Asset Management and Final Thoughts

Asset management can refer to the management of a physical asset, such as a physical server room, an online service, such as cloud services, or something virtual, such as system configuration. Online services and virtualization add a significant layer of complexity to asset management. This is because it is difficult to log and manage non-physical items.

To help with this, you can use asset registers for both physical and non-physical assets. An important consideration is to prioritize what is of the most value and implement different levels of protection accordingly. How this is decided will relate to the risk level, which is why it is so important to conduct a risk assessment. Remember, a risk assessment will entail looking at understanding what threats might arise, the likelihood of them arising, the impact of the threat is materialized, and any vulnerabilities that apply to the system. Ultimately, it is important to establish the value of all your assets and then how to protect them.

All assets should be logged and managed through a change management system and consider any configuration management necessary. Configuration management can extend into change management processes when we consider certain aspects of an asset, such as the server name, its ID, and which UPS it is connected to. This will help to trace and manage interdependencies between different systems.

Let’s wrap up what you have learned!

• Effective identity and access management is evolving to meet the changing landscape and environment

• The security environment relating to the threats, client technology, cloud services, and mobile computing is evolving

• Changing cultures are blurring boundaries between corporate, government, and personal identities and devices