Reference no: EM132305891

Assignment

Prepare a one page briefing statement (3 to 5 paragraphs) for a group of state government employees and local government city managers who are interested in learning more about the benefits of working with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC).

These employees and managers are not all technically savvy so ensure your statement is understood by laymen. The employee's and manager's specific interest is in obtaining help in preventing data breaches since state agencies and city governments collect, process, transmit, and store large amounts of private information about individuals. This private information might include:

Student Records (K-12)

Online Reservation & Payment Systems for Parks & Recreation Facilities

Hospitals (Patient Records)

Vital Records (Birth / Death Certificates)

License Applications (Marriage, Business, Driver's Licenses)

Building Permits (including architectural drawings and property information)

Your briefing statement should provide an independent perspective on the services provided by MS-ISAC and address concerns about the affordability of the ISAC's services. Answer the following two questions:

•Will working with MS-ISAC reduce the risks of data breaches in my organization? Why or why not?

•Who else could each city partner with to reduce the risks and impacts of data breaches?

Provide in-text citations and references for 3 or more authoritative sources. Put the reference list at the end of your posting.

Project : Compare / Contrast Two State Government IT Security Policies

For this research based report, you will perform a comparative analysisthat examines the strengths and weaknesses of two existing IT Security Policies published by state governments (agencies and offices of the executive branch under the leadership of the state governors).

You may choose any two states' IT Security Policies from the list published by the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MSISAC). (See item #1 under Research.)

Your analysis must include consideration of best practices and other recommendations for improving cybersecurity for state government information technology operations (state agencies and offices). Your paper should also address the question: why should every state in the nation have a comprehensive IT security policy for state agencies and offices?

Research:

1. Select two state government IT Security Policies. Use the list (if you encounter a broken link, you may search for that state's policy or choose a different state).

2. Download and review your selectedstate governments' IT Security Policy documents.

3. Develop five or more points which are common across the two documents. (Similarities)

4. Identify and review at least three unique items in each document. (Differences)

5. Research best practices for IT Security and/or IT Security Policies for state governments.Here are several sources which you may find helpful:

6. Using your research and your comparison of the two policy documents, develop an answer to the question: Why should every state government have an IT security policy for state agencies and offices under the state's executive branch?

Write:

Write a three to five page research based report in which you summarize your research and discuss the similarities and differences between the two IT security policy documents. You should focus upon clarity and conciseness more than length when determining what content to include in your paper. At a minimum, your report must include the following:

1. An introduction or overview of IT Security Policiesfor the executive branch of state governments (covering state agencies andoffices in the executive branch including the governor's office).

Explain the purpose of an IT security policy and how it is used. Answer the question: why should every state in the nation have a comprehensive IT security policy for state agencies and offices? (Make sure that you address the importance of such strategies to small, resource-poor states as well as to large or wealthy states.)

2. A separate section in which you discuss the common principles and policy sections / statements (similarities) found in both IT security policy documents.

3. A separate section in which you discuss the unique aspects of the first state's IT security policy document.

4. A separate section in which you discuss the unique aspects of the second state's IT security policy document.

5. A section in which you discuss your evaluation of which state government has the better of the two IT security policy documents. You should also present best practice based recommendations for improvements for both IT security policy documents.

(Note: you may have different recommendations for the individual policies depending upon the characteristics of each document.) Answer the question: why should every state in the nation have a comprehensive IT security policy for state agencies and offices?

6. A separate section in which you summarize your research and recommendations.