Cybersecurity compliance is a big deal; if you’re not fully compliant, you may face legal issues or potential clients may choose to work with other businesses. Maybe you depend on your own IT security team or get help from a service provider for compliance, but as the business owner, you just need to make sure.
Imagine a scenario where you need to find a service provider to help you be compliant. The following are the top three questions you need to ask before deciding to work with them. Remember that there are a lot of providers on the market, and getting the right answers will ensure you’ll partner up with the best ones.
What security services are available to protect customer data?
This is one of the first questions you need to ask when you’re looking for compliance solutions. When you get help from one of these solutions, they will most likely access the whole network, so you want to ask how is it protected against leaks, breaches, and attacks.
In general, you want your provider to be aware of the responsibility you’re giving to them. You also need to be careful that the service provider is not coming from behind and have the latest security services on hand.
1-) Internal security audits & vulnerability tests
Keeping your network up to date and ready for potential attacks is a big part of compliance. Regulations often force network check-ups and if your provider is willing to do that more frequently, that’s even better.
Thanks to these audits, you’ll have an idea of exactly which part of your network is vulnerable and what you need to do to make it better.
2-) Zero Trust & Multi-factor authentication
Network visibility is also crucial for compliance; you need to see who accesses what. If your service provider is able to create a Zero Trust environment using advanced authentication methods such as multi-factor authentication, you know they are aware of the importance of network visibility and access management.
3-) Network segmentation
Having a network where all employees are able to see the whole network once they get in is a bad idea. You can never be sure since insider threats are increased by 47% in the last two years.
Network segmentation allows you to choose individual access levels for employees and ensures not everyone can access highly confidential information. When you don’t have such as system, everyone within the network will access sensitive data which increases the risk of internal data breaches.
Is business continuity ensured?
Business continuity and availability are critical to cybersecurity compliance regardless of your binding regulation. That’s why you want to ask this question to the service provider. Let’s see what they need to have in place so they can ensure business continuity.
1-) Backups & recovery methods
You want them to backup your network safely with encryption so you can get back up in case of a disaster. These secure and frequent backups go a long way when it comes to compliance because they will help you recover thanks to the latest information you have on hand.
2-) Business continuity plans
Backups and recovery ways are both crucial, but you don’t always want to refer to these; your service provider should be able to continue when there is a small power outage.
If your service provider has a good business continuity plan, they will be ready for minor hardships. These plans may include the use of the cloud so your network is still accessible globally if not locally. It won’t look good in regards to compliance if your network is frequently shut off.
3-) Is the staff able to stay up to date with regulations?
Cyber security regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, or ISO are frequently updated by governments. That’s why you need to know whether the staff of your provider is able to keep up with them.
One way of knowing this is by asking them about the capability of the staff; do they get legal advice and do they follow these standards regularly? If so, you’ll know that the network infrastructure will also get updated if there is a change in the binding regulation.
Imagine that there is a change in the standards and your network is behind these updates. In that case, you are not exactly fully compliant. So this is also critical to ask.
Lastly, make sure they are intending to write down and review the policies and compare them with your network security structure.
Conclusion
Cybersecurity compliance is one of the best things you can do to have operational continuity, business success, and avoid potential legal issues. Today, most businesses get help from compliance solutions as it is much easier and affordable than hiring a full capacity IT security team and legal advisers.
But when it comes to choosing your service provider, there are critical questions to ask so you know what you’re getting into and whether your company will actually be compliant. You need to emphasize three main categories; capability of the security services, guarantees on business continuity, and being up to date with the regulations.
Marziano is a seasoned tech expert with over 15 years of experience in the industry. Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and multiple certifications, including CompTIA A+, Network+, and Cisco’s CCNA, he has a well-rounded and robust understanding of various aspects of technology.