January 23, 2012
Data Security Should Come Before Compliance
Numerous IT managers need to comply with a expanding quantity of federal regulations concerning data security. Most IT professionals most likely invest a great deal of time making certain that the business will be compliance with such federal mandated regulations. Sadly, a great deal of organizations and IT departments concentrate on the compliance piece and start to lose sight from the primary objective that is to shield against information breaches.
Many experts agree that it is very possible that an IT department can meet the basic compliance requirements without actually having their data secure. But fortunately there are tools in the marketplace that can provide security and also achieve the necessary compliance mandated by law.
A current post supplied an overview from the federal regulations that may impact any American company. The authors suggested 3 actions to assist accomplish regulatory compliance also as securing vital information. These actions are:
1. Create a set of well-defined security and compliance policies for the company. 2. Deploy the proper tools to shield the company’s system and all of the platforms and applications inside the method and lastly 3. Create a systematic back up technique for the company’s information.
The alphabet soup of compliance is a jumble of acronyms like SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley), GLBA (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act), HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards), and FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). Fortune 500 corporations and organizations with dedicated IT staff have a much easier time understanding and addressing the compliance mandates. But for small and medium businesses, it can be overwhelming to even figure out where to begin.
Unless your company is really a openly traded entity governed by the SEC, SOX ought to not have any effect on you; unless you function for a government agency, it’s unlikely which you have to concern your self with FOIA. Nevertheless, PCI DSS impacts practically each and every company, and numerous little and medium companies fall under the recommendations of HIPAA, GLBA, or each.
Each of the person regulatory or business compliance mandates was created to handle particular issues. Achieving and sustaining compliance is no simple feat for businesses of any size, and it could appear difficult for small and medium companies. But if utilizing the actions above and staying centered on security 1st, then the compliance portion ought to be met.
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Oliver David writes and contributes for Lok-it.neet and other blogs on issues like data security and usb encryption.