Regulatory Compliance Archives - IT Glue

Ensure Compliance With the New Password Policy Enforcement Feature

itgdev — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 10:08:18 +0000

In today’s cyber landscape, strong user passwords are crucial for maintaining organizational security. For IT professionals, robust passwords are the first line of defense against growing cyberthreats. Weak passwords often act as open invitations to cybercriminals, making sensitive data vulnerable to breaches and loss. That’s why prioritizing password complexity is a must for IT professionals to mitigate risks and ensure a secure digital environment for everyone involved.

At IT Glue, we are continually committed to enhancing security and streamlining IT operations through robust and secure asset, password and SOP management in one interconnected hub. As the next significant step toward that commitment, we’re excited to announce the launch of our all-new Password Policy Enforcement feature in IT Glue. This powerful addition empowers IT administrators and managers like you to create and enforce highly secure passwords tailored to your specific needs, offering greater control and flexibility over password policies.

Boost your security and maximize password strength

IT Glue’s Password Policy Enforcement feature now allows you to select the type and complexity of your passwords, which will then be applied to any newly created passwords afterward, ensuring the new policy is followed. You can determine the type of passwords you want to create (complex passwords or passphrases) and their complexity (password length and required uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters).

The goal is to give you more control and flexibility in creating and enforcing strong passwords that meet the highest security standards and align with your organizational policies and requirements. Generate and document your sensitive data and passwords all in one place, without needing an external password-generation tool.

In addition to the Browser App, Password Policy Enforcement is also available through our IT Glue Mobile App and Browser Extension. No matter where you generate new passwords the policy that you customize will be applied, ensuring your passwords are secure and compliant for all organizations.

Notably, admins also have the option to generate passphrases as passwords. These are six-word passwords divided by a hyphen (‐). IT professionals often struggle to share passwords over phone calls, which can lead to misunderstandings and errors. Passphrases, however, are both strong and easy to dictate, reducing these issues when sharing passwords by phone.

Password Policy Enforcement: Unlocking IT peace of mind

Let’s look at some of the benefits that the feature can bring to IT professionals by strengthening their passwords.

Enhanced data protection and cybersecurity compliance

Set and forget: Once you set the complexity of your password strength for each organization, then each password created afterward will follow that respective policy and standards/requirements.
Bolster your security: Generate strong, secure passwords that meet industry standards and protect against cyberthreats. With this feature, IT administrators can ensure that all the new passwords created meet the highest security standards, reducing the risk of breaches and enhancing overall cybersecurity compliance.
Tailored to your needs: Tailor password length and complexity, including special characters, to align with organizational policies and requirements. This feature will let you decide if passwords need to include special characters, numbers, lowercase and uppercase letters, and, if so, how many.

Robust and centralized password management

Eliminate the need for external tools: Leveraging the full power of IT Glue, you can save time and money by documenting, generating, managing and enforcing secure passwords all in one pane.
Enhance your IT efficiency: Administrators can centralize password management and streamline the processes of creating, managing and maintaining all of their critical passwords. This enables IT professionals to be more efficient by reducing the administrative burden of having to access multiple siloed tools for these different functions, in turn reducing human error.
Complete flexibility: You can also easily and quickly adjust and update the password complexity parameters if your organization’s needs change and evolve.

User-friendly options for varied needs

Simplify your onboarding: While onboarding clients’ employees, IT professionals can generate passphrases as passwords that are secure yet easy to share and remember, reducing initial login issues and support calls. This feature also enhances the end-user experience. To simplify the onboarding process further, this feature will also include an option to require that all passwords be created as passphrases.

Your one-stop solution for all your password management needs

Password Policy Enforcement is a vital part of IT Glue’s comprehensive password management portfolio, which also includes automated password rotation, offline mode for passwords and the IT Glue Vault. Together, these features provide robust protection and streamlined management for all your password needs.

Learn more about this feature in the knowledge-based article here.

IT Glue’s new Password Policy Enforcement feature ensures your organization’s sensitive information is protected with customized, secure passwords. This feature, along with our other password management capabilities, can significantly enhance your security and operational efficiency, all from one interconnected hub that stores all of your mission-critical IT documentation. To learn how IT Glue provides you with a single source of truth for all your critical IT assets, passwords and SOPs, get a demo now.

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Compliance Documentation: A Framework for Better Security Posture

itgdev — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 21:17:53 +0000

Regulatory compliance exists to safeguard the well-being of all parties involved with an organization, including customers and employees. Since poor compliance poses various risks, regulatory bodies enforce it in a strict manner. Maintaining proper records is a critical aspect of any compliance program. Compliance documentation plays a huge role in ensuring compliance and providing evidence to relevant authorities.

In this blog, we’ll discuss different aspects of compliance documentation and how it plays a critical role in building your security posture.

What is compliance documentation?

Compliance documentation refers to specific records and reports of information required to verify the implementation of a compliance program. Companies use compliance documentation to successfully implement their compliance program and provide evidence to agencies to show that they are adhering to the required laws and regulations.

For instance, if there is a requirement for annual security training for employees in your compliance program, your training documents about various policies, procedures and guidelines can provide adequate evidence that your employees are receiving training. Similarly, various documents, such as security audits reports, mitigation strategies, SOPs, etc., can also be used to establish compliance.

What is the importance of compliance documentation?

Compliance is a delicate process. However, it is extremely essential to the security of an organization. Besides, non-compliance can also attract heavy fines and penalties from regulatory agencies. Without proper documentation, you will not have the proper framework to establish compliance, and the overall process becomes tedious as well as inefficient.

How does documentation support the compliance process?

Documentation can help you establish a database with all the vital details required for compliance. The more streamlined your compliance documentation is, the higher the chance of completing your compliance audit on time. Compliance is an elaborate process and documenting your steps can bring clarity and ensure consistency.

In addition to fines and penalties, poor documentation can also compromise the security of your IT infrastructure. With documentation, you will have better insights into security controls and risks. This will help you build policies specific to your requirements. Most importantly, it will also help you establish the framework for compliance.

What is a compliance documentation framework?

There are certain guidelines that must be followed when implementing a compliance program in your organization. This requires a proper compliance documentation framework. You can use this framework to bring together multiple documentation processes and implement them together.

To do this right, you need to document all processes, procedures and guidelines in your organization. When you have a well-maintained framework for implementing a compliance program, companies can easily adhere to various legal regulations and operate their business seamlessly.

As part of building your compliance documentation framework, you need to first determine the information to be documented, how it should be documented and who can access that information. Once these processes are determined, you can bring consistency to your compliance documentation.

What should compliance documentation include?

To stay compliant with various regulations, you must understand the factors that need to be documented. This will help you secure your IT infrastructure and avoid hefty fines for non-compliance.

The following list will help you with your compliance documentation:

Regulatory policies and procedures

Various data privacy laws have different procedures and policies that must be incorporated correctly to ensure compliance. You need to identify the policies and procedures relevant to your business and document them. A detailed policy statement outlining your services can be helpful when determining your regulatory policy framework.

Employee and associate compliance training

Maintaining a culture of compliance requires periodic training of your employees. All your employees should be provided with basic training on security. One of your staff members must be appointed as a compliance or security officer to ensure everything is well documented.

Data security and access controls

Data security is one of the critical aspects of compliance. When documenting your data security information, it should include details about people who have access to data, systems and networks. Your documentation should include details about best practices for security, hardware controls, software controls and more.

Remediations and assessments

How do you plan on tackling an issue you find in your IT network? Your documentation should also focus on remediation plans to address issues identified in your IT audits.

Reporting and investigations

When incorporating security control, you are likely to witness incidents and issues periodically. Do you have a way to document them all and include them in your investigations? You need to track and document all these incidents to create incident reports.

Personal privacy rights and data controls

Under many data privacy laws, customers have the right to access their personal data whenever they want. You need to implement systems in place to ensure your customers can easily request their data. To incorporate this successfully, you need to document all relevant customer data, update it when required and ensure data security.

Recovery plans and processes

In certain situations, cyberattacks are unavoidable. In such scenarios, your key employees should know exactly what to do. You also need to set up a recovery plan and share it with all the concerned stakeholders. With a well-documented disaster recovery plan, you can minimize the extent of the compromise and resume all halted operations immediately.

What are the benefits of compliance documentation?

Documenting every step of your compliance program can help in its proper implementation and bring consistency to your process. Most importantly, it can help you build a strong security posture that can prevent various cyberattacks. Let’s look at some of the key benefits of compliance documentation.

Process logging and improvement

Bringing documentation structure to your compliance process can result in incremental improvement over time. You will have proper information about various aspects of compliance and security. Most importantly, you will have an idea of what has worked and what hasn’t. This brings consistency and efficiency to your compliance management process.

Organizational collaboration

By clearly documenting your compliance process and sharing it with your team members, you can eliminate information silos in your organization. This helps improve collaboration within your team. Without this consistent information, your employees will follow random processes that provide inconsistent results.

Increased operational efficiency

Documentation and efficiency always go hand in hand. With clear information on what has worked, you can resolve issues faster. When you are working on a specific issue, you can access documentation to gather all relevant information about that issue. This helps finish your work at a much faster rate.

Boosted growth and profitability

When you glean all the benefits of compliance documentation, growth and profitability are inevitable. Smart documentation will provide you with access to all critical information, which helps you scale effectively. In the long run, efficiency and scalability will drive profits.

Proactive security culture

When you have access to all relevant information, you can immediately move from being reactive to proactive. Most importantly, documentation can bring awareness about cybersecurity throughout your organization. With a better emphasis on security, you can develop a proactive security culture.

Superior compliance documentation with IT Glue

IT Glue is one of the top players in the industry when it comes to cloud-based IT documentation. Our automated documentation solution can help you document all aspects of compliance including training materials, security audits, policies, procedures and more. By keeping your documentation up to date and sharing it with your team members through IT Glue, you can build a strong compliance program in your organization.

IT Glue’s SOC 2-compliant documentation platform features an immutable audit trail, multifactor authentication and next-generation password management engine, all of which are fully integrated and linked with all your compliance documentation.

To learn more about how IT Glue can help you with compliance, request a demo.

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Documentation Framework for Compliance

itgdev — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 19:11:14 +0000

With most organizations embracing a remote or hybrid work culture in the new normal, cybersecurity incidents have skyrocketed across the globe. According to a report, an estimated 86.2% of organizations have been compromised by at least one cyberattack in 2021. As such, it’s no longer a matter of “if” but rather “when” a company will come under attack.

Causes for Cyberattacks

Let’s look at some of the most common factors that render your systems and networks more prone to cyberattacks.

Shift to Remote Work

Given the fact that remote working environments are usually more insecure compared to office networks, they are constantly targeted by cybercriminals looking for easy access to critical business data.

Laidback Security Practices

Lack of an efficient security posture can lead to serious gaps in your IT infrastructure security that can then be leveraged by cybercriminals. In addition to this, ignoring compliance with your industry’s regulatory standards can further increase the risk of being attacked.

System Vulnerabilities

Cybercriminals target weak spots in your systems and networks to gain unauthorized access to your critical business data. As such, it is imperative to not only ensure that the right security software and network settings are in place, but also keep your software updated. This involves installing software patches and updates when they are available to fix any vulnerabilities as and when they appear.

Noncompliance

Not staying compliant with your industry’s regulatory standards can not only cost you a lot in terms of hefty penalties but also significantly increase the risk of potential cyberattacks. Do you want to know how? Let us explain.

Compliance: What It Is and Why It Is Important

With cyberattacks rampant, compliance has become more than just a set of legal regulations put forth by the government. It offers a clear framework for businesses to mitigate their cybersecurity risks and protect their critical data. They also comprise data privacy laws that dictate the type of safety precautions to be implemented when handling your company’s critical data.

Organizations can use these regulatory standards as a baseline to incorporate the right security systems in place. As mentioned above, compliance with these standards can not only protect you from hefty penalties and expensive lawsuits but also maximize IT security in your organization. And that’s not all, by upholding compliance standards, you can build trust among your customers by signaling to them that you are serious about protecting their critical data. Personal data was involved in 58% of breaches in 2020. As such, it is only fair on your customer’s part to expect your compliance.

Importance of Documentation For Compliance

Compliance regulations are a set of guidelines that need a proper framework to be implemented without fail. This framework essentially combines multiple documentation processes and enables users to incorporate them together. As such, it requires proper documentation of all guidelines, procedures and processes.

Compliance is a comprehensive process. That said, documenting all the steps helps bring clarity and facilitate consistency. Lack of proper documentation can lead to you risking noncompliance and attracting potential lawsuits and hefty penalties. On the other hand, staying compliant will not only help you save a lot of time and money, but also mitigate the risk of cyberattacks.

While we may have come a long way in terms of how advanced our cybersecurity solutions today are, cybercriminals are always looking to stay one step ahead with increasingly innovative and sophisticated attacks. That’s why businesses today need to stay compliant and ensure continuous innovation in their cybersecurity measures in order to keep pace with cybercriminals.

In the upcoming chapters, we will discuss more on the importance of documentation for compliance, so stay tuned.

Download our free Documentation Framework for Compliance eBook to know more about what’s needed for your documentation framework to ensure compliance.

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Consequences of Non-Compliance

itgdev — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 15:24:28 +0000

Organizations all over the world lose billions of dollars every year for non-compliance with regulatory standards. This will only continue to rise as data laws and regulations get tighter. However, the losses are not just limited to fines and penalties. Non-compliant businesses are also at serious risk of security breaches, loss of productivity, reputational damage and more.

The cost of non-compliance is estimated to be over three times higher than the cost of compliance. In fact, businesses lose about $4 million on average due to a single non-compliance event. Considering the impact of non-adherence, it would be wise to take it seriously and implement the required measures. Here is a summary of the consequences you are likely to face due to non-compliance.

Download our compliance checklist to guide you as you start your compliance program.

Legal Consequences

Businesses are required by law to adhere to privacy and data protection regulations to mitigate the risk of a security breach. Any failure will attract the following legal consequences.

Fines and penalties: The regulatory bodies governing the privacy standards can impose fines and penalties on organizations for non-compliance. These fines may vary depending on the severity of non-compliance and the regulatory body governing the issue. For instance, GDPR fines can cost an organization up to 4% of its revenue.
Lawsuits: When a data breach happens due to non-compliance, the repercussions aren’t limited to just fines and penalties. A data breach affects plenty of stakeholders including customers, employees, vendors, etc. There’s every chance these affected parties might decide to take legal action and file a lawsuit.
Regulatory scrutiny: Recovering from a security breach that happened because of non-compliance is not an easy thing. Even after paying fines and penalties, businesses can be subjected to costly regulatory audits for years to come.
Imprisonment: Regulatory standards dictate that organizations must take the necessary steps to protect the data of their customers. In the worst cases of non-compliance, business owners, directors and executives of an organization could also go to prison for criminal negligence.

Business Consequences

The business consequences of non-compliance may not have actual monetary repercussions in many instances, but the damages can be quite far-reaching. Some of the common business consequences are as follows:

Business disruption: As a part of its cascading effect, non-compliance can severely impact a business organization. Customers will not trust an organization that cannot maintain their data privacy and will more than likely defect to the competition. Moreover, the costs spent on fines, lawsuits, etc., will negatively affect an organization’s ability to make necessary business investments.
Revenue loss: Non-compliance can force businesses to discontinue their operations temporarily. This can devastate a business as the overheads associated with maintaining a business while idle can be significantly high. This is why most organizations never recover after a major data breach incident.
Security breaches: Any security breaches resulting from non-compliance might lead to loss of critical business data. Cybercriminals often make money by selling this data. This is not something that businesses can afford while dealing with other aspects of non-compliance.
Damaged brand reputation: As the public gets wind of non-compliance issues or security breach incidents, the reputation of the organization in question could take a permanent hit. Customers will lose confidence in the company and it could take a long time before the business restores its reputation to its former glory.

Road to Compliance

Compliance typically starts with developing the right policies that govern data and other security measures. By incorporating these controls, you can mitigate various risks to your IT infrastructure. Also, compliance is not a one-and-done job. Organizations need to constantly review the regulatory standards governing their business and fill the gaps in compliance adherence.

With a strong commitment to compliance, you can not only prevent fines and penalties but also boost the overall security posture of your organization.

How IT Glue Can Help?

As a leading cloud-based software company, we understand the importance of information security. IT Glue helps secure your world with our SOC 2-compliant documentation platform that features an immutable audit trail, multi-factor authentication and next-generation password management engine — all of which are fully integrated and linked with all your documentation.

Check out our Quick Start Guide to Data Privacy and Compliance eBook for an overview of the steps you need to take to ensure your business adheres to data privacy compliance policies.

To see how IT Glue can protect you from the consequences of non-compliance request your free demo today!

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Compliance: Data Privacy Best Practices

itgdev — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 15:58:35 +0000

A well-developed and well-implemented compliance program can help companies adhere to data laws and regulations concerning their business operations. Most importantly, it helps you protect your critical data and avoid pitfalls related to compliance penalties and hefty fines. When implementing your data privacy policy, make sure you follow a zero-trust approach, which limits access to only those with the right credentials.

In addition to a zero-trust approach, you can also maximize security by following certain compliance best practices. We’ve put together a list of data privacy best practices that can ensure strong data protection for all your critical data. Make sure you follow them all to incorporate your compliance program the right way.

Download our compliance checklist for a quick overview of compliance needs.

Use Compliant Software Tools

Since IT service providers are business associates to organizations, they can be held liable for a security breach. To prevent this from happening, IT teams and MSPs must adhere to all compliance regulations without fail. Even when all other cybersecurity best practices are followed, outdated software tools could expose you to unexpected risks in many ways.

Cybercriminals can easily exploit software tools and applications that are non-compliant with regulations. When a data breach occurs, it could lead to severe monetary losses for the organization. MSPs that use non-compliant tools face the risk of losing their reputation in the market. To make things worse, organizations and MSPs that do not adhere to compliance regulations are also likely to face heavy penalties and fines from regulatory authorities.

To avoid all that, you need to pay attention to the provisions for software tools under the regulations that apply to you and take adequate measures to ensure they are up to date.

Extend Communication Surveillance

With the rise in technological advancements, communication now occurs on multiple platforms using different devices and applications. The recent increase in remote and hybrid work environments has made this even more challenging by facilitating communication across different locations. In this scenario, you cannot limit your surveillance to just emails. You need to extend your surveillance to multiple data streams including texts, phone calls, video conferencing, etc. Moreover, this requires sophisticated tools since legacy systems are typically inadequate to handle this level of surveillance.

Invest in Compliant Cloud Technologies

With workforces scattered across multiple locations, organizations cannot continue to solely rely on on-premises data management solutions. Cloud-based solutions, on the other hand, offer easy access to data without the need for heavy maintenance. Organizations today require great flexibility and agility while also being able to cut down on costs.

Cloud technology offers the best solution for all these business needs. When you implement cloud-based compliance solutions, your business can operate with greater agility. You can also quite easily scale up or down based on your organization’s needs. Also, when your data storage needs increase, you won’t have to invest heavily in additional infrastructure for on-premises data storage.

Use Machine Learning to Facilitate Human Learning

With the volume of business data increasing with every passing day, data laws regarding its maintenance evolve in tandem as well. Currently, compliance teams assess the latest regulations, incorporate them into their program and offer training to ensure employees understand the rules and abide by them. However, this process doesn’t address the actual compliance deficiencies within an organization.

With the incorporation of machine learning, compliance training is all set to be revolutionized in 2021. With machine learning, sophisticated compliance tools can provide instant alerts about compliance issues, which will help triangulate these issues and identify compliance hotspots.

Develop Specific Work-From-Home Policies

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies relied on the security offered by their workplaces when it comes to restricting access. This is no longer a possibility in today’s remote working environments as companies have had to swiftly apply new processes to ensure employees can work from home whilst adhering to regulations. This is why you need to formulate specific work-from-home policies for all employees.

When developing these policies, make sure you assess various compliance guidelines to ensure they address regulatory obligations for employees working from home. This process also involves regularly assessing the vulnerabilities in your system, ensuring content from all key communication channels is being ingested for analysis and providing adequate training to people who handle sensitive information. You also need to increase the level of engagement with supervised persons who are working remotely.

How IT Glue Can Help

As a leading cloud-based software company, we understand the importance of information security. IT Glue helps secure your world with our SOC 2-compliant documentation platform that features an immutable audit trail, multifactor authentication and next-generation password management engine — all of which are fully integrated and linked with all your documentation.

To see how IT Glue can ensure data privacy best practices, request a demo.

Check out our Quick Start Guide to Data Privacy and Compliance eBook for an overview of the steps needed to ensure your business adheres to data privacy compliance policies.

Download our eBook now!

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How to Develop Your Compliance Program

itgdev — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 15:44:04 +0000

When it comes to compliance, a one-size-fits-all solution for business organizations doesn’t exist. Due to this lack of uniformity, developing a compliance program can be a little tricky. However, there are some simple measures you can take to help you establish a successful compliance program. Remember, compliance isn’t just about adhering to a set of guidelines. Staying compliant helps you secure your company against unforeseen threats and the risks associated with fines and penalties.

Let’s discuss the framework you need to follow to ensure successful compliance.

Download our compliance checklist for a quick overview of compliance needs.

Simple Measures to Protect Your Business and Employees

Since compliance is all about protecting your business against various risks, you can start with these simple measures on your road to building a successful compliance program.

Provide a dedicated work laptop: Unsecure devices are one of the easiest ways for cybercriminals to gain access to a network. While a BYOD (bring your own device) policy is a great way for organizations to save money, it leaves their IT networks exposed to various risks. Providing a dedicated laptop significantly minimizes this risk and helps secure all end users.
Evaluate your internal teams: Your internal teams must be evaluated periodically without fail. Insider threats have increased 47% between 2018 and 2020, and are hard to detect unless you review your internal teams. Always make sure everyone in your organization is following the same security and compliance guidelines. By establishing a formal internal review program, you can minimize overall threats from your internal teams.
Review technology gaps: One important way to stay on top of security threats is by keeping up with the technological changes in the IT industry. Outdated hardware and software solutions provide easy access for cybercriminals, and they must be updated periodically. Make sure you review your hardware, software and cloud solution periodically, and update any gaps when required.

Developing a Compliance Program

The first step in developing a compliance program is to use internal data to transform your internal security measures from reactive to proactive. This involves incorporating the necessary access controls to ensure only the right people have access to critical data. Also, incorporating measures like a two-step verification program can help you minimize the possibility of security incidents.

It is also wise to conduct a risk assessment when incorporating a compliance program. Since compliance is all about mitigating risks, this risk assessment should help you figure out the potential risks faced by the company. When performing risk assessments, it is important to identify all the potential risks surrounding an organization, determine their level of severity and come up with flexible measures that allow for evaluation of all risks.

When considering other measures, you need to look at the specific regulations and data laws that apply to you. This will give you a framework for the security measures you need to incorporate. You need to develop your IT policies based on this framework and establish them across the organization.

Companies that have a global presence with customers in multiple countries need to incorporate the highest level of policy awareness. This provides them with an edge when conducting international businesses as they have to comply with multiple regulatory policies. It is better to look for a common denominator in multiple policies, follow the strictest regulation and then incorporate it widely across the organizations. This provides better security and ensures adherence to various data laws.

Even if you don’t operate abroad, it is better to examine different regulatory policies and achieve at least a minimum level of compliance in everything. This helps you stay ahead of the compliance curve and ensure better data security.

Commitment to Compliance

While establishing a compliance program might seem like a daunting task, you can figure out the nuances once you get the ball rolling. The steps discussed here can be used as a framework for coming up with a compliance program. However, it is subject to change based on your unique needs. Remember, establishing a compliance program requires complete commitment to be successful.

How IT Glue Can Help

As a leading cloud-based software company, we understand the importance of information security. IT Glue helps secure your world with our SOC 2-compliant documentation platform that features an immutable audit trail, multifactor authentication and next-generation password management engine, all of which are fully integrated and linked with all your documentation.

To see how IT Glue adds an additional layer of security to your compliance program, request a demo.

Check out our “Quick Start Guide to Data Privacy and Compliance” eBook for an overview of the steps needed to ensure your business adheres to data privacy compliance policies.

Download our eBook now!

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Why Compliance Matters: Opportunities and Challenges

itgdev — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 20:15:43 +0000

Compliance is a lot more than just adhering to government rules and regulations. It indicates an organization’s commitment to protecting its customers’ personal data and upholding business values. The role of IT in maintaining an organization’s network and protecting critical data is vital in the business world. That’s why it is no longer sufficient for IT professionals to simply have a functionary level of data security and compliance knowledge.

Since IT service providers have direct access to an organization’s data, they can be held accountable for any security breaches affecting the business. If MSPs aren’t aware of the regulations their clients need to be compliant with, they risk losing valuable customers to their competitors who have the required expertise.

In this blog, we will focus on the challenges and opportunities presented by the new data privacy regulations for 2021, and how you can ensure your business remains compliant.

Compliance and Data Security

Security threats are evolving all over the world and these threats are only expected to get worse as the business world prepares to adapt to a hybrid work environment. Due to this, new privacy standards either keep emerging or existing ones are constantly updated to meet the new requirements. With businesses being forced to adapt to an uncertain economic climate due to the pandemic, the last thing they need is a security breach and the hefty compliance penalties that follow.

MSPs that provide support to organizations are now expected to be knowledgeable about data law and the regulations that come with it. MSPs that lack expertise in data security and compliance risk losing their customers to competitors who excel in it. The same goes for internal IT teams as well. They risk losing their credibility within the organization or being replaced by an MSP. This is precisely why it is vital to make security and compliance a part of your organizational culture.

Not sure where to start with your compliance program? Download our free Compliance Checklist for pointers to develop a comprehensive strategy that keeps you aligned with regulatory requirements.

New Data Privacy Compliance Considerations for 2021

While there is no comprehensive international law on data privacy, there are plenty of sector-specific rules and regulations put forth by various regulatory bodies across the globe. About 107 countries across the world have adopted some form of data privacy regulations. Regions like North America, Europe, South America, the UK, China and Singapore have come up with new regulations for organizations in various sectors and industries.

Navigating these complex regulations can be a little tricky. However, IT professionals need to be familiar with these data privacy regulations and how they affect business organizations. This will help them incorporate the right security measures and ward off hefty fines and penalties.

General Data Protection Regulation – European Union (GDPR – EU)

Companies that collect citizens’ personal data in the European Union must adhere to the GDPR, which outlines a set of stringent data privacy rules and security guidelines for organizations. GDPR fines touched new heights in 2020 and can cost companies up to 4% of their revenue.

UK General Data Protection Regulation – United Kingdom (GDPR – UK)

Following Brexit, the UK implemented its own version of the GDPR called the UK GDPR. This applies to most UK businesses and organizations that collect personal data of UK citizens. As per these regulations, even transactions between the UK and the EU will be considered as “transfers to a third country” from June 30, 2021.

Schrems II and Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) – UK

It could be argued that Schrems II classifies any data transfer outside the European Economic Area — now including the UK — as a high-risk activity, making DPIA mandatory. DPIA is a flexible tool that can be used across a range of sectors and industries. While it does not eradicate risk, it helps you determine whether a particular level of risk is acceptable. According to the UK GDPR, non-compliance to DPIA when it is required can subject you to punitive action. This may include a fine of up to £8.7 million or 2% global annual turnover, if higher.

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

New provisions of the CCPA come into effect on July 1, 2021. These regulations apply to companies that have California-based customers with revenues over $25 million, access personal info of over 50,000 customers, or generate over half of their revenues from the sale of personal information. This also empowers California residents to opt out of their data being sold to third parties, or request disclosure or deletion of collected data. Non-compliance may attract $7,500 per violation in fines and $750 per user in civil damages.

California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)

This new law comes into effect from January 1, 2023. Until then, California will continue to enforce the CCPA. It also creates a new privacy agency called “California Privacy Protection Agency” to deal with enforcement. It provides users with various rights ranging from the right to correct inaccurate information to the right to sue businesses that expose usernames and passwords.

Consumer Privacy Protection Act – Canada

If passed, the Consumer Privacy Protection Act will replace the PIPEDA. It requires organizations to adopt more robust accountability measures such as well-documented privacy management programs. It also provides greater rights to individuals and includes significant order-making powers and stronger enforcement measures in the form of fines and penalties.

Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) – Singapore

New amendments to the PDA came into effect from February 2021, making it one of the most significant changes made to the act since it was established in 2012. Some of the notable updates include mandatory data breach notification, enhanced accountability for individuals with penalties that include fines up to S$5,000 or up to two years in prison, and a new framework for consent.

Data Security Law (DSL) & Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) – China

Drafts of these two laws were released in 2020. Considered to be China’s response to the GDPR, these laws clarify China’s approach to data privacy for foreign companies operating in China or serving Chinese consumers. These are expected to be implemented along with the 2017 Cybersecurity Law.

Brazilian General Data Protection Law (LGPD) – Brazil

This came into effect in August 2020 for organizations within Brazil and those that serve consumers in Brazil. The regulations are similar to the GDPR but mandates companies to appoint a Data Protection Officer and liaise with the Brazilian National Data Privacy Agency.

Opportunities for MSPs & IT Teams

With the rise in new regulations and changes made to existing ones, companies now face a critical challenge in incorporating these regulations the right way. This presents a unique opportunity for MSPs and internal IT teams.

With their expertise in cybersecurity, MSPs should be at the helm of incorporating these measures in their clients’ organizations. However, not many MSPs in the market have the right expertise to meet these evolving requirements. Also, overcoming the knowledge gap of data laws and regulatory compliance has become a barrier for entry into the MSP world. It is time for MSPs to make new investments in certifications, audits, and ongoing training in compliance and data. With this, MSPs can boost their success in regulated environments.

It is also a great time for internal IT teams to shine and make their achievements known to their companys’ top management. For IT departments, this evolving compliance requirement provides an opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and become a trusted advisor to the business. Their knowledge in compliance and data law can take them a long way and ensure a successful stint in any top organization.

How IT Glue Can Help

As a leading cloud-based software company, we understand the importance of information security. IT Glue helps secure your world with our SOC 2-compliant documentation platform that features an immutable audit trail, multifactor authentication and next-generation password management engine, all of which are fully integrated and linked with all your documentation.

To see how IT Glue adds an additional layer of security to your compliance program, request a demo.

Check out our “Quick Start Guide to Data Privacy and Compliance” eBook for an overview of the steps needed to ensure your business adheres to data privacy compliance policies.

Download our eBook now!

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Compliance 101: The Future of Security and Compliance

itgdev — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 16:00:21 +0000

The business world is witnessing a major transformation right now. The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the way businesses operate and it is still too early to predict how many of them will return full-time to office-based operations. This massive change brings new challenges in the form of threats to data security, compliance adherence, productivity loss and more.

The year 2020 witnessed a record increase in cyberthreats all around the globe. However, these threats are expected to increase even further in 2021 due to a projected increase in social engineering attacks, ransomware and network-related vulnerabilities. While these threats are alarming to the business community, it also brings a new array of opportunities for IT service providers.

IT teams are always at the forefront when it comes to battling security threats. By adding compliance and security to their services, they can truly become trusted partners of businesses. In this blog, we’ll look at the significance of compliance regulations in the future workplace and how you can overcome common compliance hurdles.

Use this checklist to see if you have ticked all the compliance boxes.

The Need for Compliance-as-a-Service

With the rise of security threats, regulatory agencies are tightening their compliance requirements for businesses that handle sensitive data. Any compliance violations could result in huge fines and penalties. Most importantly, it could also send the wrong message to customers about poor security posture. It is the duty of MSPs and IT departments to protect businesses from compliance penalties and security threats.

According to many data privacy regulations, including GDPR, CPRA, HIPAA, etc., IT service providers are considered business associates for companies. This means that you could also be held responsible for non-compliance if companies fail to adhere to regulations. Ensuring compliance can protect companies from hefty fines and boost their overall security posture against various threats.

Learn more about how to build a profitable compliance-as-a-service business by watching this webinar.

Developing Your Compliance Program

Establishing a compliance program is all about incorporating a full-fledged preventive solution. Before you incorporate a solution, you need to check the regulations that apply to you. Using the same framework, you can apply proactive measures in your or your clients’ organizations. You can start with simple measures that can protect your network and data immediately. While it is always good to start with the minimum level of compliance adherence, you must keep searching for potential vulnerabilities and remove security gaps as and when you find them.

When developing a compliance program, you need to take stock of existing security measures. For instance, do all employees have a dedicated work laptop? What guidelines are being followed to reduce vulnerabilities from home networks? How are you ensuring data privacy when all employees have to work remotely? Find out the answers to these critical questions and develop a compliance program that meets the norms and ensures maximum protection.

Compliance Best Practices

Developing a compliance program is one thing but enforcing it is a whole different ball game. Since you are responsible for handling sensitive data, a potential breach could affect you greatly as well. To avoid such a situation, make sure you incorporate the following compliance best practices.

Zero-trust security model: A zero-trust approach to security ensures that only the right people have access to the right data. As part of this framework, no one (neither internal nor external actors) is trusted by default. Only with the right authentication can data be accessed by a user.
Compliance-oriented documentation: IT documentation can serve as more than just a record of your past activities. In addition to boosting productivity, documentation can also help make timely decisions on cybersecurity. Your documentation should also focus on realistic compliance and audit scenarios.
Multifactor authentication: Adding multifactor authentication limits access to critical data and stops almost all password-based cybercrimes.
Communication surveillance: In a hybrid work environment, information gets streamed across multiple channels such as emails, texts, video messages, phone calls, etc. You need to extend your communication surveillance to cover all these channels simultaneously.
Software tools: Make sure all the tools you use are compliant as per the regulatory guidelines. Outdated or legacy tools are often targeted by cybercriminals to breach a network.

Impact of Non-Compliance

The consequences of non-compliance are quite severe for businesses as well as MSPs. First, there is heavy regulatory scrutiny that could result in massive fines. In many cases, non-compliance is discovered only after a security breach. Hence, you might also have to deal with losses resulting from the attack. To make things worse, this could lead to permanent reputational loss. If you cannot ensure compliance internally, your customers have no reason to trust you with their sensitive data, which will ultimately result in huge business losses.

Maintaining Compliance

Adhering to multiple compliance regulations can be a tricky affair. However, it is not impossible. There are multiple tools that can help you overcome compliance hurdles and ensure adherence to all regulations. Make sure you develop a compliance program and enforce it strictly. In addition to avoiding legal troubles, you could also boost security and save your valuable data.

To know more about IT Glue’s compliance-oriented documentation platform, request a demo.

Check out our “Quick Start Guide to Data Privacy and Compliance” eBook for an overview of the steps needed to ensure your business adheres to data privacy compliance policies.

Download our eBook now!

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Who Owns Client Documentation?

itgdev — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 19:04:13 +0000

Client offboarding is one of the biggest nuisances an MSP can face. You’re literally doing work for a client that either hasn’t paid their bills in a while, or that is taking their business elsewhere. Even if you take the positive view that the ex-client is “future returning revenue” rather than an ex-client, you are still doing work for no imminent reward.

This means that in a perfect world, you do the least amount possible. But of course they might have a new MSP, or be building an internal team, and want to have that documentation carry over. What are your obligations in this regard? Does the client have legal claim to any of the documentation you have on them? (Note: this is a blog post intended to spur discussion, not legal advice. Every jurisdiction is different, so please consult a lawyer when dealing with legal issues.)

Principle #1: You Can’t Own Facts

To determine who owns what, it’s important to first understand how copyright law differentiates works. Copyright law does not cover facts. In general, information about IT assets such as configurations, passwords, SSL certificates and so on would all be considered facts. Whether you populated them automatically or manually doesn’t matter – a fact is not something that you can own, in the legal sense. Specific information about client assets belongs to the client and you should always prepare to provide this information when they depart.

One complicating aspect of this is when the client is departing because they haven’t paid. From a legal standpoint, failure to pay is a breach of contract, but at the same time, client info (like passwords) is still client info. Even if you consider the departing client to be in breach of contract, that does not give you license to breach the contract yourself. Don’t hold basic client information hostage.

From a legal perspective, it’s probably not even worth it – there are other means by which you can compel a recalcitrant ex-client to settle their account. From a business perspective, it’s also good practice to simply hand over this information to the client. You don’t have to do anything more, but remember that you’ll be on the other side of this situation some day and will appreciate getting at least the basic asset and password documentation.

Principle #2: You Do Own Your Own Processes

Process documents, however, are unique works created by your team. When an employee creates a work, such as an SOP or other process document, that work gains copyright upon being published, and the copyright sits with the employer of the person who created the document in the context of their employment.

Now, technically, you are not obligated to provide any of the client’s documentation. The client does not own the rights to documentation pertaining to their systems, unless the contract specifically states as much.

One of the key questions surrounds the nature of an MSP’s process documentation. In general, work produced by a third party for a client is property of the client. An MSP’s client documentation, while it might well pertain to a particular client, is produced for the benefit of the MSP. That means that the client does not have rights to this documentation. One of the best ways to distinguish this is whether or not the creation of process documentation is part of the managed services contract or not. If they paid you to create this documentation, they likely have a claim to it.

Principle #3: Ethical Implications

The other question to consider is whether or not you should provide documentation to an exiting client. The short answer is yes, because it showcases your level of professionalism. Should the ex-client come to realize that the grass is not actually greener on the other side, you want to leave the client with a good impression. Because you don’t own facts like config information or passwords, you may as well provide them. But processes are unique to each company, even ones that are routine for MSPs, and you are not under obligation to provide those (and probably should not). At that point, all you’re doing is helping a competitor get the benefit from the hard work your team put into creating and maintaining that documentation.

Hopefully this clears up a few things about the best way to handle client offboarding. Because each jurisdiction can be different, you may wish to talk to a lawyer to get firm advice on this matter – it pertains both to contract law and intellectual property law – and we recommend that.

IT Glue is the gold standard for IT documentation software. To learn more about how we can help you manage your documentation so that it’s effortless to provide departing clients with what’s theirs, and keep what’s yours, sign up for a quick demo.

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What in the World is SOC 2?

itgdev — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 19:33:42 +0000

You may be aware that IT Glue is SOC 2 (Type 2) certified, but do you know what that actually means? There are a plethora of certifications out there, but we made sure to adhere to one that not only establishes a high standard, but is globally recognized.

System and Organization Controls (SOC) is a compliance standard developed by the AICPA. The SOC 2 designation is specific to organizations that store data in the cloud, and ensures that systems and processes meet a gold standard. SOC 2 mandates that companies establish and follow a rigorous standard of policies and procedures that meet the five information technology Trust Services Principles (TSPs) relevant to client data. The five TSPs are security, availability, processing integrity, privacy, and confidentiality.

What’s the Difference Between SOC 2 (Type 1) and SOC 2 (Type 2)

You may be wondering what the difference between SOC 2 (Type 1) and SOC 2 (Type 2) is. A company that has SOC 2 (Type 1) is a company that was verified to have acceptable security processes at a specific point in time. The further you are from that specific point in time, the less likely that company is to have those security processes still in place. SOC 2 (Type 2), is granted to organizations that have implemented SOC 2 controls effectively over a period of six months.

It’s the difference between cramming for a test and forgetting everything the next day, versus actually taking the time to master the material – you always want to go with SOC 2 (Type 2) when given the choice.

The Highest Standard

Passing the SOC 2 compliance required IT Glue to demonstrate the highest standard of security practice. Criteria pertains to physical infrastructure, software, personnel responsible for governance, automated and manual processes, and data. In short, it means that your data is safe when stored in IT Glue, and this claim is verified by a third party.

MSPs servicing customers in specific verticals, such as healthcare, require this certification to help them meet regulatory burdens such as HIPAA compliance. For those MSPs, you can be sure that using IT Glue supports you in meeting those standards.

This may or may not be a surprise to you but the GlueCrew also use the IT Glue platform for managing and organizing all of our information. As expected, having this as the backbone of our documentation eased a good portion of the burden that goes into successfully gaining the SOC 2 certification. Passing audits means not just having great practices, but being able to demonstrate those practices to auditors. IT Glue was able to do this because all critical SOPs, passwords, and other key information were safely stored in IT Glue.

Want to work with a documentation system you can trust? One that prioritizes speed, efficiency and security, without sacrifice? Give IT Glue a test drive – sign up now.

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