Writing Information Security Policies
Appendix B: RESOURCES
These resources are a collection of links that point to web sites, documents, and other information that you may find helpful in developing information security policies and managing your organization's information security program. Security information can come from a variety of places. These links point to many different types of sources that include many commercial, non-profit, government, and "underground" resources. Use them to understand their unique perspectives on information security.

[Incident Response Teams]   [Other Incident Response Information]   [Virus Protection]  
[Vendor-Specific Information] [Security Information Resources]   [Security Publications]  
[Industry Consortia and Associations] [Hacker and "Underground" Organizations]   [Survivability]  
[Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act] [Cryptography Policies and Regulations]   [Security Policy References]



Need more security references? Check out Scott's Recommended Reading List for Security Managers
The commission from all books bought from this list will be donated to cancer research!

Incident Response Teams
The groups listed here provide information about security problems as they become known. In addition to reporting incidents, these groups work with various vendors and user organizations to keep them aware when problems occur. When fixes are available, each individual team reports them. They have their own level of services, which may include archiving of security software (source) and past incident reports.

Incident Response Team Web Site Link
CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC)
(sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute)
http://www.cert.org
National Infrastructure Protection Center
(sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation)
http://www.nipc.gov
Computer Incident Advisory Capability
(sponsored by the U.S. Department ofEnergy)
http://www.ciac.org/ciac
Federal Computer Incident Response Capability (FedCIRC)
(sponsored by the U.S. General Services Administration)
http://www.fedcirc.gov
Australian Computer Emergency Response Team (AusCERT) http://www.auscert.org.au
The German Research Network Computer Emergency Response Team
(DFN-CERT) This site is also available in English.
http://www.cert.dfn.de
InternetStormCenter (from their website) is a virtual organization of advanced intrusion
detection analysts, forensics experts and incident handlers from across the globe.
(sponsored by The SANS Institute).
http://isc.incidents.org
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Other Incident Response Information
Another place to look for incidents are the services that monitor and disclose bugs in system software. Since many security problems are the result of exploiting bugs, it may be worth monitoring these sites and participating in their mailing lists.
Incident Response Team Web Site Link
Bugtraq -- A mailing list tracking bugs from all sources Now hosted by SecurityFocus.com http://www.securityfocus.com
NT Bugtraq -- Similar to Bugtraq except specific to the Windows NT operating system http://www.ntbugtraq.com
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (sponsored by The MITRE Corporation)
CVE aspires to describe and name all publicly known facts about computersystems that
could allow somebody to violate a reasonable security policy for that system.
http://cve.mitre.org
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Virus Protection
The following are web site links for most of the major virus protection software vendors. If you are a user of the virus protection program of that vendor, it is highly advisable to bookmark their page and take advantage of their free update services. This will allow you to keep on top of the latest attacks and protect your network. Virus protection is not a trivial task! Keeping up to date on the latest information and having an active virus protection plan is the only way to keep your systems safe. Also, your security plan should include a program that will make everyone aware of the necessity for virus protection and how to be proactive.
Vendor Lab or Other Resource Web Site Link
Virus Bulletin (online publication, not vendor affiliated) http://www.virusbtn.com
Computer Associates Virus Information Center (InoculateIT) http://www.cai.com/virusinfo/
Data Fellows F-Secure Virus Info Center http://www.datafellows.com/vir-info/
FRISK Software International (F-PROT and F-Stop) http://www.complex.is
McAfee Anti-Virus Emergency Response Team http://www.avertlabs.com
Norman Virus Control http://www.norman.no
ProLand Software Protector Plus http://www.pspl.com
Sophos Virus Information Center http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo
Symantec (Norton) AntiVirus Research Center http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html
TrendMicro Security Info - Virus Encylopedia http://www.antivirus.com/vinfo/index.htm
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Vendor-Specific Security Information
The following are web site links for each major operating and network systems vendor or user group for security issues about these systems. These are good sites to find vendor-specific fixes for various security problems. Note that Web site addresses prefaced with an asterisk (*) are links directly to corporate home or support pages because that vendor does not provide a specific area for security or provides it on a subscription basis only.
Vendor Security Web Link or Home Page
Cisco * http://www.cisco.com/public/Support_root.shtml
Compaq (still available) * http://www.compaq.com/support/default.html
Debian GNU/Linux http://www.debian.org/security/
FreeBSD http://www.freebsd.org/security/
Hewlett Packard (US/Canada)
(Europe)
* http://us-support.external.hp.com/index.html/
* http://europe-support.external.hp.com/index.html/
IBM (all products and general info) http://www.ibm.com/security/
Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com/security/
Netscape http://home.netscape.com/security/index.html
NetBSD http://www.netbsd.org/Security/index.html
Novell http://www.novell.com/corp/security/
OpenBSD http://www.openbsd.com/security.html
Red Hat Linux * http://www.redhat.com/support/
The SCO Group's OpenLinux and UnixWare http://www.sco.com/support/security
Silicon Graphics, Inc. http://www.sgi.com/support/security/index.html
Slackware Linux * http://www.slackware.com
Sun Microsystems
... and Java
http://sunsolve.Sun.COM/pub-cgi/show.pl?target=security/sec
http://java.sun.com/security
S.u.S.E., Inc. (Linux) http://www.suse.de/de/support/security/index.html
Wind River Systems (including BSDI) * http://www.windriver.com
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Security Information Resources
Following is a list of groups that provide significant Information Security resources. These resources consist of commercial, educational, and government supported programs. The information is free and, for the most part, kept very current.
Resource Web Site Link
@Stake Research Laboratories
(the former L0pht Heavy Industries )
http://www.atstake.com/research
About.com Network/Internet SecurityForum http://netsecurity.about.com
CERIAS (Purdue University)
for a good list of resorces, visit the CERIAS HotList
http://www.cerias.purdue.edu
CERT Coordination Center (Carnegie Mellon University) http://www.cert.org
Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS)
of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice
http://www.cybercrime.gov
C4I.org - Computer Security and Intelligence http://www.c4i.org
Computer Security Institute http://www.gocsi.com
Computer Security Resource Center (sponsored by NIST) http://csrc.nist.gov
Help Net Security <New> http://www.net-security.org
Packet Storm http://www.packetstormsecurity.org
SANS Institute http://www.sans.org
searchSecurity.com
sponsored by the TechTarget Network
http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/
Security Industry Association http://www.securitygateway.com
Security Portal http://www.securityportal.com
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Security Publications
These are printed magazines whose content is geared toward the information security professional. See their sites for subscription information.
Publication Web Site Link
Information Security http://www.infosecuritymag.com
SC: Information Security Magazine http://www.scmagazine.com
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Industry Consortia and Associations
There have been many attempts to bring people and organizations togetherin order to promote information security amongst the masses. This is alist of some of those organizations that have been particularly activearound the time this section was last edited.
Organization Web Site Link
Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council http://www.cio.gov
CIO Institute http://www.cio.org
Forum of Incident Response Teams http://www.first.org
Information Security Forum http://www.securityforum.org
Internet Security Alliance http://www.isalliance.org
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Hacker and "Underground" Organizations
Not every hacker is a bad person. Not every "underground" organization is looking to take over the cyber world. However, I have found that the information on many of these sites are posted quicker than on so-called legitimate sites and many times they describe the exploit better. Security professionals can learn a lot by reading the information these groups provide. I am not passing judgment on what these may groups do with the information or how they obtain it. The sites here are a sample of those I read on a regular basis.
Organization Web Site Link
2600: The Hacker Quarterly http://www.2600.com
ATTRITION http://www.attrition.org
Cult of the Dead Cow http://www.cultdeadcow.com
DefCon (Hacker's Conference) http://www.defcon.org
Digital Information Society http://www.phreak.org
Hacker's Home Page http://www.hackershomepage.com
Security Bugware http://oliver.efri.hr/~crv/security/bugs/list.html
unix / net / hack page http://www.unix.geek.org.uk/~arny/
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Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) authorized the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop security and privacy standards to protect electronic healthcare information. The security and privacy standard were to cover processed, stored, and transmission of this data to prevent inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure of an individual's health information. The security and transaction standards were release in August 2000 and the privacy standards in April 2001. The healthcare industry has two years to bring their systems into compliance with HIPAA's regulations. Some HIPAA resources are as follows:
Resource Web Site Link
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Page
from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Care Financing Administration
http://www.hcfa.gov/hipaa/hipaahm.htm
Phoenix Health Systems, a consulting firm specializing in heathcare information systems,
sponsor this web site with comprehensive resources on HIPAA and HIPAA compliance.
http://www.hipaadvisory.com
HIPAA Security Policy Development: A Collaborative Approach, by Miles M. Sato
from the SANS Institute Reading Room, April 30, 2001
http://www.sans.org/infosecFAQ/policy/HIPAA_policy.htm
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Survivability
"Survivability is the ability of a network computing system to provide essential services in the presence of attacks and failures, and recover full services in a timely manner," according to the research at Carnegie Mellon University, the center of survivability research. The research into survivable systems is interesting because it attempts to move security past the accepted paradigm of building walls and creating passages through those barriers by concentrating on the business functions the system is supposed to support. The following links provide more information:
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Cryptography Policies and Regulations
Encryption is the only area of computing that is regulated through laws, policies, and treaties. Historically, all cryptography tools have been governed under the same rules as armaments. Under these rules, there is no difference between an anti-ballistic missile and the encryption that goes into protecting e-commerce transactions. In the United States, there are few rules regarding the import of encryption products and US users can use cryptography as they see fit. The problem comes when organizations require encryption to secure transmission with overseas offices. Even with the relaxing of regulations, exporting cryptography can still present a problem.
Resource Web Site Link
US Department of Justice FAQ on Encryption Policy http://www.cybercrime.gov/cryptfaq.htm
Crypto Law Survey by Bert-Jaap Koops http://cwis.kub.nl/~frw/people/koops/lawsurvy.htm
Security and cryptography expert Matt Blaze of AT&T Laboraties
"Cryptography Resources on the Web"
http://www.crypto.com
Counterpane Labs, run by security and cryptography expert Bruce Schneier http://www.counterpane.com/labs.html
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Security Policy References
The following are references to various online resources that can be used to further assist in the writing of Information Security Policies.
RFC Number Document Description Link to Document
RFC 2196 Site Security Handbook
B. Fraser, Editor, SEI/CMU
September 1997
ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2196.txt
RFC 2504 Users' Security Handbook
E. Guttman (Sun Microsystems), L. Leong (COLT Internet), G. Malkin (Bay Networks)
February 1999
ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2504.txt
RFC 2828 Internet Security Glossary
R. Shirey GTE/BBN Technologies
May 2000
ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc2828.txt
RFC 3013 Recommended Internet Service Provider Security Services and Procedures
T. Killalea neart.org
November 2000
ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc3013.txt
Document Link to Document
NIST SP 800-18 http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-18/Planguide.PDF
OMB Circular A-130 Appendix III http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a130/a130appendix_iii.html
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All questions, comments, and corrections may be mailed to the author at wisp@barman.ws Last update: August 17, 2003