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Information Security and ePrivacy

Policy and Compliance Management

Print friendly Modified October 31, 2011

A policy is typically a concise document that outlines specific requirements, business rules or company stance that must be met. The policy is the organization’s stance on an issue, program or system. It is a rule that everyone must meet.

A standard is a requirement that supports a policy and a guideline is a document that suggests a path or guidance on how to achieve or reach compliance with a policy.

There are three phases in the USG policy development cycle: Formulate, Refine, Formalize. In the information and network security realm, policies are usually point-specific, covering a single area. Polices can be:

  • Program policies
  • Issue Specific polices
  • System policies

The USG follows the Association of College and University Policy Administrators (ACUPA) model for policy development, modified for our environment.