Addressing issues of compliance in cybersecurity automation

Every day brings fresh news of worsening security threats, increasing the daunting task of protecting organizations. As cyber criminals up the ante with more sophisticated cyber-attacks, there is a new attack on the web every 39 seconds and in 2020 almost 65% of companies worldwide had experienced an attack of some form. 

There are simply too many threats out there for any business to avoid, and this increases the pressure on security teams to ensure security systems are optimally managed. MSPs offering security solutions to clients might feel overwhelmed by the higher number of security incidents, but also the necessity to ensure security standards are met and address issues of compliance.

Automation for security and compliance 

Enterprises can benefit greatly from automation, as it promises convenience as well as enhanced productivity. Security and resilience must be prioritized when deploying automation, and cyber risk and compliance must be assessed using a fresh perspective.

Human error is known to be the largest cause of data breaches globally. People are usually overwhelmed by their responsibilities or lack of knowledge, and make mistakes. The expanded size and complexity of technology and infrastructures today are also contributing to this lack of awareness about security hygiene and compliance. 

Organizations still have a number of older, custom-built applications running important business functions. Patching those systems has become more difficult than anyone imagined, given the number of different platforms and the age of many of them. 

Developers are working quickly and diligently, yet not always securely, to release more applications, services, products, and improvements, resulting in an environment where security teams are struggling to keep up with new vulnerabilities and existing ones. 

All these contributing factors lead to a lack of time, resources, and skilled people to manage and update complex and expanding IT environments and processes, let alone be aware of the different vulnerabilities that are under threat.  

How can automation improve security and compliance?

It's true that maintaining a compliant, secure environment through manual operations is impossible. While automation isn’t a silver bullet, it definitely gets close. 

Automation that can improve security and compliance includes:

• Continuous vulnerability scanning and monitoring, including vulnerability identification and remediation guidance
• Proactive compliance analysis compliance analysis
• Threat detection, including analyzing data and recognizing known threats, as well as predicting new threats 
• Eliminate alert fatigue by automatically triaging risks into categories based on security compliance standards.

Automated cybersecurity compliance issues 

Every organization must abide by all relevant government laws, regulations, and rules on data privacy. There is no choice here; either the company adheres or it risks being shut down, being dealt heavy fines, and having licenses revoked. 

These requirements can range from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), to industry regulations such as PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) which applies to all companies that store, process, and/or transmit credit card data.

Each company's cybersecurity compliance program will be unique and will be determined largely by the type of data they process as well as their industry regulatory requirements.

Automated cybersecurity platforms allow reporting and communicating compliance-related issues to be easier and more accessible to MSP clients. When combined with automated continuous vulnerability scanning, cybersecurity programs are always current and MSPs are able to have full visibility of all potential compliance issues immediately. This can be communicated in real-time to clients, so business owners are aware of their compliance stance and can report any issues faster, increasing adherence to compliance standards. 

Automated and continuous vulnerability scanning that translates vulnerabilities detected in an organization’s IT environment back to specific compliance cybersecurity frameworks allows risk assessment, remediation and incident response to be specific and rapid according to risk categories. Vulnerability scanning is a critical component for meeting compliance requirements.

Meeting cybersecurity standards for compliance with automation is an ongoing process and risk management doesn’t just sit with automated tools such as continuous monitoring. Many compliance frameworks require organization-wide cybersecurity awareness training to meet requirements. This ensures security controls and measures can be effective and meeting security audits is not problematic. 

Security and compliance in one platform

The ThreatAdvice Breach Prevention Platform includes vulnerability scanning and cybersecurity education as a critical aspect of ensuring holistic cybersecurity management and identifying compliance gaps in your clients' IT environment. Contact ThreatAdvice today and enhance your MSP security offering.