Importance of Information Security Policies

Have you ever read a company policy and felt like you were reading Greek?  Have you ever gotten a policy sent to you and then been required to take a test to prove that you read and understood the policy?  Have you ever felt aggravated that you had to take time out of your day to read a policy and not see the point to it?

Information security policies are very important to protect the company from many things including viruses, email systems being used for illegal activities, passwords not being strong enough, sensitive documents left out on desks after hours when cleaning staff can access it, etc.  Without policies, employees have no way of knowing what they can and cannot do on company time and with company equipment.

Most policies are only as useful as they are understandable.  If a policy is written in a way that makes it hard to understand, an employee who inadvertently broke a policy may have a case against the company due to the incomprehensible nature of the policy.  Another factor into creating good policies is that they should be written at the level that the reader is able to comprehend.  There are many tools available to determine if a policy is written at the right level for the audience including Microsoft Office, read-able.com, and Readability-Score.com.  If the audience is factory workers with high school educations or maybe less, the policy should be written at a level that they would understand. 

Policies are important and the next time you are asked to read a policy, consider that it is protecting you as much as it is protecting your company.  If you don’t understand expectations as an employee, how can you hope to do the right thing?

Reference:

·         Microsoft Office (2014).  Test your document’s readability.  Retrieved on September 23, 2014, from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word-help/test-your-document-s-readability-HP010354286.aspx?CTT=1

·         Read-able.com (2009 – 2014).  The Readability Test Tool.  Retrieved on September 23, 2014, from http://read-able.com/check.php

·         Readability-Score.com (2011 – 2014).  Reading Ease.  Retrieved on September 23, 2014, from https://readability-score.com/