1st Edition

Complete Guide to Security and Privacy Metrics Measuring Regulatory Compliance, Operational Resilience, and ROI

By Debra S. Herrmann Copyright 2007
    846 Pages 28 B/W Illustrations
    by Auerbach Publications

    While it has become increasingly apparent that individuals and organizations need a security metrics program, it has been exceedingly difficult to define exactly what that means in a given situation. There are hundreds of metrics to choose from and an organization’s mission, industry, and size will affect the nature and scope of the task as well as the metrics and combinations of metrics appropriate to accomplish it. Finding the correct formula for a specific scenario calls for a clear concise guide with which to navigate this sea of information.

    Complete Guide to Security and Privacy Metrics: Measuring Regulatory Compliance, Operational Resilience, and ROI defines more than 900 ready to use metrics that measure compliance, resiliency, and return on investment. The author explains what needs to be measured, why and how to measure it, and how to tie security and privacy metrics to business goals and objectives. The book addresses measuring compliance with current legislation, regulations, and standards in the US, EC, and Canada including Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, and the Data Protection Act-UK. The metrics covered are scaled by information sensitivity, asset criticality, and risk, and aligned to correspond with different lateral and hierarchical functions within an organization. They are flexible in terms of measurement boundaries and can be implemented individually or in combination to assess a single security control, system, network, region, or the entire enterprise at any point in the security engineering lifecycle. The text includes numerous examples and sample reports to illustrate these concepts and stresses a complete assessment by evaluating the interaction and interdependence between physical, personnel, IT, and operational security controls.

    Bringing a wealth of complex information into comprehensible focus, this book is ideal for corporate officers, security managers, internal and independent auditors, and system developers and integrators.

    Introduction
    Background
    Purpose
    Scope
    How to Get the Most Out of This Book
    Acknowledgments
    The “Whats” and “Whys” of Metrics
    Measurement Basics
    Data Collection and Validation
    Defining Measurement Boundaries
    Whose Metrics?
    Uses and Limits of Metrics
    Avoiding the Temptation to Bury Your Organization in Metrics
    Relation to Risk Management
    Examples from Reliability Engineering
    Examples from Safety Engineering
    Examples from Software Engineering
    The Universe of Security and Privacy Metrics
    Measuring Compliance with Security and Privacy Regulations and Standards
    Financial Industry
    Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act — United States
    Sarbanes-Oxley Act — United States
    Healthcare
    Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act (HIPAA) — United States
    Personal Health Information Act (PHIA) — Canada
    Personal Privacy
    Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Privacy, Cryptography, and Security Guidelines
    Data Protection Directive — E.C.
    Data Protection Act — United Kingdom
    Personal Information Protection And Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) — Canada
    Privacy Act — United States
    Homeland Security
    Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) — United States
    Homeland Security Presidential Directives (HSPDs) — United States
    North American Electrical Reliability Council (NERC) Cyber Security Standards
    The Patriot Act — United States
    Measuring Resilience of Physical, Personnel, IT, and Operational Security Controls
    Physical Security
    Personnel Security
    IT Security
    Operational Security
    Measuring Return on Investment (ROI) in Physical, Personnel, IT, and Operational Security Controls
    Security ROI Model
    Security ROI Primitives, Metrics, and Reports
    Appendices
    A Glossary of Terms, Acronyms, and Abbreviations
    B Additional Resources:
    Standards
    Policies
    Publications
    Index

    Biography

    Debra S. Herrmann

    "Provides valuable directions on how measurement works and what goes into producing a useful metric. … when faced with the necessity of developing a metrics program to measure the effectiveness of some aspect of your security efforts, this rather imposing tome is one I would recommend as a way to jumpstart your efforts. The master table in the introduction provides a quick guide to the particular section most relevant to the reader’s need …”
    — Richard Austin, in IEEE Cipher, June 2007

    "... a useful reference for individuals who must meet the challenge of selecting good metrics."
    —Cheryl Washington, Information Security Officer, California State University, in Educause Quarterly