Information Security Policies, Procedures, and Standards: Guidelines for Effective Information Security Management

Rating:
Summary: Good book for Infosec Management
Review: If you want to find out the relation between Policies, Procedures and Standards buy this book. Although the flow of text is somewhat discontinuous but the author clearly explains the underlying concepts. The examples are very illustrative and have a real world feel. The author has been on the frontlines (clearly evident throughout the text) and this distinguishes the book from rest in the pack. Very few books talk about ISO 17799 and BS7799 in detail. This book goes beyond just reproducing the standard and explains the positioning of such guidelines. The tables and checklists found in the appendices alone are worth many times the cost of the book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent practical guidebook
Review: This is the best book I've seen (so far!) about writing infosec policies and associated materials. Tom Peltier refers directly to the ISO 17799 structure and gives helpful advice on what to include under the ten sections. More than that, he guides the reader through the *process* of writing and implementing policies, even including a brief chapter on my own specialism, security awareness, and suggestions on writing style.

My main quibble with the book is its inconsistency in the level of detail e.g. 41 of the 191 main text pages are devoted to information classification. There are perhaps too many lists and tables for my liking, but these may be useful as reminders of things to include.

Overall, the book is helpful if you are about to write infosec policies and want to avoid some of the more common pitfalls.