THE IT SECURITY PROFESSIONAL |
Barlowtek
βThe It security Pro
Helping Organizations Understand IT Security β
β&
Best Practices
Understanding Scope
One of the keys to developing and managing the Asset Management Process for any organization is the ability to understand the scope or the complexity of the work that needs to be done. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, but the most effective process is to scan the end-point assets that are connected to the enterprise network with an automated scanner. If this is not available or if the business or organization are not able to purchase the software application to accomplish this task, the fallback method that nobody wants, is to use a spreadsheet and enter the information by hand. While this may sound like a fun way to waste a day by some, it is a waste of time and effort for your staff to continually update the document every time there is change or a new asset is brought online. (When you really need your staff to be looking at new ways to protect your network instead of putting out fires and doing data entry tasks). This can be a daunting task to say the least. With some businesses forgetting to track their assets across the company, or in most cases this is a process that has either just been implemented, or is now a requirement for some new regulation that the company has now to comply with. Moreover, you happen to be the one that has to comply with it. Now the real work begins… Asset Tracking The whole process will begin with an initial scan or an asset audit in which all systems in the business are categorized and assigned a tracking identifier. While asset tracking is one of the most mundane aspects of IT Security, it is a needed in order to make sure the business has a positive accountability for all of the resources that it owns or may be responsible for. The tracking process is used throughout the various areas of IT Security as a way to provide a list of those systems that the IT Security Analyst will have to make sure they account for and keep track of. While tracking of laptops or desktop workstations may be easy at first. The enterprise workforce is becoming more mobile are demanding the ability to do work in ways and by means that may not have been thought up when they gave you the job. Tracking Changes Tracking the additions and subtractions from your asset inventory is one of the keys to this process. Regular scans or inventory audits will help to provide your organization an accurate list of what is currently connected to the network. In addition, when you know what you have, you also know what you don’t. This helps in the management process and will allow the your IT Security Team or IT Department the ability to cross reference assets to the end users that are assigned to them. Information Needed While Asset Management is concerned with tracking the asset from the inventory room to the end users’ desk, it is not all that you will be concerned about when it comes to tracking those assets. There are some additional fields that will need to be filled in or tracked as well:
More Information Not LessIt is always good to have more information than not enough. The more information about the asset the support teams have may help in determining what actions may need to be taken. While some will see the task of gathering this information an onerous task, others will see it as a way of getting a handle on one of the most essential tasks in IT Security. Solutions While there are various solutions that a company could try to keep track of their assets, the important thing to keep in mind is the need to make it relevant to what your organization is doing and that the process is not cumbersome in order to manage. The process should be automated as much as possible with the content provided updated on a regular basis. The caution here would be in doing a manual process could lead to possible errors due to the entry of the data into the system. Summary In conclusion, how you manage your assets will directly reflect on how well your organization will handle other areas of IT Security. Knowing what you have, and where it is located are key aspects of this process. Asset management is not just looking at inventory, but it is a key process. Asset management lends itself to being the foundation of an Information Security Management System (ISMS). When assets come into the organization, they should be tracked throughout their life, and even when they are at the end of their life and disposed of.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
IT Security ProSecuring the future one byte at a time! Mr. Barlow is here, staying ahead of the curve in Information Security Leadership. Ready to help your company stay safe and secure. Categories
All
Archives
January 2023
|