Are those different things? And how crucial it is to keep the balance?
Written with the help of Alex Morgan, a passionate tech blogger, internet nerd, and data enthusiast.
According to a study by University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering, hackers attack any computer with Internet access every 39 seconds on average–more than once in a minute!
In the face of such challenges, cybersecurity has emerged as a paramount concern for businesses over the past decade. But security is inherently intertwined with effective compliance management. To maintain security, focusing on clients’ expectations isn’t enough; you must be compliant with the current external regulations.
Organizations grapple with a set of challenges when balancing between security and compliance:
In this article, we will explore the distinction between IT security and IT compliance and provide recommendations on addressing the challenges of liaising between them.
First, let’s define the business problems that security and compliance solve as business units.
IT security, or simply security, is a business function aiming at protecting the organization’s digital assets, such as its data, networks, and systems, against unauthorized access, breaches, and cyber-attacks.
Security measures within a company will typically start with the following:
After the risks are defined and an action plan is created, one or several of the below IT security practices can be implemented:
Financial damage caused by reported cybercrime has only grown yearly since 2018. As we noted, IT security as a business function has become a top priority for businesses.
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Now, what is compliance? In the broad organizational context, compliance encompasses adherence to all applicable laws, regulations, and internal policies in a commitment to ethical and lawful business practices. Compliance is not just about information technology or working with data.
For example, in compliance with the workspace relationship policy, in some companies, especially larger ones, romantic relationships between employees must be disclosed to HR.
IT compliance, in particular, refers to the adherence of information technology practices, processes, and systems to external laws and industry benchmarks.
For companies in the US, especially those investing in research and development of digital products, the essential standards to comply with are:
This list could include several more, such as COBIT, HIPAA, and FedRAMP.
Read our articles explaining what ITIL is, the difference between ITIL and ITSM, and the limitations of ITIL.
One of the primary compliance business processes is audit. Audits, whether internal or by third-party evaluators, systematically examine an organization’s IT infrastructure, policies, and procedures to identify vulnerabilities.
For example, to comply with HIPAA, US healthcare institutions must archive their email communication. The regular compliance audit will include going through the data archiving software, ensuring that the passwords are secure, access permissions are granted to the right people, and the archiving period is within the brackets suggested by HIPAA.
A compliance professional could also participate in the vendor selection to filter out non-compliant vendors before purchasing.
If the distinction between the two isn’t clear to you yet, try to approach it this way:
The thing about this power couple–security and compliance–is that you can’t successfully implement one without the other. Security and compliance strategies should align.
On the one hand, as we previously noted, when developing an information security system, you need to adjust it to the regulations relevant to your industry and the countries you operate in. According to an IBM report, instances of data breaches incur significantly higher costs—six figures more—when noncompliance with regulations is identified as a contributing factor.
On the other hand, a solid security infrastructure streamlines compliance operations. For a healthcare institution that uses data archiving to comply with HIPAA, it is crucial to regularly update the data archiving software and install patches as soon as they arrive. If there is a vulnerability elsewhere in the clinic’s tech infrastructure, HIPAA compliance will also be jeopardized.
These tips can help you reconcile the initiatives of compliance and security teams:
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