Master IT Compliance: Key Standards and Risks Explained

While it’s easy to view an IT professional’s job as primarily technology-focused, it also involves keeping pace with evolving regulatory requirements.

Regulatory compliance directly impacts the security, data privacy, and integrity of an organization’s data. Equally important, it helps protect organizations from potential civil and even criminal penalties resulting from noncompliance.

Navigating New Challenges in IT Compliance

Staying compliant with various regulations has never been easy, and it is becoming increasingly difficult. Some challenges are tied to the regulations themselves, which tend to evolve and become more stringent over time. Additionally, regulations vary across different jurisdictions. A global enterprise must adhere to all the regulatory requirements of the countries in which it operates. In some cases, these requirements may even contradict each other.

Further complicating matters are the changing ways that organizations use technology. For instance, trends such as hybrid work, remote work, and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) have become the norm in recent years. Organizations must determine how to embrace these trends without violating their compliance mandates in the process.

The Distinction Between IT Security and Compliance

Related:5 Best Practices for Achieving Healthcare Cloud Compliance

IT security focuses on protecting an organization’s data and guarding against breaches and cyberattacks. While IT regulatory policies are generally designed to ensure security, making security and compliance closely intertwined, they are not identical.

Regulatory policies frequently mandate specific security practices, thus aligning compliance efforts with security goals. For example, regulations might require an organization to have data encryption, access controls, and regulatory security audits. However, being compliant does not automatically guarantee an organization’s security. Compliance mandates often set minimum standards, and organizations may need to implement additional security measures beyond what is required to adequately protect their data.

Conversely, some aspects of the compliance process may do nothing to enhance security. For example, regulatory compliance may require extensive documentation and reporting to satisfy auditors, which might not contribute to the organization’s overall security posture.

Building Your IT Compliance Checklist

Creating an IT compliance checklist can greatly simplify the arduous task of maintaining compliance. The checklist ensure critical tasks are consistently performed, tailored to each organization’s industry, specific compliance requirements, and daily operations.

Related:How to Become a Software Engineer: Job, Salary, Skills, and Requirements

Fundamental Steps for Ensuring Compliance:

Best Practices and Tools To Streamline Compliance Processes

Tackling Common Compliance Challenges

Every business must have a plan for dealing with common compliance challenges.

Addressing remote work and BYOD policies

Organizations permitting remote work or BYOD must establish clear policies that outline acceptable use and security requirements. Additional security measures may include secure access methods for employee-owned devices and device health checks before accessing sensitive resources from personal devices. Of course, regular employee training is vital for maintaining compliance in work-from-home and BYOD scenarios.

Mitigating risks of vendor sprawl

Depending on the industry, organization may need to establish a vendor management program. The program should approve and monitor vendors to ensure compliance with regulations and contractual obligations.

Controlling shadow IT

The best defense against shadow IT is regular monitoring and auditing to detect unauthorized IT products or services. Addressing shadow IT should be part of the organization’s acceptable-use policy.

Future-Proofing Your Compliance Strategy

Given that regulatory requirements evolve over time, organizations must take proactive steps to future-proof their compliance strategies.

Adapting to changing laws and technological advances

Organizations should designate a compliance officer. A compliance officer ensures ongoing tracking of regulatory changes and prompt action when necessary. When adopting new technologies, organizations should assess a technology’s potential impact on compliance efforts.

Predict compliance changes

Organizations can ensure they remain compliant by predicting future regulatory changes. Public discussions often precede regulatory updates, allowing organizations time to prepare responses and lobby against problematic changes.

FAQ

Q: How do I ensure my company adapts to new IT compliance updates?

A: To adapt to new IT compliance updates, stay informed of new requirements and changes. Additionally, designate a compliance officer. A compliance officer is responsible for managing and implementing all compliance updates and ensuring adherence throughout the organization.

Q: What are the consequences of noncompliance in the IT sector?

A: Penalties for noncompliance vary widely depending on the regulatory standard but can include:

Furthermore, noncompliance organizations often face increased regulatory scrutiny in the future.

Q: How frequently should a business review its compliance policies?

Adhere to the industry standard on the frequency of reviews, whatever that may be. However, external factors may warrant further reviews. These factors include: