Access Management is a set of controls and policies that ensures only authorised personnel can access computer systems on need to know basis depending on their job responsibilities. The three most common Access Management services you encounter are Policy Administration, Authentication, and Authorization. It is an essential part of overall IT security that manages digital identities and user access to data, systems and resources within an organization. Tools like Active Directory will helps manage the Identity and Access Management in an organisation.

Best account management practises are

• providing access to computer systems on basis of least privilege
• User access review on regular interval
• Process for user onboarding and offboarding
• Tracking of user activities on accounts

Passwords are one of the most important aspects of digital security. No amount of digital security measures can safeguard your data and systems if you have a weak password to encrypt them. Users should ensure strong passwords for their systems. Password strength should align with industry best practices for the same. Also, ensure

• Password should be strong and only know to designated user.
• Password policies should also contains account lockout configuration.
• Password rotation at certain interval.
• Ensure password is not easily available/ accessible to others on your system or your physical work environment.

Remote access management enables users to gain seamless access to devices and servers across different networks from a remote location.

• For secure remote connection, use tools like VPN or secure web proxy with secure optimum configurations
• Multifactor Authentication(MFA) adds extra layer of security for secure remote access to your systems or network

Security information and event management, or SIEM, is a security solution that helps organizations recognize and address potential security threats and vulnerabilities before they have a chance to disrupt business operations.

SIEM applications help enterprise security teams detect user behaviour anomalies and use artificial intelligence (AI) to automate many of the manual processes associated with threat detection and incident response. SIEM allows centralized log collection from operating systems, applications, domains and networks with detailed event information helps to monitor and identify key security events and threats.

Log retention refers to timeline and methodology for archival of logs, events and incidents, particularly those related to security.

These entries typically are a help to cybersecurity teams, allowing companies to hold information on security-related activities and events.

Access to the SIEM tool should be restricted

Only certain privileged users on the basis of their job responsibility should be allowed to access the SIEM solution. Managed users should not have the access to SIEM tool and its logs.

Logical and physical segregation of production and non-production environments helps to ensure the integrity and security of content.

Thus, production network should be isolated from the corporate network and any other network you may use.

System access in the production network should be given on a need-to-know basis to only users handling content. Firewall ACLs and rules should be made in such a way that there is a default deny access to all the users on the production network and only the required specific network access (WAN and LAN) is provisioned to those users. If a hardware firewall is not provisioned in the agency network, then WAN access should be denied to production users.

WAN access should be provisioned on only content upload and download machines that are on a separate LAN or VLAN or are physically isolated from the production network or system in the content processing facility. Segregation of duties should be followed when users handle content editing and upload/download.

Remote access to the production network and systems should be granted only in cases of business emergencies.

Remote access to the production network should be provided via a basic secure mechanism like a VPN or a proxy. Security protocols like user authentication and 2FA should be carried out before providing users access to the production network or systems.

Penetration testing of external and internal IPs of the production network should be carried out by a capable external party to ensure reasonable security of the production network and that the network has been tested against known exploits.

Content processing systems (Production Environment) and Admin/Corporate systems (Non-production Environment) should be segregated physically and logically.

Additionally, user access to the production systems should be segregated and managed by using IAM controls (Identity and Access Management).

A detailed content tracker helps to log all content that is checked-in or checked-out;

It should contain the storage location of all the content, the expected duration of each check-out, the time and date of each transaction, and account or user information from which content is accessed or processed.

Physical security is the protection of personnel, hardware, software, networks and data from physical actions and events that could cause serious loss or damage to an enterprise, agency or institution.

• Controls like CCTV surveillance.
• Security guard and visitor tracker should be maintained.
• Biometric access should be provided to access the content processing premise.

Watermarking is an essential way to ensure that your intellectual property remains yours. A watermark serves as a visual reminder that the script is copyrighted material. Manual and digital watermarking ensure and help to:

• Establish a trail of ownership should disputes arise.
• Add an extra layer of security against leakage.
• It helps prevent confusion when multiple scripts are reviewed simultaneously.

In our digital age, securing your screenplay with a watermark is as vital as creating compelling characters and an engaging plot. It's a small step that can save a tremendous amount of time, effort, and potential legal issues that may arise down the line.

Restricted access to all in-house and partner production houses's scripts and ensuring a secure lifecycle for physical and digital scripts help protect data integrity and intellectual property rights.

Access and distribution of scripts must be limited to users with a legitimate business need, and third parties or external employees must sign an NDA before receiving the script. The unauthorized copying, sharing, or printing of scripts is strictly prohibited to ensure a secure lifecycle.

Content owners and managers should document all their security policies and procedures for all the major security domains, like system security, network security, logging and monitoring, content handling procedures, physical security, script security, personnel security, etc.

High-level security policies and procedures should be covered for each domain in the policy document. The document should be made based on an accepted cybersecurity policy format that includes scope, version history, approval history, etc. covered in the same This will ensure the content owner that their partners are committed to secure practices while handling their content.

Content owners and management personnel handling content should be imparted with basic knowledge regarding best practices to provide reasonable security to the content they are handling.

The cost of this training may fall on the content owner or the production house.

Content owners and managers should have a backup infrastructure ready and in redundant condition in case their primary production environment is rendered out of production due to any unforeseen circumstances.

The policy procedure to switch to this backup or DR infra should be documented and ready for reference for the content owner and all other stakeholders.

Basic background screening should be carried out for resourses who directly handle production content.