Cloud Computing Security Policy

Project 6 – Cloud Computing Security Policy

 

This week you will prepare a cloud security policy. The first CIO of the US mandated that cloud services be implemented in organizations whenever possible. Review the scenario below and prepare a cloud security policy for the organization. Complete the following section readings from Challenging Security Requirements for US Government Cloud Computing Adoption,

 

NIST Cloud Computing Public Security Working Group, NIST Cloud Computing Program,

 

Information Technology Laboratory, sections 1.1, 1.3, 1.6, 1.8, and 1.9;prior to starting your work on the policy:

PROCESS-ORIENTED SECURITY REQUIREMENTS

1.1 NIST SP 800-53 SECURITY CONTROLS FOR : page 10

1.3 CLOUD CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION: page 17

1.6 CLARITY ON CLOUD ACTORS SECURITY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: page 27

1.8 BUSINESS CONTINUITY AND DISASTER RECOVERY: page 31

1.9 TECHNICAL CONTINUOUS MONITORING CAPABILITIES: page 34

Background:
A (SNPO-MC) has received a grant which will pay 90% of its cloud computing costs for a five year period. But, before it can take advantage of the monies provided by this grant, it must present an acceptable cloud computing security policy to the grant overseers.

Tasking:
You are a cybersecurity professional who is on loan from your employer, a management consulting firm, to a small non-profit organization (SNPO-MC). You have been tasked with researching requirements for a Cloud Computing Security Policy and then developing a draft policy for the non-profit organization, SNPO-MC. The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance to managers, executives, and cloud computing service providers. This new policy will supersede (replace) the existing Enterprise IT Security Policy which focuses exclusively upon enterprise security requirements for organization owned equipment (including database servers, Web and email servers, file servers, remote access servers, desktop computers, workstations, and laptop computers) and licensed software applications. The enterprise IT security policy also addresses incident response and disaster recovery.

 

As part of your policy development task you must take into consideration the issues list which was developed during brainstorming sessions by executives and managers in each of the three operating locations for the non-profit organization.

Your deliverablefor this project is a 5 to 8 page, single spaced, professionally formatted draft policy. See the following resources for suggested formats.

Organization Profile:
The organization is headquartered in Boston, MA and has two additional operating locations (offices) in New Orleans, LA and San Francisco, CA. Approximately 50 employees work in a formal office setting at one of these locations. These employees use organization owned IT equipment. The remaining 1,000 staff members are volunteers who work from their home offices using personally owned equipment.

 

The organization provides a variety of management consulting services for its clients (charities and non-governmental organizations) on a fee for service basis. Fees are set on a sliding scale based upon the clients ability to pay. The organization receives additional funding to support its administrative costs, including IT and IT security, through grants and donations from several Fortune 500 companies.

 

The non-profit organization is in the process of hiring its first Chief Information Officer. The organization has a small (3 person) professional IT staff that includes one information security specialist. These staff members are located in the Boston headquarters office.

Definitions:
Employees of the organization are referred to as employees.

 

Executives and other staff who are on loan from Fortune 500 companies are referred to as loaned staff members. Loaned staff members usually telework for the organization one to two days per week for a period of one year.

 

Volunteers who perform work for the organization are referred to as volunteer staff members. Volunteer staff members usually telework from their homes one to two days per week.

 

Cloud Computing includes but is not restricted to:

Platform as a Service

Infrastructure as a Service

Software as a Service

Issues List:

Who speaks with authority for the firm?

Who monitors and manages compliance with laws and regulations?

Ownership of content

Privacy and confidentiality

Enforcement

Penalties for violations of policy

Use by sales and marketing

Use by customer service / outreach

Use by public relations and corporate communications (e.g. information for shareholders, customers, general public)

Use for advertising and e-commerce

Use by teleworkers

Review requirements (when, by whom)

Use of content and services monitoring tools

Content generation and management (documents, email, cloud storage)

Additional issues listed in

Resources (suggested by the organizations IT Staff for your consideration):

1.

2.

3.

4.

The documents below are useful resources in planning your cloud security policy:

Cloud Security: A Comprehensive Guide to Secure Cloud Computingbyand 2010(384 pages),ISBN: 9780470589878Chapter 3: Cloud Computing Software Security Fundamentals

 

NIST Guide to Information Technology Security Services at

 

25 point implementation plan to reform information technology

 

Understanding Cloud Computing (NIST SP 500-291) and (NIST SP 500-292)500-291 – Standards: Chapter 3 and Chapter 5.5