What is cybersecurity compliance? (6 Major Cybersecurity Regulations)

Nowadays, organizations are facing a greater regulatory challenge as a result of new industry standards and laws pertaining to data and cyber security. The success of any organization, however, is largely dependent on cybersecurity compliance. Compliance is a formal means of safeguarding your business from cyber attacks like distributed denial of service (DDoS), phishing, ransomware, Trojan horses, and more, and it goes beyond simply checking boxes for legal requirements.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss why compliance matters for cybersecurity, what are the major cyber security regulations for businesses, and what are the major benefits of cyber security compliance that can help organizations boost their cyber security.

Why does compliance matter for cybersecurity?

Due to the fact that no organization is totally protected from  cyberattacks, it is crucial to follow all applicable cyber security standards and laws. It could make or break an organization’s capacity to succeed, run efficiently, and uphold security procedures.  

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are frequently targeted since they are thought to be the easiest targets. They could not place a high priority on cybersecurity compliance, making it simpler for hackers to take advantage of their weaknesses and carry out harmful, expensive cyberattacks.  

As Data breaches frequently result in complicated scenarios that might harm an organization’s standing financially and reputationally. Disputes and legal actions brought about by breaches are growing more frequent across all businesses. Because of these factors, compliance is a key element of any organization’s cybersecurity policy. 

What are the major cybersecurity regulations for businesses?

It’s crucial to comprehend the main cyber security regulations that are in place and to choose the one that applies to your industry. Depending on your industry and the places where you conduct business, the common regulations that have an impact on cyber security are listed below to help your company become compliant. 

1. PCI DSS Compliance

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a collection of rules that guarantees all businesses maintain a secure environment for credit card data. Organization compliance needs to be verified annually in order to be compliant. 

These six guiding principles are referenced by all specifications made to safeguard cardholder data: – 

• Establish and keep up a secure network
• Safeguard cardholder information
• Have a vulnerability management strategy in place
• Put stringent access control measures in place

• Frequent network testing and surveillance
• keep a policy for information security

2. HIPPA Compliance

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, is an act of federal legislation that protects the privacy, accessibility, and accuracy of personally identifiable information (PHI). 

HIPAA is frequently used in healthcare contexts, such as: – 

• Healthcare professionals
• Centers for healthcare information
• Healthcare programs

• Regular PHI handlers in the business world

3. SOC 2 Compliance

Using five trusted business characteristics as its foundation, System and Organization Control 2 (SOC 2) defines rules for maintaining customer records namely, 

• Security
• Availability

• Integrity
• Confidentiality
• Privacy

Each organization that creates SOC 2 reports designs its own controls to abide by one or two of the trust criteria. SOC 2 reports are unique to the organization that creates them. Although SOC 2 compliance is not mandatory, it is crucial for cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS) businesses to protect customer data. 

4. GDPR Compliance

The European Union (EU) passed the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018. Even if the organization is based outside of the EU or its member states, the GDPR includes defined criteria for organizations that gather data or target persons in the EU. 

The GDPR’s seven guiding principles include the following: – 

• Lawfulness

• Accuracy
• Data minimization
• Fairness and transparency
• Purpose limitation
• Storage limitation

• Integrity, confidentiality and security
• Accountability

5. NIST Compliance

As standards and technology progress, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks to foster innovation, industry competitiveness, and quality of life. A set of guidelines for managing and supporting information security systems can be found in the NIST 800-53 Risk Management Framework. Despite the fact that the framework was initially utilized by American defense and contractors, NIST has been adopted by businesses all over the world. Standards for identifying and lowering hazards in the information and communications technology supply chain are provided by NIST 800-171 Supply Chain Risk Management. 

6. ISO/IEC 27001 Compliance

The most widely used ISO/IEC 27001 standard for information security management systems (ISMS) is used throughout the world. The ISO/IEC 27001 standard offers instructions for establishing, putting into practice, maintaining, and continuously enhancing an information security management system to businesses of any size and from all industries. Any organization that complies with ISO/IEC 27001 has implemented a system to manage risks relating to the security of data that it owns or handles, and that system adheres to all the best practices and guiding principles outlined in this International Standard.

What are the main advantages of cybersecurity compliance for businesses?

Business organizations benefit from having effective cyber security compliance measures for a number of factors: – 

• It helps in maintaining the business reputation.
• It keeps clients’ or customers’ trust intact
• It increases client loyalty and trust towards the business
• It helps the organization in recognizing, interpreting, and preparing for possible data breaches
• It enhances a company’s overall cyber security posture

In addition to these advantages, maintaining cybersecurity compliance helps strengthen a company’s security posture and safeguard intellectual property (IP), including trade secrets, product specifications, and software code. All of this knowledge may help a company gain a competitive edge. 

Conclusion

Hence, from the above discussion, we can conclude this blog post by saying that the time has come to become more knowledgeable about cybersecurity compliance as a result of the increase in cyberattacks and the proliferation of cybersecurity and data protection legislation. No company or business wants to expose itself or its clients to the risk of data breaches in a dangerous cybersecurity landscape. 

Hopefully, you are better knowledgeable about cyber security compliance and the effects that specific compliance standards have on your company. Being a CERT-IN accredited company, Precise Testing Solution offers numerous cyber security solutions that are available to assist you in achieving and maintaining compliance with HIPAA, SOC 2, and PCI-DSS regulations.

For more information, visit our website at www.precisetestingsolution.com or call our office at 0120-368-3602. Also, you can send us an email at info@precisetestingsolution.com  

We look forward to helping you!