Cyber Security Compliance

Your organization's IT team is the primary force for cybersecurity compliance. Forming a compliance team is necessary when implementing a thorough compliance program.

While IT teams typically handle most cybersecurity processes, general cybersecurity does not exist in a vacuum. In other words, all departments within an organization need to work together to maintain a good cybersecurity posture and help with compliance measures.

• Although naming conventions will vary by compliance program, there are four basic steps in the risk analysis process:

  1. Identify: Any information systems, assets or networks that access data must be identified.
  2. Assess: Review data and assess the risk level of each type. Rate the risk of all locations that data will pass through in its lifecycle.
  3. Analyze: Use this analysis formula to determine risk: Likelihood of Breach x Impact or Cost
  4. Set Tolerance: Decide to mitigate, transfer, refute or accept any determined risks

• The next step would be to set up security controls that mitigate or transfer cybersecurity risks. A cybersecurity control is a mechanism to prevent, detect and mitigate cyberattacks and threats. The controls can be technical controls, such as passwords and access control lists, or physical controls such as surveillance camera and fences.

  These controls can also be:

  • Encryption
  • Network firewalls
  • Password policies
  • Cyber insurance
  • Employee training
  • Incident response plan
  • Access control
  • Patch management schedule

  Demand for these controls is high, meaning plenty of cybersecurity solutions are available that can help you with this step. For an example of security and privacy controls, visit the NIST 800-53 Risk Management Framework and go to Section 2.4 Security and Privacy Controls.

Now that controls are in place, you must document any policies regarding these controls or guidelines that IT teams, employees and other stakeholders need to follow. Forming these policies will also come in handy for any internal or external audits in the future.

It's crucial to continuously monitor your compliance program as regulations emerge or existing policies are updated. The goal of a compliance program is to identify and manage risks and catch cyberthreats before they turn into a full-blown data breach. It’s also important to have business processes in place that allow you to remediate quickly when attacks happen.

With cyberattacks on the rise and more cybersecurity and data protection legislation emerging, now is the time to learn more about cybersecurity compliance. No organization wants to put itself or its customers at risk of data breaches in a threatening cybersecurity environment.

Hopefully, you know more about cybersecurity compliance and how certain compliance standards impact your organization. Whether you need to meet HIPAA, SOC 2 or PCI DSS requirements, there are plenty of cybersecurity solutions that can help you get there and stay compliant.