitoring and patch management within an enterprise, addressing their necessity, scope, and exception procedures. The analysis is supported by the principles of risk mitigation and adherence to best practice frameworks, including specific alignment with ISO/IEC 27002 guidelines.
1. System Security Monitoring Policy
System security monitoring is the continuous process of collecting, analyzing, and acting upon data generated by network devices, operating systems, and applications to detect security incidents, identify anomalies, and enforce compliance. The goal is to shift from reactive incident response to proactive threat intelligence and prevention [Source 1].