A comparison of american and moroccan governmental security approaches

Abstract

In a time where security is paramount, maturity models enable institutions to evaluate their security level and elucidate paths for improvement. Security maturity evaluation is more critical and challenging for governments in order to ensure the safety of critical infrastructure and their citizens. In this paper, we analyze and compare two governmental security approaches that of Morocco and USA. We aim to outline the common features, best practices and showcase them in their respective contexts. We started by analyzing legacy maturity models to extract comparison criteria relative to their main functions, key components, and implementation mechanics. We added a context category to reflect the approach’s legal status and the country’s resources. We then evaluate the two approaches and showcase the difference based on means of assessment and guidance, we analyze how governmental structure influences the approaches’ mandatory status. We then discuss our findings explaining why each approach is more appropriate considering context.