4 Steps for Effective & Continuous Compliance

Originally published by Scrut Automation.

Regulatory Maze is Turning Everyone into a Lost Tourist

The growing complexity of regulatory requirements has led to fragmentation in compliance
programs across organizations of all sizes. Efforts to develop and enforce consolidated
compliance programs still lack coordination and standardization, further deepening the security
and compliance gaps ripe for exploitation and regulatory penalties.

While large enterprises typically have extensive governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) teams
to manage these demands, mid-market businesses often struggle with navigating overlapping
requirements.

In this post, we’ll explore the challenges of meeting multiple compliance standards and identify
key steps organizations can take to define a strategy for a continuous compliance program
while focusing on the role of compliance automation in simplifying these processes.

Juggling Evolving Requirements Without Dropping the Ball

Compliance mandates continue to grow. Organizations must navigate a wide array of regulatory
requirements to conduct business and avoid penalties, often needing to comply with multiple
standards simultaneously. According to a recent report by Marsh McLennan Agency, 61% of
mid-market leaders consider regulatory risks among their top concerns.

A significant 60% of GRC users still manage compliance manually using spreadsheets,
increasing the risk of human error and making it difficult to maintain version control and keep
data up to date. These practices further exacerbate the building blocks needed for a
forward-looking compliance strategy.

The Ever-Growing Compliance Framework Sprawl

Compliance sprawl is compounded by an increasingly complex regulatory landscape, where
new requirements are continuously introduced, and existing standards continue to evolve.
Smaller and mid-sized organizations often grapple with the sheer volume of paperwork, manual
tracking, and reporting tasks, leading to inefficiencies and higher risks of non-compliance.

Let us take a quick look at some common examples of compliance requirements that take
precedence while operating in a particular geography:

• General Purpose and Business-Focused:
  • Attestations like System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 report (popular in
    North America).
  • Certifications like the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27001
    (common in Europe) and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
    (PCI-DSS) (specific to payment processors).
• Government-Sponsored but Non-Prescriptive Frameworks:
  • US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publications
    (SP) 800-53 and 800-171, Cybersecurity Framework (CSF).
  • Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification(CMMC) developed by the US
    Department of Defense (DoD) for sensitive information within DIB.
• Mandatory Laws and Regulations:
  • The U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
  • California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
  • European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Varying Documentation and Control Requirements Across Standards

To add to the compliance sprawl conundrum, each framework has specific requirements that
don’t necessarily have a direct equivalent in other standards.

• SOC 2 security compliance allows organizations to broadly define their control sets,
  whereas ISO 27001 compliance has more detailed requirements in the form of
  mandatory information security management system (ISMS) components.
• GDPR compliance applies to “personal data,” while the CCPA requirements apply to
  “personal information,” which have slightly different definitions.
• NIST 800-53 includes baselines of “low,” “moderate,” and “high” that are not by
  themselves required by any standard but which other standards will incorporate (such as
  the US Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).
• HIPAA compliance focuses on protecting PHI with specific privacy and security rules that
  healthcare organizations and their business associates must follow. In contrast,
  HITRUST certification integrates various security, privacy, and regulatory frameworks,
  including HIPAA, into a single, comprehensive framework.

How A Continuous Compliance Program Simplifies Complexity

Understanding the nuances of various regulatory mandates and planning for a sustainable
strategy can help organizations better navigate the complex landscape of compliance
requirements. A study by Futurista revealed that organizations implementing compliance
automation experienced a remarkable 40% increase in operational efficiency. Compliance
automation complemented with continuous controls can significantly streamline the
management of regulatory requirements and ensure consistent adherence to standards.

Keys steps to building an effective continuous compliance program:

1. Designing Controls Comprehensively and Flexibly with UCF

Build a best practice for developing policies, procedures, and controls usable across
multiple frameworks whenever possible. Leverage the Unified Compliance Framework
(UCF) to reduce complexity in compliance management. It is a centralized framework
that maps various regulatory requirements to a common set of controls and processes.
For example, while SOC 2 does not explicitly mandate vulnerability scanning or
penetration testing on certain cadences, it makes sense from a cybersecurity
perspective to establish a program that meets or exceeds ISO 27001 standards.
Properly documenting procedures meeting these criteria will improve your organization’s
security posture and simplify ongoing certification processes.

2. Maintaining a Centralized Risk Register

Tracking all risks across your organization in a single place is essential for security and
compliance. While spreadsheets might work initially, a purpose-built risk register
becomes necessary over time. A tool that can map risks and controls to specific
frameworks helps manage overlapping and duplicative requirements effectively.
Download this comprehensive guide to learn more about creating an effective risk
register.

3. Tracking Security and Compliance-Related Tasks to Completion

Having policies and documentation in place is necessary for regulatory compliance but
insufficient. Implementing these requirements in daily practice protects your company
and ensures successful audits. A compliance-focused workflow management system
helps stay on top of diverse rules and regulations, guiding action owners toward
completion and preparing for audits. Leveraging AI-driven copilots that automate security
questionnaire responses, scan controls, and extract relevant information to craft
accurate and consistent responses can significantly streamline compliance processes,
reduce manual effort, and enhance overall efficiency in managing security and regulatory
requirements.

4. Automating Evidence Collection

An automated process for collecting audit evidence is critical to managing multiple
audits. Modern businesses use various tools and software, and manually pulling data
from each is unscalable. A centralized platform can continuously monitor cloud
providers, code repositories, HR systems, and similar applications, significantly
simplifying evidence collection. According to an article by ISACA, organizations can
benefit immensely from automated evidence-collection tools and enjoy a substantial
reduction in the time spent on compliance audits.

Conclusion

To effectively meet multiple regulatory and compliance requirements and ease administrative
and manual burdens, consider building compliance automation as part of your overarching GRC
program. Key steps include developing adaptable control frameworks, centralizing risk tracking,
automating compliance tasks, and streamlining evidence collection processes. Implementing a
well-structured and effective compliance program is crucial for the efficiency and effectiveness
of your cybersecurity posture. To know more about compliance automation and sustainable
compliance strategies, download this ebook “Evaluating compliance automation platforms– what you need to know.“