An information system ( IS ) is a formal, sociotechnical , organizational system designed to collect, process, store , and distribute information . From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems comprise four components: task, people, structure (or roles), and technology. Information systems can be defined as an integration of components for collection, storage and processing of data , comprising digital products that process data to facilitate decision making and the data being used to provide information and contribute to knowledge.
63-457: The Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 ( FISMA , 44 U.S.C. § 3541 , et seq. ) is a United States federal law enacted in 2002 as Title III of the E-Government Act of 2002 ( Pub. L. 107–347 (text) (PDF) , 116 Stat. 2899 ). The act recognized the importance of information security to the economic and national security interests of
126-421: A "risk-based policy for cost-effective security." FISMA requires agency program officials, chief information officers, and inspectors general (IGs) to conduct annual reviews of the agency's information security program and report the results to Office of Management and Budget (OMB). OMB uses this data to assist in its oversight responsibilities and to prepare this annual report to Congress on agency compliance with
189-508: A U.S. federal government agency in the executive or legislative branches, or by a contractor or other organization on behalf of a federal agency in those branches. This framework is further defined by the standards and guidelines developed by NIST . FISMA requires that agencies have an information systems inventory in place. According to FISMA, the head of each agency shall develop and maintain an inventory of major information systems (including major national security systems) operated by or under
252-405: A collection of individual computers put to a common purpose and managed by the same system owner. NIST SP 800-18, Revision 1, Guide for Developing Security Plans for Federal Information Systems provides guidance on determining system boundaries. All information and information systems should be categorized based on the objectives of providing appropriate levels of information security according to
315-420: A definition of Langefors , is a technologically implemented medium for recording, storing, and disseminating linguistic expressions, as well as for drawing conclusions from such expressions. Geographic information systems , land information systems, and disaster information systems are examples of emerging information systems, but they can be broadly considered as spatial information systems. System development
378-474: A definitive boundary, users, processors, storage, inputs, outputs and the aforementioned communication networks. In many organizations, the department or unit responsible for information systems and data processing is known as " information services ". Any specific information system aims to support operations, management and decision-making . An information system is the information and communication technology (ICT) that an organization uses, and also
441-527: A discipline has been evolving for over 30 years now, the core focus or identity of IS research is still subject to debate among scholars. There are two main views around this debate: a narrow view focusing on the IT artifact as the core subject matter of IS research, and a broad view that focuses on the interplay between social and technical aspects of IT that is embedded into a dynamic evolving context. A third view calls on IS scholars to pay balanced attention to both
504-447: A number of different careers: There is a wide variety of career paths in the information systems discipline. "Workers with specialized technical knowledge and strong communications skills will have the best prospects. Workers with management skills and an understanding of business practices and principles will have excellent opportunities, as companies are increasingly looking to technology to drive their revenue." Information technology
567-470: A range of risk levels The first mandatory security standard required by the FISMA legislation, FIPS 199 "Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems" provides the definitions of security categories. The guidelines are provided by NIST SP 800-60 "Guide for Mapping Types of Information and Information Systems to Security Categories." The overall FIPS 199 system categorization
630-420: A special form of IS that support all managers of the organization. They provide rapid access to timely information and direct access to structured information in the form of reports. Expert systems attempt to duplicate the work of human experts by applying reasoning capabilities, knowledge, and expertise within a specific domain. Information technology departments in larger organizations tend to strongly influence
693-595: Is (or should be) used, along with others, as a point of reference for promotion and tenure and, more generally, to evaluate scholarly excellence. A number of annual information systems conferences are run in various parts of the world, the majority of which are peer reviewed. The AIS directly runs the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) and the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), while AIS affiliated conferences include
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#1732869269341756-478: Is a scientific field of study that addresses the range of strategic, managerial, and operational activities involved in the gathering, processing, storing, distributing, and use of information and its associated technologies in society and organizations. The term information systems is also used to describe an organizational function that applies IS knowledge in the industry, government agencies, and not-for-profit organizations. Information systems often refers to
819-422: Is also sometimes used to simply refer to a computer system with software installed. " Information systems " is also an academic field of study about systems with a specific reference to information and the complementary networks of computer hardware and software that people and organizations use to collect, filter, process, create and also distribute data . An emphasis is placed on an information system having
882-417: Is developed during a detailed security review of an information system, typically referred to as security certification. Security certification is a comprehensive assessment of the management, operational, and technical security controls in an information system, made in support of security accreditation, to determine the extent to which the controls are implemented correctly, operating as intended, and producing
945-703: Is done in stages which include: The field of study called information systems encompasses a variety of topics including systems analysis and design, computer networking, information security, database management, and decision support systems. Information management deals with the practical and theoretical problems of collecting and analyzing information in a business function area including business productivity tools, applications programming and implementation, electronic commerce, digital media production, data mining, and decision support. Communications and networking deals with telecommunication technologies. Information systems bridges business and computer science using
1008-445: Is generally interdisciplinary concerned with the study of the effects of information systems on the behaviour of individuals, groups, and organizations. Hevner et al. (2004) categorized research in IS into two scientific paradigms including behavioural science which is to develop and verify theories that explain or predict human or organizational behavior and design science which extends
1071-403: Is important to the operation of contemporary businesses, it offers many employment opportunities. The information systems field includes the people in organizations who design and build information systems, the people who use those systems, and the people responsible for managing those systems. The demand for traditional IT staff such as programmers, business analysts, systems analysts, and designer
1134-701: Is known as the information technology platform. Information technology workers could then use these components to create information systems that watch over safety measures, risk and the management of data. These actions are known as information technology services. Certain information systems support parts of organizations, others support entire organizations, and still others, support groups of organizations. Each department or functional area within an organization has its own collection of application programs or information systems. These functional area information systems (FAIS) are supporting pillars for more general IS namely, business intelligence systems and dashboards . As
1197-515: Is significant. Many well-paid jobs exist in areas of Information technology. At the top of the list is the chief information officer (CIO). The CIO is the executive who is in charge of the IS function. In most organizations, the CIO works with the chief executive officer (CEO), the chief financial officer (CFO), and other senior executives. Therefore, he or she actively participates in the organization's strategic planning process. Information systems research
1260-471: Is the "high water mark" for the impact rating of any of the criteria for information types resident in a system. For example, if one information type in the system has a rating of "Low" for "confidentiality," "integrity," and "availability," and another type has a rating of "Low" for "confidentiality" and "availability" but a rating of "Moderate" for "integrity," then the impact level for "integrity" also becomes "Moderate". Federal information systems must meet
1323-505: Is the bridge between hardware and people. This means that the data we collect is only data until we involve people. At that point, data becomes information. The "classic" view of Information systems found in textbooks in the 1980s was a pyramid of systems that reflected the hierarchy of the organization, usually transaction processing systems at the bottom of the pyramid, followed by management information systems , decision support systems , and ending with executive information systems at
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#17328692693411386-488: Is updated to reflect changes and modifications to the system. Large changes to the security profile of the system should trigger an updated risk assessment, and controls that are significantly modified may need to be re-certified. Continuous monitoring activities include configuration management and control of information system components, security impact analyses of changes to the system, ongoing assessment of security controls, and status reporting. The organization establishes
1449-546: The Association for Information Systems (AIS), and its Senior Scholars Forum Subcommittee on Journals (202), proposed a list of 11 journals that the AIS deems as 'excellent'. According to the AIS, this list of journals recognizes topical, methodological, and geographical diversity. The review processes are stringent, editorial board members are widely-respected and recognized, and there is international readership and contribution. The list
1512-802: The Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS), European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), the Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems (MCIS), the International Conference on Information Resources Management (Conf-IRM) and the Wuhan International Conference on E-Business (WHICEB). AIS chapter conferences include Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS), Scandinavian Conference on Information Systems (SCIS), Information Systems International Conference (ISICO), Conference of
1575-467: The FIPS 199 security category determined for the information system, and that the threat and vulnerability identification and initial risk determination are identified and documented in the system security plan, risk assessment, or equivalent document. Once the system documentation and risk assessment has been completed, the system's controls must be reviewed and certified to be functioning appropriately. Based on
1638-496: The IT artifact and its context. Since the study of information systems is an applied field, industry practitioners expect information systems research to generate findings that are immediately applicable in practice. This is not always the case however, as information systems researchers often explore behavioral issues in much more depth than practitioners would expect them to do. This may render information systems research results difficult to understand, and has led to criticism. In
1701-514: The Nation. The resulting set of security controls establishes a level of "security due diligence" for the federal agency and its contractors. A risk assessment starts by identifying potential threats and vulnerabilities and mapping implemented controls to individual vulnerabilities. One then determines risk by calculating the likelihood and impact that any given vulnerability could be exploited, taking into account existing controls. The culmination of
1764-497: The United States. The act requires each federal agency to develop, document, and implement an agency-wide program to provide information security for the information and information systems that support the operations and assets of the agency, including those provided or managed by another agency, contractor , or other source. FISMA has brought attention within the federal government to cybersecurity and explicitly emphasized
1827-479: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 823555411 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 08:34:29 GMT Information system A computer information system is a system, which consists of people and computers that process or interpret information. The term
1890-595: The act. In FY 2008, federal agencies spent $ 6.2 billion securing the government's total information technology investment of approximately $ 68 billion or about 9.2 percent of the total information technology portfolio. This law has been amended by the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 ( Pub. L. 113–283 (text) (PDF) ), sometimes known as FISMA2014 or FISMA Reform. FISMA2014 struck subchapters II and III of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, amending it with
1953-432: The approach for achieving consistent, cost-effective security control assessments. Agencies should develop policy on the system security planning process. NIST SP-800-18 introduces the concept of a System Security Plan. System security plans are living documents that require periodic review, modification, and plans of action and milestones for implementing security controls. Procedures should be in place outlining who reviews
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2016-483: The appropriate security controls and assurance requirements for organizational information systems to achieve adequate security is a multifaceted, risk-based activity involving management and operational personnel within the organization. Agencies have flexibility in applying the baseline security controls in accordance with the tailoring guidance provided in Special Publication 800-53. This allows agencies to adjust
2079-449: The boundaries of human and organizational capabilities by creating new and innovative artifacts. Salvatore March and Gerald Smith proposed a framework for researching different aspects of information technology including outputs of the research (research outputs) and activities to carry out this research (research activities). They identified research outputs as follows: Also research activities including: Although Information Systems as
2142-540: The compliance and reporting methodology mandated by FISMA measures security planning rather than measuring information security. Past GAO chief technology officer Keith Rhodes said that FISMA can and has helped government system security but that implementation is everything, and if security people view FISMA as just a checklist, nothing is going to get done. Title 44 of the United States Code Too Many Requests If you report this error to
2205-478: The control of such agency The identification of information systems in an inventory under this subsection shall include an identification of the interfaces between each such system and all other systems or networks, including those not operated by or under the control of the agency. The first step is to determine what constitutes the " information system " in question. There is not a direct mapping of computers to an information system; rather, an information system may be
2268-413: The desired outcome with respect to meeting the security requirements for the system. The results of a security certification are used to reassess the risks and update the system security plan, thus providing the factual basis for an authorizing official to render a security accreditation decision. All accredited systems are required to monitor a selected set of security controls and the system documentation
2331-581: The development, use, and application of information technology in the business. A series of methodologies and processes can be used to develop and use an information system. Many developers use a systems engineering approach such as the system development life cycle (SDLC), to systematically develop an information system in stages. The stages of the system development lifecycle are planning, system analysis, and requirements, system design, development, integration and testing, implementation and operations, and maintenance. Recent research aims at enabling and measuring
2394-568: The focus, purpose, and orientation, but also the dignity, destiny and, responsibility of the field among other fields. Business informatics is a related discipline that is well-established in several countries, especially in Europe. While Information systems has been said to have an "explanation-oriented" focus, business informatics has a more "solution-oriented" focus and includes information technology elements and construction and implementation-oriented elements. Information systems workers enter
2457-648: The foundation for strong information security programs at agencies. NIST performs its statutory responsibilities through the Computer Security Division of the Information Technology Laboratory. NIST develops standards, metrics, tests, and validation programs to promote, measure, and validate the security in information systems and services. NIST hosts the following: FISMA defines a framework for managing information security that must be followed for all information systems used or operated by
2520-755: The human brain is not well suited, such as: handling large amounts of information, performing complex calculations, and controlling many simultaneous processes. Information technologies are a very important and malleable resource available to executives. Many companies have created a position of chief information officer (CIO) that sits on the executive board with the chief executive officer (CEO), chief financial officer (CFO), chief operating officer (COO), and chief technical officer (CTO). The CTO may also serve as CIO, and vice versa. The chief information security officer (CISO) focuses on information security management. The six components that must come together in order to produce an information system are: Data
2583-503: The implementation of an agreed-upon set of security controls. Required by OMB Circular A-130 , Appendix III, security accreditation provides a form of quality control and challenges managers and technical staffs at all levels to implement the most effective security controls possible in an information system, given mission requirements, technical constraints, operational constraints, and cost/schedule constraints. By accrediting an information system, an agency official accepts responsibility for
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2646-455: The information needs of businesses and other enterprises." There are various types of information systems, : including transaction processing systems , decision support systems , knowledge management systems , learning management systems , database management systems , and office information systems. Critical to most information systems are information technologies, which are typically designed to enable humans to perform tasks for which
2709-508: The interaction between algorithmic processes and technology. This interaction can occur within or across organizational boundaries. An information system is a technology an organization uses and also the way in which the organizations interact with the technology and the way in which the technology works with the organization's business processes. Information systems are distinct from information technology (IT) in that an information system has an information technology component that interacts with
2772-469: The last ten years, the business trend is represented by the considerable increase of Information Systems Function (ISF) role, especially with regard to the enterprise strategies and operations supporting. It became a key factor to increase productivity and to support value creation . To study an information system itself, rather than its effects, information systems models are used, such as EATPUT . The international body of Information Systems researchers,
2835-572: The minimum security requirements. These requirements are defined in the second mandatory security standard required by the FISMA legislation, FIPS 200 "Minimum Security Requirements for Federal Information and Information Systems". Organizations must meet the minimum security requirements by selecting the appropriate security controls and assurance requirements as described in NIST Special Publication 800-53 , "Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems". The process of selecting
2898-814: The name suggests, each FAIS supports a particular function within the organization, e.g.: accounting IS, finance IS, production-operation management (POM) IS, marketing IS, and human resources IS. In finance and accounting, managers use IT systems to forecast revenues and business activity, to determine the best sources and uses of funds, and to perform audits to ensure that the organization is fundamentally sound and that all financial reports and documents are accurate. Other types of organizational information systems are FAIS, transaction processing systems , enterprise resource planning , office automation system, management information system , decision support system , expert system , executive dashboard, supply chain management system , and electronic commerce system. Dashboards are
2961-517: The nature and foundations of information systems which have its roots in other reference disciplines such as computer science , engineering , mathematics , management science , cybernetics , and others. Information systems also can be defined as a collection of hardware, software, data, people, and procedures that work together to produce quality information. Similar to computer science, other disciplines can be seen as both related and foundation disciplines of IS. The domain of study of IS involves
3024-676: The one hand and activity systems on the other. An information system is a form of communication system in which data represent and are processed as a form of social memory. An information system can also be considered a semi- formal language which supports human decision making and action. Information systems are the primary focus of study for organizational informatics. Silver et al. (1995) provided two views on IS that includes software, hardware, data, people, and procedures. The Association for Computing Machinery defines "Information systems specialists [as] focus[ing] on integrating information technology solutions and business processes to meet
3087-456: The ongoing, collective development of such systems within an organization by the entirety of human actors themselves. An information system can be developed in house (within the organization) or outsourced. This can be accomplished by outsourcing certain components or the entire system. A specific case is the geographical distribution of the development team ( offshoring , global information system ). A computer-based information system, following
3150-532: The performance of business processes. Alter argues that viewing an information system as a special type of work system has its advantages. A work system is a system in which humans or machines perform processes and activities using resources to produce specific products or services for customers. An information system is a work system in which activities are devoted to capturing, transmitting, storing, retrieving, manipulating and displaying information. As such, information systems inter-relate with data systems on
3213-437: The plans, keeps the plan current, and follows up on planned security controls. The System security plan is the major input to the security certification and accreditation process for the system. During the security certification and accreditation process, the system security plan is analyzed, updated, and accepted. The certification agent confirms that the security controls described in the system security plan are consistent with
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#17328692693413276-445: The processes' components. One problem with that approach is that it prevents the IS field from being interested in non-organizational use of ICT, such as in social networking, computer gaming, mobile personal usage, etc. A different way of differentiating the IS field from its neighbours is to ask, "Which aspects of reality are most meaningful in the IS field and other fields?" This approach, based on philosophy, helps to define not just
3339-577: The results of the review, the information system is accredited. The certification and accreditation process is defined in NIST SP 800-37 "Guide for the Security Certification and Accreditation of Federal Information Systems". Security accreditation is the official management decision given by a senior agency official to authorize operation of an information system and to explicitly accept the risk to agency operations, agency assets, or individuals based on
3402-501: The risk assessment shows the calculated risk for all vulnerabilities and describes whether the risk should be accepted or mitigated. If mitigated by the implementation of a control, one needs to describe what additional Security Controls will be added to the system. NIST also initiated the Information Security Automation Program (ISAP) and Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) that support and complement
3465-655: The security controls to more closely fit their mission requirements and operational environments. The controls selected or planned must be documented in the System Security Plan. The combination of FIPS 200 and NIST Special Publication 800-53 requires a foundational level of security for all federal information and information systems. The agency's risk assessment validates the security control set and determines if any additional controls are needed to protect agency operations (including mission, functions, image, or reputation), agency assets, individuals, other organizations, or
3528-568: The security of the system and is fully accountable for any adverse impacts to the agency if a breach of security occurs. Thus, responsibility and accountability are core principles that characterize security accreditation. It is essential that agency officials have the most complete, accurate, and trustworthy information possible on the security status of their information systems in order to make timely, credible, risk-based decisions on whether to authorize operation of those systems. The information and supporting evidence needed for security accreditation
3591-543: The selection criteria and subsequently selects a subset of the security controls employed within the information system for assessment. The organization also establishes the schedule for control monitoring to ensure adequate coverage is achieved. Security experts Bruce Brody, a former federal chief information security officer, and Alan Paller , director of research for the SANS Institute , have described FISMA as "a well-intentioned but fundamentally flawed tool", arguing that
3654-416: The study of theories and practices related to the social and technological phenomena, which determine the development, use, and effects of information systems in organizations and society. But, while there may be considerable overlap of the disciplines at the boundaries, the disciplines are still differentiated by the focus, purpose, and orientation of their activities. In a broad scope, information systems
3717-684: The term information security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction in order to provide integrity, confidentiality and availability. In accordance with FISMA, NIST is responsible for developing standards, guidelines, and associated methods and techniques for providing adequate information security for all agency operations and assets, excluding national security systems. NIST works closely with federal agencies to improve their understanding and implementation of FISMA to protect their information and information systems and publishes standards and guidelines which provide
3780-623: The text of the new law in a new subchapter II ( 44 U.S.C. § 3551 ). FISMA assigns specific responsibilities to federal agencies , the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in order to strengthen information security systems. In particular, FISMA requires the head of each agency to implement policies and procedures to cost-effectively reduce information technology security risks to an acceptable level. According to FISMA,
3843-510: The theoretical foundations of information and computation to study various business models and related algorithmic processes on building the IT systems within a computer science discipline. Computer information systems (CIS) is a field studying computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles, their software and hardware designs, their applications, and their impact on society, whereas IS emphasizes functionality over design. Several IS scholars have debated
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#17328692693413906-574: The top. Although the pyramid model remains useful since it was first formulated, a number of new technologies have been developed and new categories of information systems have emerged, some of which no longer fit easily into the original pyramid model. Some examples of such systems are: A computer(-based) information system is essentially an IS using computer technology to carry out some or all of its planned tasks. The basic components of computer-based information systems are: The first four components (hardware, software, database, and network) make up what
3969-458: The way in which people interact with this technology in support of business processes. Some authors make a clear distinction between information systems, computer systems , and business processes . Information systems typically include an ICT component but are not purely concerned with ICT, focusing instead on the end-use of information technology . Information systems are also different from business processes. Information systems help to control
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