What Does It Mean to be Compliant?
Many businesses find themselves on the wrong side of the law because they do not meet and abide by governing authorities’ regulations. For a business to run its operations within a particular industry, it must comply with a set of regulations that guide how it should run its business. According to a report, the cost of compliance ranges from 0.8 to 21.56 million US Dollars while the cost of non-compliance ranges from 2.20 to 39.22 million US Dollars. But what exactly does it mean to be compliant? Check out our latest video to learn more about being compliant:What Exactly Does Compliance Mean?
Compliance mostly refers to a company’s adherence to rules, specifications, laws, guidelines, and regulations that govern how their business should operate. These regulations normally vary depending on the structure, industry, and location of the business. These guidelines are often developed and documented by a governing body or a federal agency. What Does Industrial Compliance Entail? Compliance regulations vary in different industries. Some industries are heavily regulated than others. For example, financial and health institutions are subject to regulatory compliance to protect clients’ and patients’ data from malicious attackers. Examples of these industry regulations include:- The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS): This outlines the procedure all companies must follow when processing, transmitting and storing a consumer’s debit or credit card information.
- The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): This act prohibits the disclosure of sensitive patient data without their consent.
- The Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA): It requires federal agencies to establish, document, and implement an information security and protection program.
- Determine the Type of Data You Process and What Compliance Regulations Apply to You: The data you process and analyze will determine the compliance regulations that your company needs to conform to.
- Hire or Appoint Compliance Experts: The complexity that comes with cybersecurity compliance requires the relevant expertise. The compliance experts should familiarize themselves with all aspects of your business to help cover all conceivable areas of risk in the company.
- Conduct a Comprehensive Risk Analysis: Your compliance team should carry out a comprehensive analysis of your current cybersecurity situation to determine your security flaws and the security controls you already have in place. They should then suggest security measures that should be implemented or modified to enhance data security.
- Implement Technical Security Controls: Once the risk analysis is done, implement the recommended cybersecurity controls and the cybersecurity regulations, you should comply with to be on the right side of the regulatory body.
- Develop, Document, and Communicate a Compliance Policy: Having policies in place will help to reduce cybersecurity risks, enhance data safety, and ensure compliance. Once you have implemented these security controls, an internal compliance policy should be formulated, documented, and communicated throughout your company.
- Monitor Compliance Regulations to Ensure You Remain Compliant: Since the compliance landscape is continuously changing, it’s crucial to review your systems and conduct tests to ensure that you remain compliant.
