Regular reviews ensure policies stay relevant as threats evolve. It is recommended that you review and update your policies at least yearly. Outdated policies can lead to non-compliance with current laws and regulations, potentially resulting in fines and legal issues.

The review of cyber policies should have mechanisms and measures in place to enable rapid updates in response to regulatory updates, emerging cyber threats, policy gaps and weaknesses, technological advancement and general changes to the organisation’s digital activities.

Your organisation’s board and management should collaborate in the development and improvement of cyber policies and processes.

Building a healthy cyber governance culture involves prioritising cyber security as a strategic business issue, and raising awareness and responsibility throughout the organisation. It is recommended to consult with cyber security professionals to tailor policies effectively and ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

In the event of a cyber threat, senior management and the board play a crucial role in guiding an organisation’s response, making informed decisions and allocating resources. This may require increasing the digital knowledge of board members and management, and ensuring regular review and adaptation of policies to emerging threats to maintain effective cyber security practices and conduct informed cyber crisis management.

The team at Cyconsol have vast experience in the development and maintenance of security program documentation which, at a minimum, is required under the Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF) and Information Security Manual (ISM).

Specifically, our Quality Management Process aims to facilitate documentation that is:

• Technically accurate;

• Presentation ready;

• Developed via repeatable and reproducible processes;

• Maintained via version control throughout the lifecycle of a document; and

• Reviewed by stakeholders to enable continuous improvement.

We tailor all engagements to suit our client's needs, with a strong focus on delivering high-quality outcomes. Our staff have a proud reputation for quality work - this is core to our company values.

1. Define the scope and purpose - goals can include safeguarding data, ensuring system integrity, complying with regulations, and fostering cybersecurity awareness.

2. Ensure legal and regulatory compliance - consider applicable laws and regulations related to your industry and the type of data you store.

3. Conduct a risk assessment - identify potential cyber security threats, vulnerabilities and impacts specific to your organisation and the strategies used to mitigate them. Your policies should address these risks.

4. Define roles and responsibilities - make specific individuals responsible for enforcing policies.

5. Control access - establish guidelines for granting access to systems and data based on job roles and responsibilities. Implement strong authentication mechanisms, password management practices and user access controls to ensure authorised access and minimise unauthorised access risks related to private or personal data.

6. Define data protection procedures - Define procedures for data classification, handling, storage and transmission. Include measures to protect sensitive and confidential information, such as encryption, data backup and secure disposal practices.

7. Develop an incident response plan - these are the steps to be taken in response to a cyber threat, including how to report a threat, assessing the impact, containing threats and restoring normal operations.

8. Increase employee awareness and provide training - preparing your human defence can often have the biggest impact.

9. Monitor and audit - define procedures for ongoing monitoring, auditing and assessment of cyber security controls.

10. Review and update the policy - establish a regular review cycle to ensure the policy remains up to date with evolving cyber threats, technologies and regulatory changes. Encourage feedback from stakeholders and incorporate lessons learned from security incidents or audits.

Data classification: Identification and classification of different types of data based on their sensitivity and importance. This involves categorising data into levels, such as public, internal, confidential or highly confidential. Clearly defining access rights and permissions based on data classification can help ensure that only authorised personnel can access specific types of data.

Data handling: Implementation of a ‘needto-know’ principle, meaning employees should only have access to data necessary for their roles. It can also entail avoiding use of personal or sensitive data and/or encouraging de-identifying data where possible. Data handling may require specific training for employees on proper data handling procedures and security protocols to prevent data breaches and unauthorised access.

Data storage: This refers to the either using secure servers or cloud services with encryption to store sensitive data. Organisations should regularly review and/ or update security systems to prevent vulnerabilities. Using cloud providers should give basic security using encryption, firewalls and compliance frameworks, whereas on-site servers offer more control but require extensive expertise for security maintenance.

Encryption: This refers to process of making data accessible to intended parties only (for example, encrypted by key or password). Implement strong encryption protocols for both stored data and transmitted data. Use industry-standard encryption algorithms to safeguard sensitive information.

Data backup: The process of creating duplicate copies of digital data and storing them in a separate location to ensure data integrity and availability in the event of data loss, system failure or cyber incidents such as ransomware attacks or accidental data deletion. • Secure disposal practices: Organisations might develop a data retention policy to determine how long data should be stored and when it should be securely disposed of. For example, data wiping for devices and media containing sensitive information.