A collaborative ontology development tool for information security managers

Abstract

This paper explores the need for a collaborative development tool to allow information security experts to capture their interrelated knowledge in an ontology. Such a tool would enable organisations to make more informed security policy decisions around shared security issues. However, population of ontologies can be time-consuming and error-prone, and current collaborative ontology editing tools require a familiarity with ontology concepts. We present a Web-oriented tool which simplifies ontology population for information security experts, allowing them to develop ontology content without the need to understand ontology concepts. To understand how organisations manage information security knowledge within policies, we consulted two information security managers in large organisations. The Web-Protégé collaborative ontology editor was then modified to create a tool with an appropriate knowledge ontology structure that meets their requirements. The same information security managers then evaluated the tool, judging it to be accessible and potentially useful in policy decision-making.