Information security uses administrative, technical (logical), and physical controls to mitigate risks related to organization’s assets. A policy is an administrative control.
If no policy exist in the IT department, research shows that employees will default to a defacto policy. A defacto policy means a policy that is in effect ,but not formally recognize. To stop this for happening, It is important for students to understand how to take the cloud best practices discussed throughout this course and use them to create a cloud security policy. Cloud security fundamentals and mechanisms is a huge part of the cloud security policy.
Consensus Policy Resource Community
Email Policy
Free Use Disclaimer: This policy was created by or for the SANS Institute for the
Internet community. All or parts of this policy can be freely used for your organization.
There is no prior approval required. If you would like to contribute a new policy or
updated version of this policy, please send email to policy-resources@sans.org.
Things to Consider: Please consult the Things to Consider FAQ for additional
guidelines and suggestions for personalizing the SANS policies for your organization.
Last Update Status: Updated
1 Overview
Electronic email is pervasively used in almost all industry verticals and is often the primary
communication and awareness method within an organization. At the same time, misuse of email
can post many legal, privacy and security risks, thus it’s important for users to understand the
appropriate use of electronic communications.
2 Purpose
The purpose of this email policy is to ensure the proper use of email system
and make users aware of what deems as acceptable and unacceptable use of
its email system. This policy outlines the minimum requirements for use of email within
Network.
3 Scope
This policy covers appropriate use of any email sent from a email address
and applies to all employees, vendors, and agents operating on behalf of .
4 Policy
4.1 All use of email must be consistent with policies and procedures of
ethical conduct, safety, compliance with applicable laws and proper business practices.
4.2 email account should be used primarily for businessrelated purposes; personal communication is permitted on a limited basis, but non related commercial uses are prohibited.
4.3 All data contained within an email message or an attachment must be
secured according to the Data Protection Standard.
4.4 Email should be retained only if it qualifies as a business record. Email
is a business record if there exists a legitimate and ongoing business
reason to preserve the information contained in the email.
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Consensus Policy Resource Community
4.5 Email that is identified as a business record shall be retained according
to Record Retention Schedule.
4.6 The email system shall not to be used for the creation or distribution of
any disruptive or offensive messages, including offensive comments about race, gender, hair
color, disabilities, age, sexual orientation, pornography, religious beliefs and practice,
political beliefs, or national origin. Employees who receive any emails with this content
from any employee should report the matter to their supervisor
immediately.
4.7 Users are prohibited from automatically forwarding email to a third
party email system (noted in 4.8 below). Individual messages which are forwarded by the
user must not contain confidential or above information.
4.8 Users are prohibited from using third-party email systems and storage servers such as
Google, Yahoo, and MSN Hotmail etc. to conduct business, to create or
memorialize any binding transactions, or to store or retain email on behalf of . Such communications and transactions should be conducted through proper
channels using -approved documentation.
4.9 Using a reasonable amount of resources for personal emails is
acceptable, but non-work related email shall be saved in a separate folder from work related
email. Sending chain letters or joke emails from a email account is
prohibited.
4.10 employees shall have no expectation of privacy in anything they
store, send or receive on the company’s email system.
4.11 may monitor messages without prior notice. is not
obliged to monitor email messages.
5 Policy Compliance
5.1 Compliance Measurement
The Infosec team will verify compliance to this policy through various methods, including but
not limited to, periodic walk-thrus, video monitoring, business tool reports, internal and external
audits, and feedback to the policy owner.
5.2 Exceptions
Any exception to the policy must be approved by the Infosec team in advance.
5.3 Non-Compliance
An employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and
including termination of employment.
6 Related Standards, Policies and Processes
•
Data Protection Standard
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Consensus Policy Resource Community
7 Definitions and Terms
None.
8 Revision History
Date of Change
Responsible
Summary of Change
Dec 2013
SANS Policy Team
Updated and converted to new format.
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