Decoding Security vs Compliance For Your IT Infrastructure

For some IT professionals, compliance and security are just terms that can be used interchangeably. In reality, it’s completely different. These two are different metrics that hold high value in the modern business environment. In today’s time, staying compliant doesn’t always mean you are secure and its vise-versa also holds true. With the massive growth in the professional IT services sector in the past decade, complex security and compliance changes have arisen.  To tackle these challenges, understanding the peculiarities of IT security and compliance is a must. 

The article sheds light on IT security and compliance to offer you more clarity in the areas. 

So, let’s get started: 

Decoding IT Security

Breaking down into basics, IT security simply means safeguarding your critical digital assets or information from external threats by exercising due diligence and care. It focuses on maintaining confidentiality, integrity, and availability of IT data and devices in your organization. IT security is a broader subject that covers areas like network security, endpoint security, cloud security, application security, and more. 

Decoding IT Compliance 

If we talk relatively, IT compliance is similar to security but it forces a particular business to practice due diligence in order to safeguard its digital assets or data. The motive here although is completely different. It is focused on fulfilling the requirements of the third party like government, industry standards, or clients’ contractual agreements. 

Here is a simple example: A company operating in the healthcare domain must adhere to the HIPAA guidelines for the exchange of information in any manner. Similarly, regulations like HIPAA, SOX, and PCI-DSS force companies to match up to a certain level of security standards to be deemed as compliant. 

In short, you can also understand IT compliance as the process of meeting third-party requirements for digital security in order to operate in a particular country, market, or with a particular customer. 

Also Read: IT Consulting Services vs IT Managed Services: All Differences Explained

IT Security Vs IT Compliance 

If we summarize from above, IT security is simply the practice of exercising technical control to safeguard the company’s digital assets and compliance is the application of that practice to fulfill third-party regulatory or contractual agreements. 

A company can safeguard its digital asses by adhering to varied compliance frameworks and having proper security measures in place. However, staying compliant doesn't guarantee the security of digital assets always. Why? Simply because staying compliant with few regulations only means you meet a certain set of security and reporting standards. It is possible those standards are not enough to keep you covered from other kinds of technology security loopholes.

Here is a brief rundown of differences between the two concepts: 

Security: 

• It is a self-provisionary practice to stay secure, not to satisfy third-party demands. 
• It is driven by the need to protect enterprise software or apps from frequent external threats of cyberattacks. 
• It is never completed and is continuously improved to apply more control over the organization’s digital environment. 

Compliance 

• It primarily deals with fulfilling third-party regulatory requirements to run business operations. 
• It is driven by business needs rather than implicit security needs. 
• It is marked “completed” after meeting third-party demands. 

Staying Compliant Doesn't Always Mean Secure 

If analyzed carefully, one can understand that a compliance-based approach to data security is focused towards the bare minimum in order to satisfy some third-party demands, and nothing more. This means you need to have an effective information security program that enables your business to go beyond ticking the usual security boxes and applying external security measures to protect the most critical business assets. No matter how many compliance frameworks (SOC, ISO, or PCI-DSS) you adhere to, poor security practices can cost millions to your business. Yes, it might boost your business reputation and help you attract the eyeballs of security-minded customers. But, it’s never ideal for long-term success. 

True Security Means Thinking Way Beyond Compliance 

If compliance lets you say “I meet the minimum industry standards,” true security lets you safeguard your business-critical data ten times better. 

Meeting the compliance checkbox is simply not enough to have a truly secure solution in place. Every in-house IT activity or operation you do must be monitored 24/7 by your security team and any suspicious activity should be reported immediately to prevent a security hack. 

In short, you need to adopt a multilayered security approach to secure your critical business assets. To lay down such an IT security plan, team up with IT consulting services experts for best results. 

To have a totally secure IT infrastructure, you can follow the below practices:

Apply Multi-Layered Security 

A single layer of security is never enough for you to prevent any and all kinds of external threats. Using an infrastructure with multi-layered security is vital to keep your data and environment isolated, as well as reduce the risk of a data breach. Building infrastructure from ground-up by applying multiple security layers is recommended. 

Prefer A Self-Healing IT Infrastructure

When your company has a complex internal IT infrastructure or cloud infrastructure, take ample time to rigorously analyze the quality of your IT systems like CRM, ERP solutions, and more. Are they really secure? Does your existing IT policies or practices cover them? For cloud infrastructure, ask you the cloud services provider about the common security threats and best practices to beat them. 

Keep A Birds’ Eye on External Threats

Having a watchdog attitude is vital to curb down external threats. Building early warning systems, risk identification systems, and damage control systems are a must to prevent data hacks or minimize damage after a breach happens. Threats once identified should be dealt with immediately to ensure top-notch security of your data and keep your enterprise systems operational. 

Consult IT Security Experts 

IT consulting services providers can help you build solutions that are a result of true amalgamation b/w compliance and security. Creating such a system is always recommended that controls both security and compliance aspects while reducing risk in your business. Further up, IT security experts like A3logics can set you on the path of total security by assisting in:

• Identifying the Right Security Tools 
• Conducting A Risk Assessment of Information Processed 
• Studying Compliance Framework Requirements 
• Analyzing the Gaps in Current Security Practices
• Planning A Long-Term IT Security Strategy 

Summing it Up!

Hope the above post has offered you clarity over the security versus compliance aspects in an organization. Security and compliance are both different aspects of a crucial system that keeps your business truly secure. If you are also looking to create a secure IT infrastructure for your business, team up with IT security experts at A3logics. 

Having a decade long experience in IT security solutions, our IT professionals will suggest personalized solutions that will help you secure your business from every angle. 

Drop us a line to know more about our governance, risk, and compliance services.