Company cyber security policy template

The Cyber Security Policy provides guidelines to safeguard the company’s data and technology infrastructure. It addresses potential threats like human errors, hacker attacks, and system malfunctions, emphasizing proactive measures, employee responsibilities, and reporting mechanisms to maintain data integrity and security.

This Company cyber security policy template is ready to be tailored to your company’s needs and should be considered a starting point for setting up your employment policies.

This cyber security policy should include:

  1. Definitions of confidential data and the importance of its protection.
  2. Procedures for data transfer, ensuring security and preventing unauthorized access.
  3. Reporting mechanisms for scams, privacy breaches, and potential security threats, ensuring timely response and resolution.

cyber security policy

Company cyber security policy template

Policy brief & purpose

Our company cyber security policy outlines our guidelines and provisions for preserving the security of our data and technology infrastructure.

The more we rely on technology to collect, store and manage information, the more vulnerable we become to severe security breaches. Human errors, hacker attacks and system malfunctions could cause great financial damage and may jeopardize our company’s reputation.

For this reason, we have implemented a number of security measures. We have also prepared instructions that may help mitigate security risks. We have outlined both provisions in this policy.

Scope

This policy applies to all our employees, contractors, volunteers and anyone who has permanent or temporary access to our systems and hardware.

Policy elements

Confidential data

Confidential data is secret and valuable. Common examples are:

All employees are obliged to protect this data. In this policy, we will give our employees instructions on how to avoid security breaches.

Protect personal and company devices

When employees use their digital devices to access company emails or accounts, they introduce security risk to our data. We advise our employees to keep both their personal and company-issued computer, tablet and cell phone secure. They can do this if they:

We also advise our employees to avoid accessing internal systems and accounts from other people’s devices or lending their own devices to others.

When new hires receive company-issued equipment they will receive instructions for:

They should follow instructions to protect their devices and refer to our [Security Specialists/ Network Engineers] if they have any questions.

Keep emails safe

Emails often host scams and malicious software (e.g. worms.) To avoid virus infection or data theft, we instruct employees to:

If an employee isn’t sure that an email they received is safe, they can refer to our [IT Specialist.]

Manage passwords properly

Password leaks are dangerous since they can compromise our entire infrastructure. Not only should passwords be secure so they won’t be easily hacked, but they should also remain secret. For this reason, we advice our employees to:

Remembering a large number of passwords can be daunting. We will purchase the services of a password management tool which generates and stores passwords. Employees are obliged to create a secure password for the tool itself, following the abovementioned advice.

Transfer data securely

Transferring data introduces security risk. Employees must:

Our [IT Specialists/ Network Engineers] need to know about scams, breaches and malware so they can better protect our infrastructure. For this reason, we advise our employees to report perceived attacks, suspicious emails or phishing attempts as soon as possible to our specialists. Our [IT Specialists/ Network Engineers] must investigate promptly, resolve the issue and send a companywide alert when necessary.

Our Security Specialists are responsible for advising employees on how to detect scam emails. We encourage our employees to reach out to them with any questions or concerns.

Additional measures

To reduce the likelihood of security breaches, we also instruct our employees to:

We also expect our employees to comply with our social media and internet usage policy.

Our [Security Specialists/ Network Administrators] should:

Our company will have all physical and digital shields to protect information.

Remote employees

Remote employees must follow this policy’s instructions too. Since they will be accessing our company’s accounts and systems from a distance, they are obliged to follow all data encryption, protection standards and settings, and ensure their private network is secure.

We encourage them to seek advice from our [Security Specialists/ IT Administrators.]

Disciplinary Action

We expect all our employees to always follow this policy and those who cause security breaches may face disciplinary action:

Additionally, employees who are observed to disregard our security instructions will face progressive discipline, even if their behavior hasn’t resulted in a security breach.

Take security seriously

Everyone, from our customers and partners to our employees and contractors, should feel that their data is safe. The only way to gain their trust is to proactively protect our systems and databases. We can all contribute to this by being vigilant and keeping cyber security top of mind.

Disclaimer: This policy template is meant to provide general guidelines and should be used as a reference. It may not take into account all relevant local, state or federal laws and is not a legal document. Neither the author nor Workable will assume any legal liability that may arise from the use of this policy.
Further reading

Frequently asked questions

What is an example of a cyber security policy? The policy offers guidelines for preserving data security, detailing how to handle threats, protect confidential information, and report potential breaches. Why is a cyber security policy important? It safeguards sensitive company data, ensures compliance with security standards, and fosters trust among stakeholders by preventing unauthorized access. What should a cyber security policy include? It should define confidential data, set data transfer procedures, and establish reporting mechanisms for potential threats. How should employees handle suspicious emails? Employees should avoid unexplained attachments or links, verify sender legitimacy, and report any suspicious content to IT specialists. What actions are taken in case of a security breach? Breaches are investigated promptly, with potential disciplinary actions ranging from warnings to termination, depending on the breach's severity.