Turning security compliance into cyber maturity uplift and effective risk management

Security and compliance are interconnected disciplines that work together to protect and enhance an organisation’s resilience. Whilst security compliance is often seen as a checkbox exercise, it can be leveraged to drive improvements for any business given the right mindset and objectives.

First, let's set out some clear definitions:

1. Compliance is the process of meeting all legal and regulatory requirements that apply to business activities for the industry and/or jurisdictions where the organisation operates. Well known examples are HIPAA, GDPR and PCI DSS.
2. Security refers to the practices, policies, procedures and controls that an organisation implements to protect against threats and to adequately safeguard people, systems and data. Security measures can focus on physical, cyber or information centric domains.

Compliance needs may be fulfilled by an organisation’s security measures, but being compliant does not always equal being secure.

Legislation may provide broad baseline security standards for data protection or AI deployments but can also be missing key organisational context that can ensure that real risks are identified and mitigated.

Understanding the difference between "compliant" versus "secure" is key and some security experts have taken to considering two types of controls - the “must haves” and the “nice to haves" which can be decsribed as Minimum Compliance Requirements (MCR) and Discretionary Security Requirements (DSR) above and beyond the regulatory minimum.

Here are some simple ways to use compliance activities to drive meaningful security and business outcomes:

Link compliance to business objectives

- Use compliance assessments to identify and prioritise risks based on their likelihood and business impact, ensuring that resources are allocated to the most critical areas.

- Translate compliance findings into business language by focusing on how cyber risks could affect strategic objectives, operational continuity, and business reputation.

Assess holistically

- Use maturity models and security frameworks to evaluate not just technical security controls but also consider people, processes and governance. This provides a well-rounded view of your organisation’s readiness to prevent, detect, and respond to threats, highlighting vulnerabilities and prioritising remediation efforts.

- Align or map your mandated compliance activities with recognised security frameworks such as NIST CSF or ISO 27001 to ensure that controls are robust. Ensure security is well embedded in daily operations not just in policy documents for an auditor.

Ensure continuous improvement

- Shift away from ad hoc or reactive compliance activities driven by an annual audit cycle to proactive security processes. Set and maintain regular reviews, continuous monitoring and adapting security controls as threats evolve.

- Develop and test incident response plans using compliance requirements as a baseline but building maturity through repeated and varied simulations. Doucment and address all lessons learned.

Use compliance to support security transformation

- Treat compliance as a foundation for broader cybersecurity transformation moving from meeting baseline requirements to improving the areas that deliver the biggest risk reductions and suport business strategy.

- Use maturity assessments to benchmark progress, set targets. Communicate all improvements to leadership, regulators, and customers to show return on security invrestment.

Turning security compliance into meaningful cyber maturity uplift and effective risk management requires a holistic, risk-based, and continuous improvement approach. By embedding compliance into broader business and security strategies, organisations can move from just meeting the regulatiory minimum to a proactive, resilient, and mature cyber posture that manages risk and helps meet broader business objectives.

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