While it has become increasingly apparent that individuals and organizations need a security metrics program, it has been exceedingly difficult to define exactly what that means in a given situation. There are hundreds of metrics to choose from and an organization's mission, industry, and size will affect the nature and scope of the task as well as the metrics and combinations of metrics appropriate to accomplish it. Finding the correct formula for a specific scenario calls for a clear concise guide with which to navigate this sea of information.

Complete Guide to Security and Privacy Metrics: Measuring Regulatory Compliance, Operational Resilience, and ROI defines more than 900 ready to use metrics that measure compliance, resiliency, and return on investment. The author explains what needs to be measured, why and how to measure it, and how to tie security and privacy metrics to business goals and objectives. The book addresses measuring compliance with current legislation, regulations, and standards in the US, EC, and Canada including Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, and the Data Protection Act-UK. The metrics covered are scaled by information sensitivity, asset criticality, and risk, and aligned to correspond with different lateral and hierarchical functions within an organization. They are flexible in terms of measurement boundaries and can be implemented individually or in combination to assess a single security control, system, network, region, or the entire enterprise at any point in the security engineering lifecycle. The text includes numerous examples and sample reports to illustrate these concepts and stresses a complete assessment by evaluating the interaction and interdependence between physical, personnel, IT, and operational security controls.

Bringing a wealth of complex information into comprehensible focus, this book is ideal for corporate officers, security managers, internal and independent auditors, and system developers and integrators.

About the Author
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C., USA

Reviews

"Provides valuable directions on how measurement works and what goes into producing a useful metric. ... when faced with the necessity of developing a metrics program to measure the effectiveness of some aspect of your security efforts, this rather imposing tome is one I would recommend as a way to jumpstart your efforts. The master table in the introduction provides a quick guide to the particular section most relevant to the reader's need ..."
- Richard Austin, in IEEE Cipher, June 2007

"... a useful reference for individuals who must meet the challenge of selecting good metrics."
-Cheryl Washington, Information Security Officer, California State University, in Educause Quarterly

Book Information
ISBN 9780849354021
Author Debra S. Herrmann
Format Hardback
Page Count 846
Imprint Auerbach
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 1620g