How to Reduce Risk and Lower the Cost of Compliance
Security solutions have become a top technology priority for companies. This shift in priorities is due to the acceleration of global threat activity. The top industries under attack include heavily regulated industries, such as healthcare, government, and finance.
In the face of increasing attacks and the tightening of compliance regulations, companies in these industries must find cost-effective ways to reduce risk and enforce compliance.
Compliance Challenges
Maintaining compliance is a complex process and can be costly. HIPAA regulations have 3 security safeguard sections and 18 categories. PCI DSS regulations have 6 sections and 12 requirements.
Very few companies have the time and resources to manage the process, so organizations may need to outsource compliance.
Companies in highly regulated industries need security solutions that allow them to follow the NIST Cybersecurity Framework: Identify, Protect, Detect, Defend, and Recover. The right solutions and technology partnerships can help reduce compliance complexity and improve readiness.
Challenges to Healthcare Compliance
The Health and Human Services (HHS) Cybersecurity Program reported 82 ransomware attacks against healthcare providers worldwide in the first half of 2021, nearly 60% of them in the U.S. Between January and February of 2021, nearly 34% of the healthcare organizations attacked worldwide paid the ransom to get their data back.
Hackers target healthcare providers because they are part of the largest industry in the U.S., the supply chain is vulnerable, and the industry is growing. Patient data is valuable, becoming a hot commodity on the Dark Web.
Meeting compliance and defending against cyberattacks is a challenge for healthcare providers because staff is overworked and overwhelmed. Technology compliance challenges include:
- Unpatched legacy systems and applications
- Understaffed IT and Infosec departments
- Unsecured third-party partners
- Growing threat landscape
Healthcare providers that fail to meet HIPAA compliance face up to tens of thousands of dollars in fines.
Meeting Government Compliance
The Defense Industrial Base (DIB) is the target of increasingly frequent and complex cyberattacks. Research studies estimated that there are trillions of dollars’ worth of sensitive data and intelligence being stolen out of the Department of Defense (DoD) supply chain. Enemies of the U.S. leverage this stolen intelligence to accelerate weapon development and/or for espionage and other attacks against U.S. agencies and businesses.
To protect American ingenuity and national security information, the DoD developed the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) to enhance DIB cybersecurity to meet evolving threats and safeguard the information that supports and enables our warfighters. The CMMC model is designed to protect Federal Contract Information (FCI) and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) that is shared with contractors and subcontractors of the DoD.
In September 2020, the Department published an interim rule to DFARS in the Federal Register (DFARS Case 2019-D041), now known as CMMC 1.0. The Department announced CMMC 2.0 – an updated program and structure – in November 2021. The Department intends to pursue rulemaking in Part 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) and within the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) in Part 48 of the C.F.R.
Currently, CMMC is DoD business focused but could expand. No plan of action and milestones (POAM) exist presently. Companies can’t leverage a third party’s CMMC designation.
Some CMMC costs can be included within contracts, but many cannot. Compliance is complex and can be costly. This compliance process is a journey; there is no “end state.”
Finding the Solution to Compliance
Embracing a Zero Trust approach to security will help your organization meet compliance. Cisco Zero Trust Technology Portfolio has all the tools your company needs to maintain advanced cyber hygiene to support industry regulations.
As a Cisco partner and a leading, award-winning provider of Managed IT Services, Networking, and Security Solutions, Xceptional is committed to helping customers transform their IT systems and successfully navigate technology change to thrive in today’s threat and regulatory landscape.
We can help with:
Xceptional Care
- 24 x 7 Monitoring and Management of Desktop, Network, Phones, and Applications
- Multiple Support Levels to Fit Your Business and Budget
Xceptional Cloud
- Backup & Recovery Solutions (BaaS)
- Compliance as a Service Solutions (CaaS)
Xceptional Networks
- Security Solutions and Security as a Service
Learn how Xceptional can help your organization meet regulatory compliance. Visit our website or contact us today by filling out the form below.