The SEARCH IT Security Self- and Risk-Assessment Tool is a companion resource to The Law Enforcement Tech Guide for Information Technology Security: How to Assess Risk and Establish Effective Policies, which SEARCH developed for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), U.S. Department of Justice.
The tool is a Microsoft Excel 2003 spreadsheet containing worksheets that guides you through a detailed assessment of your agency’s IT system in three categories:Management, Organizational, and Technical—and a fourth category, State and Local Law Enforcement-Specific IT Security Controls, which assists with recording information on additional state and local government issues.
The Assessment Tool allows your policy development team to walk through the process and record their answers in one location. It—
- offers a simple and concise methodology by which to assess your systems and their potential risk
- gives a graphical view of the systems assessed and their current status, based on the team’s input
Because of the graphical nature of the tool, it is immediately obvious where important issues need to be addressed. The answers can give managers a roadmap to their response to the risk and offer guidance on funding requirements for their systems.
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Detailed description of Assessment Tool
SEARCH IT Security Self- and Risk-Assessment Tool
The IT Security Tech Guide provides strategies, best practices, recommendations, and ideas for developing and implementing IT security policies. It offers a straightforward approach to help law enforcement agencies through an often complex process and provides a framework to gauge the performance and effectiveness of these policies.