The Startup’s Guide to Creating Information Security Policies
- Samantha Cowan
- 6 days ago
- 10 min read
You need security policies. Your customers are asking for them. Your board is asking for them. Your compliance auditor will definitely ask for them.
But here’s the problem: Most startup founders have no idea how to create them without hiring an expensive consultant or copying templates from the internet that don’t fit their business.
So they either:
Do nothing – Hope nobody notices, until a customer demands proof and you’re scrambling.
Copy templates – Download a 50-page policy manual from the internet that’s overkill for your size and confuses your team.
Hire a generic business consultant – Spend $10K–$20K for someone to write policies that your team doesn’t understand and won’t follow.
There’s a better way. You can create information security policies that actually work for your startup—without the complexity, the cost, or the consultant.
What Are Information Security Policies (And Why Do You Actually Need Them)?
A security policy is a written document that says: “Here’s how we handle security in our company.”
It covers things like:
Access control – Who gets access to what, and how do we manage it?
Data protection – How do we store, backup, and protect customer data?
Incident response – What do we do if something goes wrong?
Vendor management – How do we evaluate and manage third-party tools?
Employee security – How do we onboard and offboard people securely?
Acceptable use – What can employees do (and not do) with company data and systems?
You need policies because:
Customers demand them – Enterprise customers won’t buy from you without proof that you have security practices in place.
Compliance requires them – SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO 27001, and GDPR all require documented policies.
Your team needs them – Policies tell your team what to do. Without them, everyone does their own thing.
You need them for audits – When an auditor asks “Do you have a data backup policy?” you need to say “Yes, here it is.”
They protect you legally – Documented policies show you’re taking security seriously, which matters if something goes wrong.
The Startup Policy Trap
Here’s where most startups go wrong:
They create policies that are too long, too complex, and too disconnected from reality.
A 50-page policy manual might look impressive, but your team won’t read it. They won’t understand it. They won’t follow it. And when an auditor asks “Do you actually follow this policy?” you’ll have to admit you don’t.
That’s worse than having no policy at all.
The startup approach is different: Create policies that are short, clear, and actually describe what you’re doing right now.
The Startup Security Policy Framework
Here’s how to create security policies that work:
Step 1: Inventory Your Current Practices (1–2 hours)
Before you write a single policy, document what you’re actually doing right now.
Ask yourself:
Access control: Who has access to our production database? How do we grant access? How do we revoke it?
Data protection: Where do we store customer data? How do we backup? Where are backups stored?
Incident response: If our database got hacked, what would we do? Who would we call?
Vendor management: What third-party tools do we use? Do we trust them? Have we reviewed their security?
Employee security: How do we onboard new hires? Do we give them access to everything? How do we offboard?
Acceptable use: Can employees use company laptops for personal stuff? Can they take data home?
Write down your answers. Don’t overthink it. Just be honest about what you’re actually doing.
Step 2: Identify Your Gaps (30 minutes)
Look at your answers and ask: “Are there things we should be doing but aren’t?”
Common gaps for startups:
No formal process for granting/revoking access
No backup procedure (or backups that aren’t tested)
No incident response plan
No vendor security review process
No employee offboarding checklist
No password policy
Don’t try to fix everything. Just identify the gaps.
Step 3: Create Your Core Policies (4–8 hours)
Now write your policies. Keep them short and simple. Here’s the formula:
[Policy Name]
Purpose: Why do we have this policy?
Scope: Who does this apply to? (e.g., “All employees and contractors”)
Policy: Here’s what we do. (Keep it to 3–5 bullet points)
Responsibility: Who’s responsible for following this policy?
Review: When do we review this policy? (e.g., “Annually or when practices change”)
That’s it. No 50-page manual. Just clear, simple policies that describe what you actually do.
Example: Access Control Policy
Access Control Policy
Purpose: To ensure that only authorized people have access to company systems and data, and to prevent unauthorized access.
Scope: All employees, contractors, and third-party vendors with access to company systems.
Policy:
Access to production systems is granted only when needed for the job.
Access requests must be approved by the employee’s manager and the CTO.
All access is logged and reviewed quarterly.
Access is revoked immediately when an employee leaves the company.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required for all production access.
Passwords must be at least 12 characters and stored in our password manager.
Responsibility: CTO is responsible for granting/revoking access. Managers are responsible for requesting access for their team.
Review: Quarterly access reviews. Policy reviewed annually.
That’s a real, usable policy. It’s not fancy, but it works.
Step 4: Create Your Policy Library (2–4 hours)
Create a simple document (Google Doc, Notion, or Word) with your core policies. Here’s the minimum set for a startup:
Access Control Policy – Who gets access to what?
Data Protection Policy – How do we protect customer data?
Incident Response Policy – What do we do if something goes wrong?
Vendor Management Policy – How do we evaluate third-party tools?
Employee Security Policy – How do we onboard/offboard securely?
Acceptable Use Policy – What can employees do with company data?
Password Policy – How do we manage passwords?
That’s 7 policies. They should total 10–15 pages, not 50.
Step 5: Get Buy-In from Your Team (1 hour)
Share your policies with your team. Ask:
“Does this match what we’re actually doing?”
“Are there things we’re missing?”
“Do you understand what’s expected?”
If your team doesn’t understand the policies, rewrite them. Policies are only useful if people actually follow them.
Step 6: Implement and Enforce (Ongoing)
Once you have policies, actually follow them. This is the hard part.
Onboarding: When a new hire joins, walk them through the relevant policies.
Access reviews: Quarterly, review who has access to what and make sure it matches your policy.
Incident response: When something goes wrong, follow your incident response policy.
Vendor reviews: When you add a new tool, follow your vendor management policy.
If you write policies and don’t follow them, you’re worse off than if you had no policies at all.
Step 7: Review and Update (Annually)
Once a year, review your policies and ask:
“Are we still following these?”
“Do they still match our business?”
“Do we need to add anything new?”
Update as needed. This doesn’t need to be a big project—just a quick review.
Common Startup Security Policies (Templates)
Here are templates for the 7 core policies. Customize them for your business:
1. Access Control Policy
Purpose: To ensure that only authorized people have access to company systems and data.
Scope: All employees, contractors, and vendors.
Policy:
Access is granted based on job role and the principle of least privilege (only access what you need).
Access requests must be approved by manager and [CTO/Security Lead].
All access is logged and reviewed [quarterly/monthly].
Access is revoked within 24 hours of termination.
MFA is required for all sensitive systems.
Shared credentials are not permitted (except for emergency access, which is logged and reviewed).
Responsibility: [CTO/Security Lead] manages access. Managers request access for their team.
Review: Quarterly access reviews. Annual policy review.
2. Data Protection Policy
Purpose: To protect customer and company data from unauthorized access, loss, or damage.
Scope: All employees and systems handling customer or sensitive data.
Policy:
Customer data is encrypted in transit (TLS/HTTPS) and at rest.
Data backups are performed [daily/weekly] and tested [monthly].
Backups are stored in a separate, secure location (not on the same server).
Data is not stored on personal devices without encryption.
Data is not shared outside the company without explicit approval.
Deleted data is securely wiped (not just deleted).
Responsibility: [CTO/DevOps] is responsible for backups and encryption. All employees are responsible for not sharing data.
Review: Annual policy review. Backup testing [monthly/quarterly].
3. Incident Response Policy
Purpose: To respond quickly and effectively to security incidents.
Scope: All employees.
Policy:
If you suspect a security incident (unauthorized access, data breach, malware, etc.), report it immediately to [CTO/Security Lead].
The incident response team will assess the severity and impact.
For critical incidents, we will notify affected customers and regulators within [24–72] hours.
We will document the incident, what happened, and what we did to fix it.
We will conduct a post-incident review to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Responsibility: [CTO/Security Lead] leads incident response. All employees report incidents.
Review: Annual policy review. Post-incident reviews after each incident.
4. Vendor Management Policy
Purpose: To ensure that third-party vendors meet our security standards.
Scope: All vendors with access to company systems or customer data.
Policy:
Before adding a new vendor, we review their security practices (SOC 2, ISO 27001, security questionnaire, etc.).
Vendors with access to customer data must have SOC 2 Type II or equivalent.
Vendors without access to customer data should have basic security practices (MFA, encryption, etc.).
We review vendor security annually.
We have a data processing agreement (DPA) with vendors that handle customer data.
Responsibility: [CTO/Security Lead] reviews vendors. [Procurement/Finance] manages contracts.
Review: Annual vendor reviews. Policy review annually.
5. Employee Security Policy
Purpose: To protect company and customer data when employees join, work, and leave.
Scope: All employees and contractors.
Policy:
Onboarding: New hires receive security training and are granted only the access they need.
During employment: Employees must keep passwords secure, use MFA, and report security issues.
Offboarding: When an employee leaves, all access is revoked within 24 hours, and devices are wiped.
Remote work: Employees working remotely must use a VPN and keep devices secure.
Device security: Company devices must have encryption, antivirus, and automatic updates enabled.
Responsibility: [HR/Manager] manages onboarding/offboarding. [CTO/IT] manages device security. All employees are responsible for security practices.
Review: Annual policy review.
6. Acceptable Use Policy
Purpose: To define acceptable and unacceptable use of company systems and data.
Scope: All employees and contractors.
Policy:
Company systems and data are for business purposes only.
Employees may not use company systems to access illegal content or engage in harassment.
Employees may not share company data outside the company without approval.
Employees may not install unauthorized software on company devices.
Employees may not attempt to access systems they don’t have permission to access.
Personal use of company systems is allowed only if it doesn’t interfere with work.
Responsibility: All employees are responsible for following this policy. [Manager] enforces.
Review: Annual policy review.
7. Password Policy
Purpose: To ensure that passwords are strong and secure.
Scope: All employees.
Policy:
All passwords must be at least 12 characters and include uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols.
Passwords must be unique (not reused across systems).
Passwords must be stored in a password manager (e.g., 1Password, LastPass).
Passwords must not be shared with anyone.
Passwords must be changed if compromised or suspected of compromise.
MFA must be enabled for all sensitive systems.
Responsibility: All employees are responsible for password security. [CTO/IT] enforces MFA.
Review: Annual policy review.
How to Use Your Policies
Once you have policies, use them:
Onboarding – Share relevant policies with new hires. Have them sign an acknowledgment.
Sales – Share your policies with customers who ask about security.
Audits – When an auditor asks “Do you have a data protection policy?” say “Yes, here it is.”
Compliance – Use your policies as the foundation for SOC 2, HIPAA, or ISO 27001.
Decision-making – When you’re unsure about a security decision, check your policy.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake 1: Policies that don’t match reality
If your policy says “All access is logged and reviewed quarterly” but you don’t actually do that, you have a problem. Write policies that describe what you actually do.
Mistake 2: Policies that are too complex
A 50-page policy manual that nobody reads is useless. Keep it simple.
Mistake 3: Policies that nobody follows
If your team doesn’t understand or follow your policies, they’re not working. Simplify or enforce.
Mistake 4: Policies that never get updated
Your business changes. Your policies should too. Review annually.
Mistake 5: Policies that don’t get communicated
If your team doesn’t know about your policies, they can’t follow them. Share them during onboarding and regularly.
The Timeline: How Long Does This Actually Take?
Step 1 (Inventory): 1–2 hours
Step 2 (Gaps): 30 minutes
Step 3 (Create policies): 4–8 hours
Step 4 (Policy library): 2–4 hours (included in Step 3)
Step 5 (Team buy-in): 1 hour
Total: 8–16 hours of work
That’s 1–2 weeks of part-time work. Not months. Not thousands of dollars.
The Bottom Line
Security policies don’t need to be complicated. They just need to be clear, realistic, and actually followed.
Start with the 7 core policies. Keep them short. Make sure your team understands them. Review annually. That’s it.
You don’t need a consultant. You don’t need a 50-page manual. You just need policies that work for your startup.
Ready to Build Your Security Policies?
If you’re not sure where to start, or if you want help creating policies that actually fit your business, let’s talk. We help startups build security policies that are simple, clear, and actually work.
We’ll help you create a policy library that your team understands, your customers trust, and your auditors approve.
FAQ
Q: Do I really need all 7 policies?
A: Start with these 7. They cover the basics. Once you’re more mature, you might add policies on mobile device management, remote work, data retention, etc. But these 7 are the foundation.
Q: Can I just use templates from the internet?
A: You can, but be careful. Internet templates are often too generic or too complex. Use them as inspiration, but customize for your business. Your policies should describe what you actually do.
Q: How long should each policy be?
A: 1–2 pages. If a policy is longer than 2 pages, it’s probably too complex. Break it into smaller policies or simplify.
Q: Do I need a lawyer to review my policies?
A: For most startups, no. Your policies should describe your practices, not create legal obligations. That said, if you’re in a regulated industry (healthcare, finance) or handling sensitive data, a lawyer review is a good idea.
Q: What if my team doesn’t follow the policies?
A: That’s a sign your policies are either too complex, not communicated well, or not enforced. Simplify, communicate, and enforce. If an employee repeatedly violates a policy, that’s a management issue, not a policy issue.
Q: How often should I update my policies?
A: At least annually. If your business changes significantly (new product, new market, new team), update sooner. But don’t overthink it—policies don’t need to be perfect, they just need to be current.
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