Applicability of cybersecurity standards in Ecuador - A field exploration

Abstract

The evolution of information and communications technology (ICT) as well as cyberspace, walks along with collateral hazards. These need to be managed, in order to minimize the affecting impacts on information, which often appear to be vital for the operability of nations. The fulfillment of such risk reduction has been achieved with the development of worldwide, well known and widespread regulations, rules, manuals, guides and procedures for good Cybersecurity practices. Its impact has been significant in the construction of national policies within each country, due to its influence beyond the borders and the needed international cooperation for its elaboration. However, the current study presents a description, scope and coverage of both the standardization organizations as well as standards and specifications related to Cybersecurity, in order to establish a guide for researchers and information security specialist in the protection of assets and information of companies. Furthermore, it also demonstrates a systematic non-experimental field research that considered Ecuadorian institutions and companies to identify the current status of their adoption. Finally, the obtained results allow the applicability of standards, in order to protect enterprise information, which in turn will be able to serve in the future as input for the definition of national policies in such context.