The manufacturing industry faces increasing scrutiny from regulatory agencies. As cybercriminals increasing target SCADA system weaknesses, an organization’s cybersecurity posture becomes more important to its ability to protect data and obtain important contracts. Starting with a security-first approach to cybersecurity often protects data, but to meet compliance requirements, the organization need to document the effectiveness of its internal controls.

Monitoring is an established component of the information security process which goes hand in hand with auditing. Auditing is used to document an organization’s compliance activities. Where monitoring protects the data by responding to threats, Auditing provides proof of a continued compliance effort. By taking a “security-first” approach, companies can use continuous auditing and monitoring to provide evidence of their cybersecurity protections.

Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) have become buzzwords in cybersecurity. As governments and industry standards organizations respond to the data breach landscape by creating new compliance requirements, governance has become fundamental to creating an effective risk management program. Auditing governance requires organizations to communicate with internal and external stakeholders.

While most companies attempt to secure their data, many continue to fail their IT audits. When trying to determine whether your risk management program effectively mitigates risks, you need to find metrics that support your ability to comply with internal policies as well as external industry standards and regulatory requirements.

As organizations seek to evolve their risk management strategies to drive stronger compliance programs, they increasingly seek to automate their compliance documentation. In cybersecurity, however, traditional data collection methods fail since cybercriminals continuously evolve their threat methodologies.

The alphabet soup of cybersecurity includes standards and regulations such as ISO, COBIT, COSO, NIST, NY DFS, and GDPR. While some industries must meet regulatory compliance requirements, other businesses need to choose a standard to which they align their cybersecurity controls. With that in mind, you may want to select the most user-friendly information technology security standard to help management and your IT department create a risk-based program.