Integration of COBIT, Balanced Scorecard and SSE- CMM as a strategic Information Secur ity Management (ISM) framework

Abstr act The purpose of this study is to explore the integrated use of Control Objectives for Information Technology (COBIT) and Balanced Scorecard (BSC) frameworks for strategic information security management (ISM). The goal is to investigate the strengths, weaknesses, implementation techniques, and potential benefits of such an integrated framework. This integration is achieved by “bridging” the gaps or mitigating the weaknesses that are recognized within one framework, using the methodology prescribed by the second framework. Thus, integration of COBIT and BSC can provide a more comprehensive mechanism for strategic information security management (ISM) – one that is fully aligned with business, IT and information security strategies. The use of Systems Security Engineering Capability Maturity Model (SSE-CMM) as a tool for performance measurement and evaluation can ensure the adoption of a continuous improvement approach for successful sustainability of this comprehensive framework. There are some instances of similar studies conducted previously: • metrics based security assessment [1] using ISO 27001 and SSE-CMM • mapping of processes for effective integration of COBIT and SEI-CMM [2] • mapping of COBIT with ITIL and ISO 27002 [3] for effective management and alignment of IT with business The factor that differentiates this research study from the previous ones is that none of the previous studies integrated BSC, COBIT and SSE-CMM, to formulate a comprehensive framework for strategic ISM that is aligned with business, IT and information security strategies. Therefore, a valid opportunity to conduct this research study exists.