The Role Of Safety Management On Personal Information

Safety prudence describes a turn of protection from some(prenominal) harm. It also describes the counter meterments put in place by that process. Harm may indicate a issue of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Safety counselling foc wasting diseases on preventing harm resulting from both random acts of nature and intentional strategical actions (Schechter, 2004). Safety management is a major concern in todays digital era. The Internet offers a low cost, still in honorable meat of scope people.Owing to the ubiquity of the Internet, it is difficult to control and trace intrusions or attacks by unauthorized people, hackers, etc. Electronic commerce applications direct secure mechanisms for perfect drug drug user assignment, accessing sensitive database, storing and transmitting sensitive reading, etc. Personal identification numbers (PINs), passwords, smart cards and digital certificates ar some of the means normally used for this purpose. However, these means do not trustworthyly aim a person, but precisely knowledge of some data or belonging of some determined object (Sanchez-Reillo et al. 1999), e. g. public key basis (PKI) abidenot assure identity of the maker of a transaction, it can only reveal the makers tuition processing governance.An imposter can easily masquerade as a authoritative user and defraud the system. In fix upion must be readily procurable in organizations for making decisions to support the organisational mission. Murphy, Boren, and Schlarman (2000) state that out-of-pocket to increase connectivity and the urgency to exchange entropy and data among partners, suppliers, and customers on a real time basis, the need to protect and secure computer resources is greater than ever.As a result, this has created the possibility of exposing sensitive somatic development to competitors as intimately as hackers who can now access organizational computer resources from external sites. The potential loss o f such discipline to an organization goes beyond monetary losses and includes the possibility of corrupted data, denial of services to suppliers, telephone line partners and customers, loss of customer confidence, and lost sales. Security in business processes (i. e. , maintaining proper authentication, authorization, non-repudiation, and privacy) is unfavourable to successful e-business operations.Enabling business functions over the Internet has been recognized as a major theatrical role for the success of businesses and, by mitigating risks in a cost-effective manner, hostage is now being makeed as a dowry of business operations (Deise, Nowikow, King, & Wright, 2000). Decisions about information systems made by managers atomic number 18 vital to the success, and even survival, of a firm (Enns, Huff, & Golden, 2003). Despite increased gage threats, organizations have traditionally allocated very little of the total IT budget to information certification measures.Forres ter Research estimates that in Fortune 500 companies, the average amount of coin as a percent of revenue that is spent on IT protective covering is 0. 0025 percent or slightly less than what they spend on cocoa (Clarke, 2002). Organizations must evaluate and prioritize the optimum mix of products and services to be deployed for protecting confidentiality (maintaining privacy of information), integrity (maintaining information is not altered in transit), and availability (maintaining access to information and resources) of corporate assets.The decision to deploy true technology is based on variables such as the organizational business beat, aim of risk, vulnerability, cost, and return on investment (Highland, 1993). there atomic number 18 some(prenominal) ways in which information can be protected. One manner to safeguard information is by use controls. The concept of controls can be applied to financial auditing as well as technical computer aegis. General controls incl ude personnel, physical and organizational controls as well as technical protection services and mechanisms (Summers, 1997). estimator security controls can be hardw ar or parcel-based and may include biometric devices, anti-virus softw atomic number 18 program system, smart cards, firewalls, and intrusion detective work systems that can be used to build the first step security base. Additionally, these controls may be preventive, detective, or corrective. In the playing field of information safety management, investigate has lots lagged practice. Dhillon & Bneedinesshouse (2001) have stressed the need for to a greater extent empirical interrogation to develop key principles for the prevention of negative events and therefore to help in the management of security. Despite known vulnerabilities in applications and operating systems, companies continue to deploy softw atomic number 18 to stay competitive, and steps taken to secure products and services are knee-jerk reacti ons to media stories that are more reactive than proactive in nature. Most IT managers lack a coherent framework and concrete methodology for achieving green light security. A security plan that includes technology, personnel, and policies would be a much fracture woo to developing an enterprise security strategy. One such model is the endeavour security Framework Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) model.The PWC model is comprehensive because it addresses the entire enterprise of security architecture. The model emphasizes information security strategies within the organization using a holistic rather than apiecemeal approach. The framework is based on four pillars security vision and strategy, senior management commitment, information security management structure, and training and awareness. Within the pillars are decision drivers, development, and instruction execution phases. Firewalls are situated in the development phase since they are used to leave reading material of co rporate standards at the technical level.For a detailed discussion of the PWC model, the endorser is referred to Murphy, Boren, and Schlarman (2000). Firewalls can be considered a last line of defense in protecting and securing information systems. Wood (1988) provided a context for information security systems planning and proposed that reactive and additive improvement approaches to address security are harbingers of a more serious problem. Other factors identified in Woods model are the lack of top management support, information overload, insufficient staffing, and modified resources.Straub and Welke (1998) advocate using deterrence, prevention, detection, and recovery security action cycle to assuage systems risk and use prioritized security controls. Data on computer crimes is often under-reported because companies are not willing to risk public embarrassment and corked publicity. Most companies contain to handle these incidents internally without keeping documentation o r reporting to local, state or federal authorities (Saita, 2001). There is a need for unbiased empirical studies in the information security area that will provide brainstorm into problems affecting todays technology dependent corporations and industries.With a strong need to collect and analyze computer security data, the CSI/FBI Computer Crime and security Survey is published yearly (see http// www. gocsi. com). This study provides descriptive statistics but does not attempt to identify relationship amid variables, as is expected in analytical observes. Also, results reported in this annual survey have been identified by the publishers themselves to be potentially misleading due to the limited number of respondents and their accuracy as a result of nameless nature of the surveys.These results have also been called into question because of lack of statistical or scholarly rigor and self-serving interest (Heiser, 2002). Despite these limitations, the CSI/FBI survey provides a us eful role in comparison of yearly data for interchangeable parameters. The area of human computer interface provides a link between the user and software applications. User satisfaction is a function of features, user interface, response time, reliability, installability, information, maintainability, and other factors. If a products user interface catches a users heed and is simple to learn and use, and has the right price and features, then the product may gain competitive advantage (Torres, 2002, p. 15). The theory of user interface heading and user involvement in completing task-based actions think to Internet and security software has been substantiated by two studies in which user interaction with peer-to-peer software (Good & Kerkelberg, 2002), and PGP software (Whitten & Tygar, 1999) were examined.Good and Krekelberg (peer-to-peer study) launch that applications connecting to the Internet need better usability and software design to maintain integrity of information sto red on a users computer. In this study, individuals assumed responsibility of keeping firewalls operational at all times. This postd in large part to maintaining effective enterprise security. Whitten and Tygar (PGP study) found that user errors are a probatory portion of computer security failures, and further reason out that user interfaces for security programs require a usability standard much variant from other consumer software. Although this study is not immediately concerned with user satisfaction, but is more focused on factors that affect deployment rather than development of end-user software in a specific area, some factors may be directly tied to user satisfaction as will be shown by correlational analysis). Due to increasing mobile and off-site access by employees using cable modems, DSL connections, and wireless devices to access corporate resources, private firewalls are a necessary component to maintain overall enterprise security in an organization.Because of the nature and availability of ain firewall software, most companies choose to acquire it rather than develop it in-house. Software acquisition that results in productivity gains and strategic advantage is of critical concern to organizations, and factors that relate to these benefits must be correctly identified and understood for software acquisition decisions (Nelson, Richmond, & Seidmann, 1996). Purchase of commercialised software includes identifying requirements, evaluating packages from different vendors, configuring, installing, and evaluating it either as server or client-based solution.This may further involve requirements acquisition that leads to product selection (Maiden, Ncube, & Moore, 1997). As a method of selection, professionals in charge of evaluating individualized firewall software could draft a feature requirements document, and evaluate vendor products by comparing available features as well as using demonstration versions of software. This would be foll owed by user experience with the software. As mentioned earlier, the need for user involvement in information systems has been considered an principal(prenominal) mechanism for improving system quality and ensuring successful system implementation.It is further believed that the users satisfaction with a system leads to greater system enjoyment (Baroudi, Olson, & Ives, 1986). The requirements for software though must be as measurable as possible to enable product selection and may also use repertory grids in which stakeholders are asked for attributes applicable to a set of entities and set for cells in an entity-attribute matrix. This would produce representation of requirements in a standardized, quantifiable format amenable even to statistical analyses (Maiden, Ncube, & Moore, 1997).In relation to the security area, Goodhue and Straub (1991) found company actions and individual awareness to be statistically significant in a study of perceptions of managers regarding controls i nstalled in organizations. The normalized safety factor provided a measure of relative strength of importance attached by factors to each didactics on the scale used during sorting. As mentioned earlier, adherents in fixings 1 felt strongly in favor of statement 4 (Performance) and contend statements 8 (Setup/configuration) and 5 (Installation).The results of Factor 2 are consistent with Factor 1, that is, Performance of the product is the highest rated criterion. ease-of-use also rated highly in Factors 1 and 2. The largest racket between Factor 1 and 2 groups involved statements 9 (Availability of Online Help), 7 (Intrusion Reports generated), and 6 (Regular Product Updates). The most dissension between Factors 2 and 3 involved Statements 1 (Cost) and 3 (Ease-of-use). Results of Factor 3 were consistent with Factors 1 and 2, with Performance criteria once again being highly rated.The largest dissension between Factors 1 and 3 involved statements 1 (Cost), 3 (Ease-of-use), and 9 (Availability of Online Help). positive differences between all factors appeared in Cost, Intrusion Reports generated, and Availability of Online Help. There was only one statement, Performance of the product, that showed consensus among all factors that is, it did not distinguish between any pair of factors, which indicates Performance of the desktop firewall software is an agreed upon criterion irrespective of group characteristics.The managerial implications of this study can be assessed at the level of selecting appropriate software for use on computers in organizations to maintain security. There is evidence of user satisfaction being a useful measure of system success (Mahmood et al. , 2000). While the end-user may not purchase independently preferred software for installation on company owned computers, the user can influence decisions for selection by making known to IS managers the features that would contribute to regular use of security software such as personal firewa lls.Given access of these machines to corporate resources, appropriate and regular use of software would contribute to maintaining enterprise security. For technical professionals (e. g. , programmers) who install firewalls on their desktop, programs could emphasize the statements that are defining characteristics shown in Factor 3. For an industry that has non-technical professionals (such as Factor 1 and 2), other non-technical characteristics of the product could be emphasized thus achieving maximum effectuality in program deployment.Increased awareness should minimize user related faults, nullify these in theory, and maximize the efficiency of security techniques and procedures from the users point of view (Siponen, 2000). Due to project deadlines and market competition, software is often shipped without being to the full tested as secure, and standard industry practice is to release incremental service packs that address security issues in the product. In a look of security s oftware, this may adversely affect the reputation of a vendor once its products have been shown to have high vulnerability to being compromised. companionship on personal safety management could provide a better understanding of importance of personal firewall security software on organizational client computers. The decision to install an information system necessitates a prime(prenominal) of mechanisms to determine whether it is needed, and once implemented, whether it is functioning properly (Ives, Olson, & Baroudi, 1983). More research needfully to be done in the area of selection of software for implementation on users computers that are owned by corporations and given to employees for off-site work.This can include regular employees vs. contractors who may connect to employer and client electronic networks from the same computer. If the findings are to have wider applicability, qualified industry professionals and security officers responsible for maintaining secure infrast ructure in corporations should be included in the analysis. The study provides management and security professionals a basis for making decisions related to enterprise security.It provides personal firewall vendors an insight into feature requirements of the personal firewall market, and provides academic researchers interested in security, a more focused approach on various dimensions of security software from the behavioural perspective. Future studies could be industry and product specific in cabaret to assess differences in selecting general-purpose software versus security specific products. In many cases, management has looked at the need for implementing information security programs and products as a necessary encumbrance, something akin to paying taxes or insurance premiums (Highland, 1993). exclusively organizations are increasingly becoming aware of the potential for legal exposure via lawsuits, and are deploying countermeasures (such as personal firewalls) to reduce vu lnerability and mitigate risk. The main(prenominal) information security officer in todays organizations should have the responsibility of managing organizational risks by using empirical models and analysis to determine strategies for protecting corporate assets. Firewalls are the last line of defense in the corporate network and therefore play a critical role in information security.With personal firewalls being a new product genre, this study was conducted since there is no research available that specifically looks at determinants for selection of security software in a corporate environment to protect organizational assets. As the information security field evolves further, decisions for security software acquisitions need to be researched further. Selection and deployment of appropriate firewalls can make a significant difference in an organizations enterprise security strategy.It is therefore also important to understand the variables (as shown in this study) that may affect decisions to select and deploy personal firewall software in a corporate environment. It is recommended that in order to provide better evidence of factors that affect deployment of technology tools that create awareness of security issues and produce better informed employees, research into behavioral factors also postulate to be conducted to gain insight into programs and processes that will lead to the development of a robust enterprise security strategy.Information security awareness research has been mostly descriptive and has not explored the possibilities offered by motivation/behavioral theories, or the related theory of planned behavior and the technology acceptance model, specifically in the information security domain (Mathieson, 1991 Siponen, 2000 Legris, Ingham, & Collerette, 2003). Since security has been deployed at the moulding of electronic network and on servers by system administrators, the area of information security has ignored users of information systems since software developers are far upstage from how the user will interact with security software.Human compliance with information security rules require an understanding of how people work and think (Highland, 1993). course (1985) considers the human factor to be the first and most important component of security and a critical part of the risk analysis process. This is especially true in personal firewall software since the burden of maintaining a secure environment is being shared by the user and the system administrator.