The Nuts and Bolts of a WISP
December 31, 2023
The Written Information Security Policy (WISP) is not another policy to collect dust on the compliance officers bookshelf. Rather, done properly, it is a ticket to a haven of data integrity and confidentiality. For any company handling sensitive, confidential non-public personal information on their clients or employees, it is a regulatory must. Here’s why a WISP is the cornerstone of a secure, compliant, and trust-building company, alongside a roadmap to create one:
Why Every Company Needs a WISP:
- Data Fortress: In a world where numbers tell tales, a WISP ensures your client’s confidential data remains safe, confidential, and accurate. Such critical data is only made available to those with a legitimate need to access it.
- Compliance Conductor: March to the rhythm of legal and regulatory tunes with a well-composed WISP that hits all the right notes of compliance.
- Trust Builder: Cement client trust with a promise of data security that’s strong enough to send hackers searching for weaker targets.
- Mishap Minimizer: A WISP is your blueprint to reducing the chorus of ‘oops’ and ‘uh-ohs’ in the daily operations of your company’s data handling.
- Liability Lifeguard: It’s your firm’s buoy in the turbulent seas of professional responsibility, helping to keep litigation at bay.
- Reputation Rocket: Propel your brand’s reputation to stellar heights by showcasing a gold-standard in data security.
Crafting a WISP: The Straight Road with a Few Curves
- Assemble Your Brain Trust:
- Rally a coalition of stakeholders from across the firm’s spectrum, ensuring a blend of expertise and viewpoints.
- Rope in a cybersecurity expert to steer the ship through murky waters of risks and regulations.
- Draft the Masterpiece:
- Begin from a tried and true template. Using the guidance of a cybersecurity consultant, remove what doesn’t belong at your company. Build a robust draft that outlines your assets, identifies the various risks you face, and sets clear requirements for employees to abide by.
- Sketch out the procedures that will act as the gears in your security machinery.
- Arm Your Troops:
- Equip your team with the necessary security artillery like robust software and enlightening cyber training and phish testing programs.
- Establish a gamut of security measures. At a minimum, include firewalls, data encryption (including backups), multifactor authentication, and password manager adoption. This is a start, but not the final destination. Keep going!
- Embrace the Audit Trail:
- Regular audits are your reality checks; they help in identifying the chinks in your armor and in celebrating your stronghold areas. Build an audit program into your plans to spot check your compliance.
- Inviting external auditors is like having a fresh pair of eyes that can spot the dust in the corners.
- Spread the Requirements to All Staff Members:
- Communicate your WISP and its expectations to every member of your company. Make it a living, breathing ethos rather than a forgotten file on the server.
- Celebrate the wins, learn from the missteps, and continually refine your WISP. Update it annually to help you keep pace with the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape.
WISP Conclusions:
A WISP is a roadmap that paves the way for regulatory compliance. It also plants the seeds for a culture of security-awareness and diligence throughout your company. The more senior leadership supports the process and prescriptions of your WISP, the stronger your firm will be in the face of ongoing, sophisticated, cyber attacks on the sensitive and confidential data your company operates its business upon.
