One of the recurring themes we are hearing from organizations is that in their rush to respond to increased security threats over the past year, GRC (Governance, Risk management, and Compliance) has taken a back seat. In reality, security and compliance are intertwined, so the better organizations can manage their GRC effort, the better their security will be.
The pandemic has created a scenario where organizations have had to scramble to think about security differently. The protective edge has been removed, with users and data more distributed than ever before. This shift has introduced significant risk and shaken the confidence organizations had in their security posture. As a result, many are so busy chasing after security tactics and tools, they’ve lost sight of what should drive it in the first place.
Compliance Led Security
One approach some organizations take is to try and build the Taj Majal of security, locking everything down in an attempt to build an impenetrable fortress. However, this often backfires. Implementing too many controls is costly, creates complexity and contributes to reduced productivity for users.
When taking a compliance led approach to security, start by understanding how your organization is being regulated. This takes many forms: an external regulatory body, government regulatory body or an industry body. It might even be your own policies that you or customers are imposing on your business.
Next, clarify the controls you need in place in order to comply with that regulation, and map how compliance will look across your organization. With this starting point, you begin to develop a roadmap that will help determine your maturity model and help get you from where you are to where you need to be. This in turn can help you transform your GRC activities and resulting security policies in a way that supports – not stifles – your business.
A Simpler Approach
Once you understand the regulations that are required, you’ll need to determine the best way to track them. Traditionally, organizations needed to track the audits, components, controls and evidence mapping manually with myriad spreadsheets and data pulled from various parts of the business. With compliance requirements constantly changing, this process has become increasingly complicated while sidelining resources for long periods of time. It makes sense that many companies consider GRC activities as a necessary evil. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Today’s modern GRC solutions make that process much simpler, allowing organizations to collect evidence once and apply it to multiple control sets. For example, DataEndure’s GRCaaS is designed to help your organization identify, understand, and manage the dynamic relationship between risk and compliance. Acting as a unified risk and compliance framework, it helps you align IT activities to business goals, stay on top of compliance, and manage risk effectively. If your organization is seeking a simpler, more cost effective way to mature your cyber security, data privacy, risk management and compliance capabilities – let’s talk.
Let us help you make fast and fact based decisions for your future compliance direction by contacting us today.