Cybersecurity compliance is a worthy and highly necessary goal for any organisation. But many companies risk their reputation and their security by making key compliance mistakes.
So, how about it? How many of these are you managing to avoid?
How many of these compliance mistakes does your business make?
1) Neglecting an internal audit
An internal audit is essentially an assessment of where your cybersecurity is at right now.
Like any process of project or product improvement, it’s almost always a mistake to start making changes before you understand the state of play as it currently stands.
An internal audit:
- Teaches you about the main compliance requirements
- Helps you explore where you’re doing well and where you could do better
- Ensures you minimise any problems that could be costly to fix during external audit
- Saves you money, time, and resources throughout your compliance journey
- Lets you get ready for action
2) Choosing a compliance framework at random
Compliance frameworks aren’t one-size-fits-all. One framework might be unnecessary for the type of business you do. Another might not be suitable for your industry.
Implementing a compliance framework at random can lead to situations where all you have done is spent money and wasted time.
It’s also worth considering the resources you have at your disposal. It can take a great deal of time, staff hours, and money to achieve compliance.
If you’ve chosen the right framework, the results are worth it, of course. But planning in advance for the resources you have available and how to best utilise them is always going to be worthwhile.
3) Not training your team in what compliance means
It’s all well and good to say you’re aiming for compliance. But does your team know what compliance is and why it’s so important?
In so many cyberattacks and data breaches, it’s the human factor that’s at fault. This means team cybersecurity training is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve your organisation’s security.
Proper cybersecurity compliance training ensures your team knows everything they need to know to keep your organisation safe and how to act if something “looks wrong”.
You should aim to:
- Hold meetings and update sessions when you change your plans, policies, and protocols
- Make sure you explain why following key standards and practices is important
- Accept questions and feedback from your team – and act on them when required
- Provide additional support and reinforcement materials
- Encourage a culture of compliance
4) Treating compliance as a single one-off event
The cybersecurity landscape is always changing. This means that standards and frameworks are regularly updated too – it’s the only way to keep organisations that comply with them safe.
Becoming compliant is one thing. It’s a big achievement and a smart, sensible, proactive step to protect your business and enable you to safely grow in future.
However, compliance is never really “complete”. You need to ensure you stay engaged with any changes or updates and maintain that compliance culture, so you and your team keep on following the required standards as a matter of course.
5) Doing it all alone
You probably wouldn’t handle your organisation’s legal needs yourself. You’d hire a lawyer or solicitor – a specialist who understands the requirements and how to get the result you want.
Equally, it’s a little risky to go into your cybersecurity compliance journey after reading an article or two online.
These standards are comprehensive and thorough for a reason – you want them to actually protect your company after you’ve gone to the effort of putting them in place.
Luckily, there are specialists out there who can help you carry out that audit, choose the right framework, train your team, and ensure you remain compliant by managing your systems in future.
Need help with your cyber security compliance?
Dial A Geek has been trusted by over 1000 businesses in and around Bristol.
Reach out to us today to set up a cost and commitment-free chat with Chief Geek Gildas Jones.