Understanding Cybersecurity Compliance
Cybersecurity compliance refers to the adherence to a set of rules, regulations, and industry standards designed to protect sensitive information and systems from cyber threats. Compliance is crucial not only for safeguarding a company's reputation but also for avoiding hefty fines and legal consequences—making it essential for organizations of all sizes across industries.
Understanding how key frameworks like SOC and ISO 27001 work and which one is right for an organization is vital for businesses aiming to achieve compliance.
SOC Reports
As one of the most common reports you can obtain in cybersecurity, System and Organization Controls (SOC) reports help differentiate your organization by reporting on controls and providing oversight of your organization’s governance and risk management process.
A few benefits of SOC reports include:
Increase trust and transparency with your internal and external and stakeholders
Reduce costs of compliance and number of on-site audits
Ensure your controls are appropriately designed and operating effectively to mitigate risks
Satisfy your audit requirement to meet your security and compliance goals
A SOC examination will typically take 3-12 months to complete. There are multiple different types of SOC reports, each with key differences:
SOC 1: A SOC 1 report, once known as SSAE16, helps service organizations demonstrate their controls specific to the client’s financial reporting.
SOC 2: SOC 2 reports apply more broadly to operational controls covering one or more of the five trust services criteria: security, availability, confidentiality, processing integrity, and/or privacy across a variety of systems.
SOC 3: Much like the SOC 2 report, the SOC 3 examination reports on a service provider’s system security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and/or privacy related to the Trust Services Criteria. This report is less detailed and can be distributed on a website for the public to read.
SOC for Cybersecurity: Launched in 2017, SOC for Cybersecurity is a reporting framework over an entire entity’s cybersecurity risk management program and related controls.
ISO 27001
ISO 27001 is an internationally accepted standard for helping your organization implement and manage an information security management system (ISMS), which includes the security of your services, data, intellectual property or any information entrusted to you by a third party. Obtaining a certification to ISO standards is a valuable way to differentiate your organization as it demonstrates your compliance with industry standards and your commitment to keeping information secure.
Benefits of an ISO 27001 certification include:
Establish the maturity of your organization’s ISMS
Avoid fines and penalties
Meet regulatory requirements
As an internationally recognized standard, this certification is a good choice for organizations with an international customer base
There are a few different types of ISO standards to consider:
ISO 27001: This is specifically focused on the ISMS following ISO 27002 control implementation guidance.
ISO 27017: This leverages ISO 27002 with an enhanced focus on cloud security.
ISO 27018: The international standards focused on protection of personal data in the cloud. This also leverages ISO 27002, but applies these controls and more to public cloud Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
ISO 27701: ISO 27701, also known as the Privacy Information Management System (PIMS) framework, is the data privacy extension of ISO 27001. It outlines controls and processes to manage data privacy and protect PII.
Depending on an organization’s stakeholders and customer commitments, there are many other options to consider when adhering to a security framework. For example, organizations that work with payment data may need to comply with PCI DSS. Organizations with protected health information may be required to comply with HITRUST.
Organizations of all sizes should work with a security expert to help determine the right compliance framework(s) for them.
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