Northeastern University Awareness and Training Standard
Related Policy: Northeastern University Information Security Policy, Northeastern University Risk Management Standard
Responsible Office: Office of Information Security (OIS)
Purpose and Scope
Northeastern University is committed to securing its data and providing clear and concise guidance on protecting the many information technology (IT) systems we use. Given the widespread use and diversity of the types of IT systems employed within Northeastern University, it is paramount that a technology-agnostic set of standards are in place and uniformly applied across all IT systems.
This standard establishes the minimum awareness and training criteria to carry out and meet the intent of the directives within Northeastern University’s Information Security Policy. This standard applies to all organizations (e.g., academic entities, entities other than Colleges and Departments, legally separate but wholly owned entities) of Northeastern University.
IT systems are considered in the scope of this standard if they utilize any of the following:
Northeaster’s Network, ITS troubleshooting or administration, OIS incident response or investigation, or a Northeastern Microsoft account (e.g., @northeastern.edu).
Awareness and Training Overview
The Awareness and Training (AT) domain focuses on ensuring personnel are provided security awareness training on a regular basis. This training seeks to reduce the security risks to the organization by ensuring individuals are aware of potential threats and the means for reporting and mitigating them.
Roles and Responsibilities
The following high-level functional roles support the awareness and training processes for IT systems. In some cases, there may be more than one functional role associated with a specific process or task; similarly, more than one person may perform some roles. The following describe the roles and responsibilities associated with risk assessment within the Northeastern University environment.
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO): Individual responsible for the overall Northeastern University information security program.
Office of Information Security (OIS): An organization or team employed by Northeastern University’s ITS department responsible for information security. The duties assigned to this role may be assigned to a single person employed by ITS/OIS.
System Administrator: An organization or individual responsible for setting up and maintaining an IT system, appliance, or specific IT system elements. This role revolves around hands on management of the IT system, usually more technical in nature than the System Owner. They are also responsible for implementing approved secure baseline configurations, incorporating secure configuration settings for IT products, and conducting/assisting with configuration monitoring activities as needed.
Depending on the size of the IT system, these responsibilities can be split across multiple skill-based domains listed below. These domains can be managed by separate teams across Northeastern University depending on the skills necessary to carry out the listed responsibilities.
- Infrastructure: manages any servers that are not aligned to a specific skill-based domain listed below.
- Network: manages all hardware and IT systems related to managing network communications.
- Security: manages all IT systems that ensure and confirm security of the environment. Sentinel, Defender, Tenable, Azure, Intune, Windows Cloud PC, etc.
- Desktop: manages the physical workstations and the software installed on them.
- Identity: manages IT systems that control identity-based access, like Entra ID.
System Owner: An individual or organization responsible for the development, procurement, integration, modification, operation, and maintenance, and/or final disposition of an information IT system.
Also responsible for establishing, tracking, and maintaining the inventory of information technology products and information IT systems which process, transmit, or store sensitive information; to include hardware, software, and firmware. Depending on the size of the IT system, these responsibilities can be assigned to someone with a role closely aligned to that of an Asset Manager.
Also responsible for maintaining the appropriate operational security posture for an information IT system or enclave and for ensuring the information assurance of a program or organization. Depending on the size of the IT system, these responsibilities can be assigned to someone with a role closely aligned to that of an Information System Security Officer.
Standard
This standard is scoped primarily around a subset of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-171 controls to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. The related NIST controls have been tagged (e.g., 3.2.1) in the text below to identify where each listed responsibility inherits its requirements from.
As the awareness and training capability is matured over time, additional controls may be considered to augment confidentiality and address the availability and integrity of information. Additionally, when implementing the criterion of this document, organizations may choose to implement stricter criteria; however, the criterion cannot be lessened without formal exception by the Northeastern University Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) as described in the Compliance section of this standard.
Enroll Users in Security Awareness and Insider Threat Training
(3.2.1) OIS is responsible for enrolling all new users of any Northeastern University IT system in security awareness training. OIS is also responsible for ensuring all users receive the security awareness training a minimum of once every twelve months. OIS will confirm that all active users are up to date on their required trainings on a quarterly basis.
(3.2.3) The System Owner is responsible for continually identifying potential indicators associated with insider threats (e.g., repeated security violations, unusual work hours, unexpected significant transfers of data, suspicious contacts, concerning behaviors outside the workplace) as the organization and threat landscape changes. In addition, the System Owner is responsible for notifying OIS of the potential insider threat indicators to incorporate into the security training awareness program.
OIS is responsible for enrolling all new users of any Northeastern University IT system in insider threat training. OIS is also responsible for ensuring all users receive the insider threat training a minimum of once every twelve months. OIS will confirm that all active users are up to date on their required trainings on a quarterly basis.
Situational Awareness
(3.2.2) The System Owner is responsible for aligning privileged users, such as the System Administrator, to security-related duties and responsibilities. The System Owner is responsible for providing relevant threat intelligence information (e.g., security bulletins, internal advisories) to appropriate stakeholders for awareness in accordance with the Northeastern University Information Security Policy and Northeastern University Risk Assessment Standard.
Definitions
The following definitions have been derived from industry standard definitions provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Computer Security Resource Center Glossary1 and, where appropriate, tailored for Northeastern University’s IT environment.
Information Technology (IT): Computing and/or communications hardware and/or software components and related resources that can collect, store, process, maintain, share, transmit, or dispose of data. IT components include computers and associated peripheral devices, computer operating systems, utility/support software, and communications hardware and software.
Insider Threat: An entity with authorized access that has the potential to harm an information IT system or enterprise through destruction, disclosure, modification of data, and/or denial of service.
Organization: An entity of any size, complexity, or positioning within an organizational structure (e.g., school, department, lab, operational elements).
Security Awareness Training: Explains proper rules of behavior for the use of information IT systems and information. The training communicates security, policies and procedures that need to be followed.
Security Risk: The level of impact on operations (including mission functions, image, or reputation), assets, or individuals resulting from the operation of an information IT system given the potential impact of a threat and the likelihood of that threat occurring.
Compliance
This standard complies with the directives defined in the Northeastern University Information Security Policy. The university recognizes that on rare occasions there might be compelling reasons to consider allowing an organization to operate outside of the criterion defined in this standard, as derived from the Northeastern University Information Security Policy. To facilitate this consideration the System Owner must submit a petition for a risk-based policy exception in writing, including supporting rationale, and forward it to the Northeastern University CISO for review and approval. All approved risk-based policy exceptions must be formally documented by the Northeastern University CISO and indicate the exception duration (e.g., temporary, long-term). The Northeastern University CISO is responsible for disseminating and communicating all risk-based exception approvals and rescissions to the relevant stakeholders in a timely manner.
Change and Review Log
| Date | Description | Version | Editor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01/08/2024 | Draft Document | 0.1 | David Niles |
| 1/24/2025 | Manager review before stakeholder review | 0.2 | Brad Wing |
| 9/3/2025 | Final draft approved by CISO | 1.0 | Brad Wing |
Appendix A. Northeastern University Awareness and Training Standard Summary
The table below summarizes the Northeastern University IT system environment minimum criteria for enabling awareness and training capabilities within the Northeastern University IT system environments.
- The first column “Northeastern University Practice ID” identifies the related Northeastern University practice ID as defined in the NIST 800-171.
- The “Northeastern University Practice Statement” column includes the Northeastern University practices required to be met for that control.
- The third column, “Derived Requirement”, provides a description of the requirement derived from the high-level Northeastern University practice statement. Derived requirements were developed from analysis of the intent of the practice and the logical components required to satisfy the practice. In some instances, an Northeastern University practice statement may be derived into several requirements to be addressed to satisfy the Northeastern University practice.
- The final column, “Northeastern University IT system environment Criteria”, defines the minimum criteria (e.g., configurations, actions, responsibilities, practices, etc.) which the university will implement to satisfy the related Northeastern University practice.
| Northeastern University Practice ID | Northeastern University Practice Statement | Derived Requirement | Northeastern University Environment Criteria (Northeastern University Practice Implementation) |
| 3.2.1 | Ensure that managers, system administrators, and users of organizational systems are made aware of the security risks associated with their activities and of the applicable policies, standards, and procedures related to the security of those IT systems. | Security Risk Training | OIS is responsible for: Enrolling all new users of any Northeastern University IT system in security awareness training.Ensuring all users receive the Security awareness training a minimum of once every twelve months.Confirm that all active users are up to date on their required trainings on a quarterly basis. |
| 3.2.2 | Ensure that personnel are trained to carry out their assigned information security- related duties and responsibilities. | Security-related Training | The System Owner is responsible for: Aligning privileged users, such as the System Administrator, to security-related duties and responsibilities.Providing relevant threat intelligence information (e.g., security bulletins, internal advisories) to appropriate stakeholders for awareness in accordance with the Northeastern University Information Security Policy and Risk Assessment Standard. |
| 3.2.3 | Provide security awareness training on recognizing and reporting potential indicators of insider threat. | Insider Threat Indicators | The System Owner is responsible for: Continually identifying potential indicators associated with insider threats (e.g., repeated security violations, unusual work hours, unexpected significant transfers of data, suspicious contacts, concerning behaviors outside the workplace) as the organization and threat landscape changes.Notifying OIS of the potential insider threat indicators to incorporate into the security training awareness program. |
| Insider Threat Training | OIS is responsible for: Enrolling all new users of any Northeastern University IT system in insider threat training.Ensuring all users receive the insider threat training a minimum of once every twelve months.Confirm that all active users are up to date on their required trainings on a quarterly basis. |
Appendix B. Awareness and Training References
The following list of references are common industry standards used to carry out the awareness and training criterion defined within this standard.
1. NIST SP 800-181 Rev.1, National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (NICE Framework). https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-181/rev-1/final