Governance & Compliance

Top 7 GRC Tools You Should Consider in 2024

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Data breaches, regulatory nightmares, compliance headaches – running a successful business can feel like navigating a minefield. Managing modern-day risks that are complex, interconnected, and constantly evolving can be equally challenging.

To successfully navigate these challenges, you need to implement robust Governance Risk, and Compliance strategies. The right GRC tools can help streamline operations, ensure adherence to regulatory requirements, mitigate risks, and drive long-term business growth.

By automating Governance Risk, and Compliance processes, GRC software can help companies come up with a robust plan to address security vulnerabilities, prevent reputational damage, and avoid insane fines attributed to failure to protect critical customer data.

In March 2024 alone, the EU data protection authorities imposed approximately €4.5 million in fines due to breaches of the General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR).

But how do you choose the software you can trust from the host of GRC solutions out there?

This guide unveils the top 7 GRC tools that can help you conquer risk, ensure compliance, and focus on what matters the most – growing your business.

But before that, let’s get the basics straight.

What are GRC Tools?

GRC tools, or Governance, Risk, and Compliance tools are software applications that provide organizations with a centralized platform to manage risks, and compliance requirements, and implement security best practices effectively.

They are an essential component in today’s complex regulatory environments. Some of the key functions of a GRC platform include the consolidation of information from various departments into a unified data environment.

GRC tools also automate processes, eliminating the need for manual processes and scattered spreadsheets. This reduces errors and saves money and time.

By implementing these software solutions, organizations can gain near real-time visibility into their compliance status, enabling them to make informed decisions, improve efficiency, and reduce the risk of fines and penalties.

GRC tools cater to a wide range of organizations across various industries. They are particularly beneficial for large enterprises with intricate regulatory obligations as they help navigate complex compliance landscapes efficiently.

Similarly, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can leverage GRC tools to streamline their business processes and ensure compliance without the need for extensive resources.

Overall, GRC software provides a host of benefits to businesses including:

Better decision-making
Enhanced risk management
Efficient compliance management processes
Improved operational efficiency
Robust governance and strategic alignment
Streamlined policy management

Best GRC Tools to Simplify Compliance and Boost Efficiency

Let’s dive into the details of each GRC system.

1. Cyber Sierra

Best for: Small to large enterprises looking for a robust GRC solution to manage all parts of their GRC program in one place.

Cyber Sierra’s GRC solution is a premier tool for seamlessly managing all GRC needs via automation. The software is designed to help organizations of all sizes manage all aspects of their GRC program (compliance, risk management, auditing, controls management, and more) in one place.

It integrates cutting-edge technology to streamline GRC processes and ensure regulatory compliance effortlessly.

Through automation, the tool simplifies tasks, reducing manual efforts and enhancing operational efficiency. This enables organizations to allocate resources more strategically and focus on core objectives.

One of the key strengths of Cyber Sierra’s GRC system lies in its adaptability to evolving regulatory frameworks. The software continuously updates its algorithms to align with the latest compliance standards, keeping organizations ahead of regulatory changes. This ensures that businesses remain compliant and mitigate risks effectively, thereby safeguarding their reputation and financial integrity.

Moreover, this tool prioritizes security, employing robust encryption protocols to safeguard sensitive data. For instance, it offers role-based access control, limiting access to authorized personnel and protecting against potential breaches. This commitment to security instills confidence in users, assuring them of the platform’s reliability and trustworthiness.

Furthermore, the software enhances collaboration across departments, fostering seamless communication and alignment of objectives. To facilitate cross-functional teamwork the platform provides a centralized repository for documentation and workflows. This promotes transparency and accountability, enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions and drive organizational success.

Key features

Here are Cyber Sierra’s standout features that make it the ultimate solution for organizations of all levels:

Intuitive user interface: Cyber Sierra’s GRC software offers a user-friendly interface that simplifies navigation and enhances user experience.

Customizable workflow automation: Unlike other GRC tools which may offer limited customization options, the software provides extensive capabilities for tailoring workflow automation to specific organizational needs, allowing for greater efficiency and adaptability.

Comprehensive risk assessment: Cyber Sierra’s GRC software stands out for its robust risk assessment module, which enables thorough identification, evaluation, and mitigation of risks across the enterprise, providing organizations with a clearer understanding of potential threats.

Real-time monitoring and reporting: Cyber Sierra’s software offers real-time monitoring capabilities coupled with advanced reporting features that allow organizations to proactively identify and address compliance issues as they arise, rather than reacting to them after the fact.

Scalability: It is designed to accommodate the evolving needs of organizations of all sizes. It is best suited for small businesses to large enterprises, with scalability built into its architecture to support growth and expansion without compromising performance.

Advanced analytics and insights: The GRC system distinguishes itself with its advanced analytics and reporting capabilities, leveraging data-driven insights to help organizations make informed decisions and optimize their governance, risk, and compliance strategies effectively.

Pricing

Cyber Sierra offers three different pricing plans. Their prices are available upon request based on your chosen plan.

2. SAP GRC

Best for: Large enterprises seeking comprehensive governance, risk management, and compliance solutions integrated with SAP systems for real-time visibility and control over business risks.

SAP GRC platform is a comprehensive suite of management, auditing, and compliance tools designed to streamline and enhance organizational governance processes.

With the software, enterprises can navigate regulatory landscapes effectively while mitigating risks and ensuring compliance adherence.

At its core, the platform offers robust management tools that facilitate seamless oversight of various aspects of governance, risk, and compliance within an organization. They include auditing tools that enable comprehensive assessment and monitoring of internal controls, ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements and industry standards.

For compliance management, the GRC system employs a broad range of functionalities aimed at proactively addressing regulatory obligations and mitigating security risks.

SAP GRC also provides users with real-time visibility into compliance efforts, enabling them to make data-driven decisions based on insights derived from the platform’s predictive analytics.

The platform’s workflow management features streamline processes enabling efficient collaboration and coordination across departments. This is particularly crucial in enterprise risk management and compliance where timely responses to emerging threats are vital.

Utilizing user access control management capabilities, SAP GRC helps organizations safeguard sensitive information and prevent unauthorized access.

Additionally, by identifying and addressing security vulnerabilities, enterprises can boost their defenses against potential breaches and ensure regulatory compliance.

Furthermore, the platform caters to the evolving regulatory landscape by offering tools tailored to meet the requirements of government agencies and regulations. This facilitates seamless alignment with regulatory frameworks, reducing compliance-related complexities and enhancing operational efficiency.

While powerful, its high cost, complex setup, and need for SAP expertise make it less ideal for smaller businesses.

Source : G2

Key features

Enterprise risk compliance and management: Enables organizations to identify, assess, and mitigate various types of risks across different business processes and functions.

International trade management: Streamlines global trade compliance to ensure minimal trade risks.

Cybersecurity and data protection: SAP GRC continuously monitors cyber threats, safeguarding sensitive data.

Identity and access governance: Ensures proper access controls, reducing security vulnerabilities.

Integrated solutions: The software integrates seamlessly with existing systems for streamlined risk management.

Pricing

SAP GRC costs anywhere from $500 to $15,000 per license. Free demo available.

3. MetricStream GRC

Best for: Organizations requiring a scalable, integrated GRC platform with flexible and customizable modules for various compliance needs.

MetricStream is a cloud-based GRC platform that offers a variety of robust features to help organizations manage their enterprise risk management (ERM) program. They include internal audits, internal controls, and compliance with internal policies and external regulations.

The platform’s auditing tools can automate many internal audit processes such as risk assessments, control assessments, and incident management. This can help organizations streamline internal audits and improve audit efficiency.

Its centralized repository allows organizations to store audit trails and other audit documentation, which can facilitate collaboration between internal audit teams and other departments.

As a compliance management solution, MetricStream GRC can help organizations automate compliance tasks such as regulatory reporting and compliance training.

The platform also provides a way to track compliance activities and identify potential gaps in compliance. This can help organizations reduce their risk of non-compliance and associated fines or penalties.

MetricStream’s user-friendly interface makes it easy for users with varying levels of technical expertise to navigate the platform and complete GRC tasks.

Additionally, it offers robust integration capabilities, allowing it to connect with other enterprise systems such as ERP and CRM systems. This can help organizations streamline data collection and reporting for GRC activities.

Overall, MetricStream appears to be a comprehensive GRC platform that can help organizations improve their risk management, compliance, and internal audit processes.

Note that the specific features and benefits of MetricStream may vary depending on the specific needs of your organization.

A drawback to note is that its advanced customization may lead to complexity. Besides, it has a hefty license fee and requires ongoing maintenance costs.

Key features

Intuitive reports and analytics: The platform provides built-in analytical dashboards and reports with rich visualizations and real-time insights to enable stakeholders to make informed decisions promptly.

Integrated risk management: The GRC platform offers comprehensive risk management capabilities, allowing organizations to identify, assess, mitigate, and monitor risks across the enterprise.

Audit management: It offers capabilities for managing internal audits and assessments efficiently.

Pricing

MetricStream GRC pricing is available upon request.

4. StandardFusion

Best for: Ideal for small to mid-sized businesses looking for a user-friendly GRC platform with easy deployment.

Compliance can be a complex process for organizations but StandardFusion makes it simple to understand.

StandardFusion stands out as a comprehensive GRC platform, offering a reliable solution for organizations seeking an integrated risk management solution.

This cloud-based platform excels in providing source solutions for risk management, audit management, compliance management, vendor management, policy management, privacy management, and compliance automation.

With a user-friendly interface, StandardFusion enhances the management of internal controls and fosters a risk-aware culture within organizations.

One of the key strengths of the software is its diverse deployment options, catering to the needs of organizations at different stages of growth.

Besides, it streamlines the compliance process by centralizing internal policies and procedures, making it a valuable tool for business users across various industries.

The platform’s robust features make it a complete security solution, ideal for audit purposes and ensuring adherence to multiple standards like ISO, SOC 2®, NIST, HIPAA, GDPR, and more.

StandardFusion’s emphasis on being a single source of truth for all compliance-related activities sets it apart, offering a seamless experience for users to manage their governance processes efficiently.

Its ability to adapt to organizational growth, coupled with its user-friendly design and focus on internal controls, makes it a top choice for organizations looking to enhance their risk management practices and maintain a strong compliance posture.

A downside of the software is that it may lack advanced features for complex GRC requirements. Also, it provides limited scalability for larger enterprises.

Key features:

Unified data environment: Organizations can use the tool to consolidate data from various sources to get a holistic view of internal controls, and compliance processes, and launch effective risk management strategies.

Simplified compliance management: The platform breaks down compliance requirements into manageable steps, allowing businesses to track progress and identify any gaps.

Scalability and flexibility: StandardFusion offers various deployment options to cater to organizational growth. Whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise, the platform can adapt to your specific needs.

Risk-aware culture: StandardFusion helps foster a risk-aware culture by making risk management a more accessible and collaborative process. It allows for easy identification, assessment, and mitigation of potential threats.

Complete security solution: The software prioritizes data security with robust features to protect sensitive information. This ensures all GRC data is stored securely and meets audit purposes.

Pricing

Pricing starts from $1,500 per user, per month.

5. ServiceNow

Best for: Automation-focused approach to GRC, ideal for IT-heavy organizations.

With ServiceNow’s GRC software organizations get a comprehensive solution for managing compliance processes and mitigating potential risks by breaking down silos.

Designed to streamline auditing purposes, this cloud-based platform provides organizations with the tools necessary to safeguard their digital assets effectively.

One of the standout features of ServiceNow’s GRC software is its ability to offer insights into risks that could potentially impact organizational growth.

By centralizing compliance tools within a single platform, businesses can assess and address potential risks more efficiently, ensure regulatory compliance, and protect sensitive data.

The platform’s cloud-based GRC tools enable organizations to manage their compliance processes more effectively with greater flexibility and scalability. With the ability to automate various tasks, such as risk assessments and policy management, businesses can reduce the burden on their resources while ensuring continuous compliance.

The GRC software also offers a complete security solution that helps organizations identify and mitigate potential risks to their digital assets. With real-time visibility into compliance status and potential vulnerabilities, businesses can proactively address security threats before they escalate.

One downside to note about this software is that its initial setup and customization can be time-consuming. May also require additional modules for full GRC functionality.

Key features

Integrated risk management: ServiceNow helps users identify, assess, and prioritize risks across the organization and develop plans to mitigate them.

Third-party risk management: The platform helps to reduce risk, and improve organizational resilience, and compliance by taking control of the third-party risk lifecycle.

Business continuity management: It helps organizations plan for and recover from disasters

Policy and compliance management: The software can automate and manage policy lifecycles and continuously monitor for compliance. This can help reduce errors and costs associated with manual processes and improve focus on higher-value tasks.

Pricing

ServiceNow pricing is available upon request.

6. Fusion Framework System

Best for: Organizations prioritizing risk management and business continuity planning. Provides comprehensive data visualization for clear risk insights.

Fusion Framework System is a comprehensive solution for enterprise risk management. With a robust risk management plan, it addresses security, compliance, and critical risks effectively.

The platform’s dashboard reporting provides real-time insights into risks, aiding informed decision-making.

The platform’s integrated risk management features streamline the risk management process, enhancing efficiency.

Fusion’s focus on third-party risk management ensures thorough risk assessment across all business relationships. It also helps users mitigate compliance risks through tailored solutions, ensuring adherence to regulations.

The platform excels in predictive risk analysis which enables proactive risk mitigation strategies. Its emphasis on critical risks ensures timely identification and response to potential threats.

Additionally, the dashboard reporting feature provides clear visibility into risk exposure, facilitating strategic planning. Fusion’s approach to risk management fosters a culture of proactive risk identification and mitigation.

With its comprehensive suite of tools, Fusion’s platform empowers organizations to manage risks effectively. It offers tailored solutions for diverse industries, ensuring relevance and applicability.

Note that the software relies on existing GRC tools for data input and may require additional integration efforts.

Key features

Access controls/permissions: Organizations can use the software to manage user privileges and ensure data security and regulatory compliance.

Activity tracking: It can monitor user actions and system events for compliance and risk management.

Assessment management: It allows users to conduct and track risk assessments to identify and mitigate potential threats.

Audit trail: Users can maintain a comprehensive record of system activities for accountability and compliance purposes.

IT incident management: Fusion allows users to manage and resolve IT incidents efficiently to minimize disruptions and risks.

IT risk management: With the software, users can identify, assess, and mitigate IT-related risks to protect assets and operations.

Pricing

Pricing is available upon request.

7. SAI360 GRC

Best for: Third-party access control and monitoring.

SAI360’s Integrated GRC Solution offers a cutting-edge approach to operational risk management, governance, and compliance.

It provides a comprehensive view of risks, empowering risk managers with valuable insights into risks for informed decision-making. The platform excels in corporate governance, facilitating the management of governance processes effectively.

With a focus on internal auditing and controls, SAI360 ensures robust internal controls and seamless third-party risk management. It stands out in regulatory compliance, helping organizations meet regulatory requirements effortlessly.

The platform’s policy management tools enable efficient creation, distribution, and enforcement of corporate governance policies. Additionally, the software streamlines incident management and conflict of interest processes.

SAI360’s GRC software is a powerful tool that integrates industry-leading technology to deliver efficiency and security. It features tailored modules that address disruptions proactively, safeguarding businesses across various sectors.

The platform’s advanced reporting and analytics capabilities enable quick risk assessment and opportunity identification, supporting data-driven decision-making.

A downside to note is that the software primarily focuses on third-party risk and may also require additional tools for additional GRC needs.

Key features

Pre-configured modules: The software comes with pre-built modules for common risk management areas like operational risk, IT risk, and internal audit. This saves you time and effort in setting up the system and allows you to get started quickly.

Robust reporting and analytics: SAI360 GRC provides comprehensive reporting and analytics tools that help you gain insights into your risks. This information can be used to identify trends, track progress, and make better risk management decisions.

Industry-leading technology: The platform leverages advanced technology to streamline and secure risk management processes. This can include features like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation.

Pricing

Pricing is available upon request.

How to Choose the Best GRC Tool

Knowing the best GRC tools is one thing but determining the right software for your business is another.While there are tons of GRC solutions on the market, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for all businesses.

Here are key considerations to help you choose the best GRC software for your specific business.

i. Identify Your Goals and Requirements

Clearly define your organization’s GRC objectives to ensure the chosen tool aligns with your specific needs and goals. Your goals may include regulatory compliance, risk management, policy enforcement, and more. This helps in selecting a solution tailored to address your unique challenges effectively.

ii. Consider Usability

Prioritize user-friendly GRC tools with intuitive interfaces and streamlined workflows to enhance adoption rates and facilitate efficient usage across your organization. Ease of navigation and accessibility features contribute to maximizing productivity and minimizing training requirements.

iii. Consider Customer Support

Assess the quality and responsiveness of the platform’s customer support services. Consider their availability, response times, and expertise levels, to ensure prompt assistance and resolution of any issues or inquiries that may arise during tool usage.

iv. Evaluate The Cost

Compare pricing models, including subscription fees, licensing options, and additional charges for features or support services. This will help you determine the overall cost-effectiveness of the GRC tool within your budget constraints while considering long-term scalability and ROI.

v. Consider Scalability

Choose a GRC tool capable of scaling alongside your organization’s growth and evolving needs. Ensure the tool can accommodate increased data volumes, user expansion, and additional functionalities without compromising performance or stability.

vi. Consider Customization Capabilities

Look for GRC solutions that offer customization options to tailor features, workflows, and reporting capabilities according to your organization’s unique requirements. This will help to ensure flexibility and alignment with specific business processes and compliance frameworks.

vii. Deployment Options

There are three types of deployment options for most GRC tools namely, cloud-based, on-premises, and hybrid. Consider how you want to access the software and assess its suitability based on factors like security, infrastructure preferences, etc.

viii. Integrations Capabilities

Prioritize GRC tools that offer seamless integration capabilities with your existing systems, applications, and data sources within your organization’s ecosystem. This will allow smooth data sharing, automation, and interoperability to streamline workflows and enhance efficiency.

How Cyber Sierra Can Help You

While most popular GRC tools manage risk and regulatory compliance, you need a robust and enterprise-wide tool that will help your organization manage all your GRC requirements in a centralized dashboard like Cyber Sierra does.

Cyber Sierra’s GRC offers unique features such as advanced risk analytics, customizable compliance frameworks, integration with emerging technologies like AI and machine learning, and more.

Additionally, the software focuses on specific industries as well as compliance standards which provide tailored solutions to meet diverse organizational needs.

Besides, it’s easy to use for both beginners and experts alike. Anyone in your team can use Cyber Sierra without prior technical knowledge.

Here is how you can automate your GRC processes with Cyber Sierra:

Identification and assessment: Cyber Sierra’s GRC helps identify and assess all of your risks across all asset categories. This means you can get a comprehensive picture of your vulnerabilities from data to infrastructure.

Control development and implementation: Once the risks are identified, the software then helps develop and implement controls to mitigate those risks. These controls can be anything from security policies to technical safeguards.

Continuous control monitoring: Cyber Sierra’s GRC doesn’t stop at just identifying and mitigating risks. It also continuously monitors the effectiveness of those controls. This ensures that your controls are still working as intended over time.

Reporting: Finally, Cyber Sierra’s GRC allows you to report on your GRC activities to stakeholders. This means you can easily generate reports that demonstrate your compliance posture to auditors, regulators, or other interested parties.

Automate your GRC processes and take complexity and guesswork out of compliance with Cyber Sierra today!

Srividhya Karthik

Srividhya Karthik is a seasoned content marketer and the Head of Marketing at Cyber Sierra. With a firm belief in the power of storytelling, she brings years of experience to create engaging narratives that captivate audiences. She also brings valuable insights from her work in the field of cybersecurity and compliance, possessing a deep understanding of the challenges and pain points faced by customers in these domains.

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Governance & Compliance

An Ultimate Guide to Regulatory Compliance

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Have you watched the movie Titanic? Of course, you have. What could have changed the dreadful climax of all time? If only the Captain had a proper monitoring system to realize the ship needed more lifeboats and a thorough understanding of the icebergs along the route.

Now, imagine your business as a ship navigating treacherous waters. Regulatory compliance requirements are the map, navigation tools, and safety standards that guide you along the journey, steering you clear of hazards and toward safe harbors. But the waters keep changing, and that’s why this comprehensive guide will provide you with complete awareness of regulatory compliance management and how to ace it like a pro!

What is Regulatory Compliance?

Regulatory compliance refers to an organization’s adherence to the laws, regulations, guidelines, and business practices relevant to its industry and countries of operation. It also includes complying with the organization’s specific procedures, standards, and guidelines.

Regulatory compliance management and regulatory compliance requirements vary significantly depending on the industry, vertical, jurisdiction, and business geography. For organizations with a global footprint, it becomes increasingly important to comply with regulatory compliance requirements across the wide range of geographies they operate. Also, certain industries, such as financial services, information technology, and healthcare, include more complex regulatory risk management. The reason is simple: the impact of these industries on aspects of the economy, business, and infrastructure is significant.

According toNavex Global’s 2023 Definitive Risk & Compliance Benchmark Report, 76% of risk and compliance professionals stated that ensuring their organization builds and maintains an ethical culture of compliance was a very important or absolutely essential consideration in its decision-making processes.

Importance of Regulatory Compliance

Regulatory compliance has become more important than ever, as businesses are now more susceptible to cybersecurity breaches. Moreover, the significance of regulatory compliance is indispensable for the following reasons:

Upholds the integrity of the business. Everything gets lost when there is no integrity.

Protects and strengthens stakeholder and public interest.

Allows the company to operate ethically and fairly and circles back to brand reputation.

Helps you conquer more clients and business partners. When goodwill and trust increase, it is obvious!

As a byproduct of the above, the brand perception increases, and so does profitability.

Helps with steering clear of criminal liability and other major fraudulent crises that can topple not only businesses but even governments. Ask about the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008!
Helps avoid loss to finance and reputation in case of non-compliance

In a nutshell, be future-ready to manage and mitigate risks when regulatory compliance management is in place.

Challenges in Regulatory Compliance

Adhering to regulatory compliance is not that easy. Going back to the Titanic example, even when the rescue team wanted to help, they faced many challenges. Rose jumped back onto the deck (she was crazy and in love, of course!), passengers grew agitated, clashes broke out, and more. Similarly, regulatory compliance management comes with its own set of obstacles.

Just as the Titanic crew had to navigate tumultuous situations amidst the sinking ship, businesses must steer through turbulent waters to achieve and maintain compliance. Changing regulations, complex requirements, data management issues, and resource constraints can all act as icebergs threatening to derail your compliance efforts.

However, just like the bravery of the Titanic crew inspired hope, a comprehensive plan can guide your organization safely through compliance challenges. With the right map, tools, and expertise, you can chart a course towards fully adhering to all relevant rules and standards governing your industry.

When Regulatory changes keep changing

Regulatory compliance requirements have experienced a surge in recent years, posing significant challenges for compliance teams across various industries and regions. Major regulations worldwide have undergone substantial revisions and upgrades, such as Singapore’s Compliance Code of Practice (CCoP) 2.0, Hong Kong’s Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) guidelines, the United States’ Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations, and Australia’s Comprehensive Income and Risk Management Program (CIRMP).

These evolving regulatory requirements demand continuous adaptation from compliance professionals to stay abreast of the latest standards and requirements. As regulations become more stringent and complex, compliance teams face mounting pressure to maintain comprehensive knowledge and effectively manage their organization’s compliance obligations. Failure to keep pace with these changes can result in substantial risks, including financial penalties, reputational damage, and potential legal consequences.

When finance and technology joined hands

The integration of technology into financial services brings undeniable benefits, but it necessitates increased collaboration between fintech and traditional institutions. This collaboration is essential to address potential overlaps and gaps in regulatory compliance requirements. Regulatory authorities face the challenge of understanding and regulating the combined characteristics of these entities from both financial and technological perspectives. As a result, there’s a growing need for new regulatory guidelines, particularly concerning anti-money laundering (AML) and privacy, to safeguard consumer security.

When cybersecurity and data privacy risks became common

Increasing global footprints and digital transformations have made all of us heavily rely on third-party technologies. There is a rise in cyber-attacks and data privacy issues when there is a third party involved. Third-party risk management is one of the top things to achieve in regulatory compliance management for every regulator. Proper data management and cybersecurity practices are the need of the hour.

Cost of compliance management

Besides the significant fees and penalties of non-compliance, budget constraints are a very important challenge for many businesses when it comes to regulatory compliance. While the costs associated with compliance are undeniable, it’s crucial to recognize that a strategic, enterprise-wide approach can not only mitigate these expenses but also unlock long-term benefits.

Building a proactive compliance culture

Establishing a strong culture of compliance is crucial for promoting good employee conduct, especially with the rise of remote and hybrid work models after the pandemic. Amidst these changes, the growing importance of culture and conduct risks highlights the need for compliance teams to encourage proactive reporting. However, achieving this goal presents numerous challenges. From effectively communicating regulatory updates to instilling a sense of caution regarding compliance management risks, compliance teams face the difficult task of ensuring that every employee is well-informed and engaged. Overcoming these obstacles and emphasizing the significance of regulatory compliance across the organization emerges as a formidable challenge for compliance teams.

Regulatory Compliance by Industry

The nature of regulatory compliance management and regulatory compliance requirements vary depending on different industries. Certain industries require heavy regulations compared to others.

Regulatory compliance for financial services

The financial services industry demands a tailored approach to compliance management due to the comprehensive and complex nature of regulations it is subject to. These regulations are designed to uphold stability, transparency, and consumer protection within the sector.

Regulatory bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) , the Federal Reserve in the US, the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) across geographies, oversee compliance.

Regulatory compliance requirements mandate anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, data security standards, including Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard – PCI DSS), and other financial reporting, regulatory standards such as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles – GAAP).

Furthermore, specific jurisdictions like Singapore (Monetary Authority of Singapore – MAS), India (Reserve Bank of India – RBI, Securities and Exchange Board of India – SEBI), Australia (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority – APRA, Australian Securities and Investments Commission – ASIC), and Hong Kong (Securities and Futures Commission – SFC, Hong Kong Monetary Authority – HKMA) have their own unique regulatory frameworks governing the financial services industry.

Singapore: MAS regulates financial stability, AML/CFT, and cybersecurity.
India: RBI and SEBI enforce prudential norms, risk management, and securities laws.
Australia: APRA ensures financial stability, while ASIC focuses on consumer and investor protection.
Hong Kong: SFC and HKMA overseas market integrity, AML, KYC, and data privacy.

Regulatory compliance for energy suppliers

Regulatory compliance in the energy suppliers industry mandates regulations for safety and environmental protection. Regulatory risk management for this industry aims to ensure safety, environmental protection, and efficient operations. These include compliance requirements related to environmental regulations (e.g., emissions standards, waste management), safety standards (e.g., Occupational Safety and Health Administration – OSHA in the US), and industry-specific regulations governing energy production, distribution, and pricing.

Regulatory compliance for government agencies

Government agencies are subjected to strict compliance regulations. This mandate helps in achieving equality for everyone and encourages ethical staff behavior. Compliance management for the government sector includes federal, state/provincial, and local laws, as well as regulations specific to the agency’s mandate. These can be budgetary regulations, procurement laws, and administrative procedures acts. Ethical standards are indispensable, and regulatory complaint requirements here foster avoiding conflicts of interest, maintaining transparency and accountability, and adhering to codes of conduct and ethics guidelines.

Since government agencies deal with sensitive information, such as citizen data, financial records, and classified materials, compliance with data security and privacy regulations is crucial to protect this information from unauthorized access, disclosure, or misuse. For example, in the United States, you are expected to comply with laws such as the Privacy Act, in the European Union, you are expected to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

They are also required to ensure accessibility and non-discrimination in the delivery of their services and programs. This includes compliance with laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the United States, which mandates accessibility accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

Regulatory compliance for the healthcare sector

Healthcare companies require strict compliance laws. This is obvious as they store a lot of sensitive and personal patient data. Hospitals and other healthcare providers are built majorly on trust and reputation. This requires them to exhibit the necessary steps that they have taken to comply with certain regulations, such as patient privacy rules, including providing adequate server security and encryption.

How Does Regulatory Compliance Work?

Regulatory compliance works as a systematic process. It enables organizations to adhere to relevant laws, regulations, standards, and guidelines that govern its operations. Here’s an overview of the process it entails:

Identify applicable regulations:

The organization first identifies the necessary regulations, laws, and standards relevant to its industry, jurisdiction, and activities. This process requires thorough research and understanding of the regulatory landscape.

Assessment and analysis:

Now that the applicable regulations are identified, it’s time to conduct a comprehensive assessment to understand the specific regulatory compliance requirements and implications for its business operations. This is usually done by analyzing the regulatory provisions, assessing current practices, and identifying any areas of non-compliance.

Developing a compliance framework:

The assessment is done and the findings are ready; now the organization develops a compliance framework that clearly outlines compliance management policies, procedures, controls, and measures that will ensure adherence to regulatory compliance requirements. Now, the roadmap for achieving and maintaining compliance is ready.

Implementing controls and processes:

Kudos! The compliance framework is in place now, and the organization implements the necessary controls, processes, and systems to operationalize the outlined compliance requirements. This is usually executed by establishing protocols for data protection, implementing safety procedures, conducting employee training, and integrating compliance into everyday business operations.

Monitoring and review:

One thing that needs to be understood is that compliance is an ongoing process. It requires continuous monitoring and constant review to ensure that the controls are effective, that the regulations are being followed, and tracking any changes in requirements are promptly addressed.

Documentation and reporting:

Every organization should maintain detailed documentation of its compliance efforts, including policies, procedures, records, and reports. Regulatory compliance documentation not only serves as evidence of adherence to regulatory requirements but will also be required for regulatory inspections, audits, and reporting obligations.

Adapting to changes:

Regulatory requirements will keep changing due to new legislation, updates, and evolving industry standards. Here, the organization stays informed about changes in regulations relevant to its operations and immediately adapts its compliance efforts accordingly.

How to Implement a Regulatory Compliance Plan?

Congratulations! You’ve made the wise decision to establish a robust regulatory compliance plan for your organization. Navigating the complex landscape of industry regulations can be daunting, but fear not – Cyber Sierra’s proven 8-step framework will guide you through the process, ensuring an effective and rewarding implementation.

What are your goals?

The first step is simply to simply define your goals. Ask yourself what you wish to achieve with your regulatory compliance management plan. The goals can be diverse – you might want to cut down the hefty fines, penalties, and payouts of the company, save time and expense based on retrospective investigations, or work with everyone in the team to use complaints to increase growth or it could be even as simple as getting awareness on a new piece of incoming legislation that might affect your organization in the future.

Begin by clearly defining your objectives for the regulatory compliance management plan. Whether it’s reducing financial liabilities, saving time on retrospective investigations, fostering team collaboration for growth, or staying ahead of upcoming legislation, establishing clear goals is essential. Sit down with your team to map out a risk assessment and prioritize goals for the short and long term, setting achievable targets to work towards. It’s crucial to set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) targets to track progress effectively.

For example, if you head the operations of an international bank, the primary goal is to strengthen its regulatory compliance program to mitigate the risk of money laundering activities and ensure adherence to AML regulations. By implementing stricter compliance measures, you can aim to enhance your reputation, safeguard your assets, and maintain the trust of your customers and regulators.

What is your corporate culture?

Understand and draft what corporate culture your business falls into. When this is done, it is easier to align compliance with corporate culture. Aligning regulatory compliance with corporate culture makes it easier for everyone in the company to bring acceptance of your new policies. Ensure you outline the advantages of regulatory compliance management at each level of the company’s structure, and it will come a long way in making your employees understand its importance more clearly.

Identify and define the risks that compliance can help you avoid in each strategic area of the organization to build a strong case for your policy. Everyone in the company must be aware of your regulatory compliance management. Or your risk management efforts will turn out to be ineffective. For example, understand your bank’s corporate culture of integrity and transparency and encourage the compliance team to integrate AML compliance training into the organization’s values and mission. By emphasizing the importance of ethical conduct and regulatory adherence, you can foster a culture of compliance where every employee understands their role in preventing financial crimes.

What is your functional scope?

The scope of regulatory risk management is no longer a retrospective role. But it is more forward-facing and it only acts as a preventative function in the organization. If you want to foresee regulatory issues before they occur, you have to increase resources, and your compliance management plan needs to reflect that. Start at a basic level and gradually increase the scope over time.

Consider incorporating technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance efficiency and accuracy. Start with a foundational level of compliance and gradually expand the scope over time as resources allow. For example, by recognizing the proactive nature of regulatory risk management, you can allocate resources to enhance your AML compliance capabilities. Starting with basic transaction monitoring systems, you can gradually expand the scope to include advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms to detect suspicious activities and prevent potential money laundering risks.

What is the nature of your regulatory environment?

As discussed in the challenges already, the regulatory environment is always changing. This makes it essential for your team to stay on top of regulatory compliance trends at all times. Monitor legislative developments not only in your primary operating region but also in any other jurisdictions where your business operates. Thoroughly analyze proposed regulations to anticipate their impact on your operations. Break down regulatory requirements into actionable steps to ensure full compliance.

For example, your bank’s compliance team can stay vigilant in monitoring regulatory developments related to AML regulations globally. They can analyze updates to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations to ensure CityBank’s compliance procedures remain up-to-date and align with evolving regulatory standards.

How to develop formal procedures, rules, and standards?

Now, you have a clear understanding of the prospective regulatory landscape. It’s time to develop the formal policies, standards, and procedures required to comply with the law. Though most of these procedures will closely follow the technical standards outlined in the legislation, you should also consider adding your own internal checks. This helps in identifying potential human or software errors and avoiding consequences.

For example, with a clear understanding of AML regulatory requirements, you can develop formal policies and procedures tailored to detect and prevent money laundering activities effectively. Collaborating with industry experts and regulatory authorities, you can establish robust customer due diligence processes and transaction monitoring protocols to comply with AML laws.

Have you trained your employees?

All your efforts will become null if your employees are not trained. Thorough training about your procedures is important, and making them understand the reasons behind them is mandatory to make sure that the business remains compliant. Train your employees to spot a compliance issue, report it accurately, and escalate it through the right means. At the next level, your management should be well-equipped to handle reports and take swift calls on what to do next, as well as how their operations with business partners are affected.

For example, you can conduct comprehensive AML compliance training programs for all employees, ranging from frontline staff to senior management. Through interactive workshops and scenario-based simulations, employees learn to identify red flags indicative of money laundering activities and understand the importance of reporting suspicious transactions promptly.

Do you practice accurate record-keeping?

Accurate record-keeping is crucial for demonstrating compliance with regulatory requirements and facilitating audits or investigations. Establish clear guidelines for documenting compliance-related activities and maintaining records securely. Regularly review and update record-keeping practices to adapt to changing regulatory landscapes.

For example, you can implement electronic record-keeping systems to maintain detailed transaction records and customer profiles, ensuring accurate documentation of AML compliance efforts and enabling timely reporting to regulatory authorities.

Do you monitor compliance consistently?

Continuously monitor and evaluate compliance performance to identify areas for improvement and ensure ongoing adherence to regulatory standards. Utilize analytics tools and metrics to track progress toward goals and measure the effectiveness of compliance initiatives. Regularly report findings to senior leadership to demonstrate the value of compliance efforts and secure support for future initiatives. You can use a digital tool such as CyberSierra to keep a central control repository, identify third-party risks, and automate data collection and risk assessment.

For example, you can continuously monitor your AML compliance performance using data analytics tools and risk assessment frameworks. By tracking key performance indicators such as transaction monitoring alerts and suspicious activity reports, you can assess the effectiveness of its AML controls and identify areas for improvement to strengthen your compliance program further.

Keeping a regular check on your goals on a quarterly or annual basis will help in evaluating your support compliance efforts. Present the results to your senior leadership and explain the benefits of an effective program. This motivates decision-makers to justify the efforts and investment in corporate regulatory compliance.

How does Cyber Sierra help you with regulatory compliance management?

Cyber Sierra understands business challenges and offers a comprehensive solution to simplify data collection, risk assessments, and compliance management. Our cutting-edge AI platform streamlines the entire process, making it effortless to gather, analyze, and interpret data, enabling you to identify and mitigate risks proactively.

Cyber Sierra automates data collection & risk assessments, helps with policies management, generates comprehensive reports and maintains detailed records for transparency and accountability. The platform also streamline compliance management across various regulatory frameworks using automation

Don’t let compliance complexities sink your operations. Take a proactive approach and experience the best regulatory compliance management for your business. Schedule a demo with Cyber Sierra today and unlock the power of automated, streamlined, and efficient compliance management.

FAQs

What is regulatory compliance management?

Regulatory compliance management, in simple terms, is a company’s adherence to laws, regulations, guidelines, procedures, rules, and other necessary specifications relevant to its business processes, industry and country of operation. Not adhering to regulatory compliance results in legal punishment, including hefty federal penalties.

Is regulatory compliance management important?

Regulatory compliance management is very important. It goes beyond merely adhering to legal requirements; it serves as a cornerstone for establishing a credible brand reputation, fostering trust with partners, customers, and stakeholders, and safeguarding the organization from potential breaches. Non-compliance can have severe consequences, including financial penalties, reputational damage, loss of consumer confidence, and even the potential termination of business operations.

How can regulatory compliance management benefit your organization?

Regulatory compliance benefits businesses by identifying and mitigating risks associated with legal and regulatory obligations. A robust compliance framework, encompassing comprehensive processes and stringent security controls, equips organizations to proactively mitigate and circumvent non-compliance incidents, such as data breaches, workplace accidents, or environmental contraventions. Adherence to regulatory mandates not only safeguards organizations from substantial financial penalties but also fortifies their brand reputation and credibility within the industry.

How often should you create a compliance management plan?

The frequency of creating a compliance management plan varies based on factors like industry standards, regulatory requirements, and organizational needs. While there’s no fixed rule, it’s generally recommended to review and update the plan at least annually. This ensures that it remains aligned with evolving regulations, business changes, and emerging risks, helping to maintain compliance effectiveness and mitigate potential issues.

Can we use automation for compliance management?

Yes, you can use compliance automation technology, such as Cyber Sierra, to continually check your systems for compliance. Compliance automation helps automate workflows and removes manual processes. For example, Cyber Sierra’s smart GRC automation helps in streamlining Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) processes, saving time and effort in data collection, analyses, and reporting.

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Governance & Compliance

GRC Framework: What is it and Why is it Important?

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In the rapidly changing and ever-demanding business scenario, organizations face huge pressure to successfully navigate the complexities while simultaneously ensuring compliance with various cyber security standards and regulations. The more disorganized the structure, the higher the chance for scattered data, mismanaged human resources, lack of risk visibility, and inadequate audit trails. The solution to these issues lies in the adoption of a GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) framework which aligns with your business objectives to achieve a well-managed set of functions. Let’s delve deeper and understand what the GRC framework is, how to implement it, its associated key components, and its benefits.

What is a GRC Framework?

The GRC framework, or Governance, Risk, and Compliance Framework, is a well-designed and structured model that leverages timely information on data, risks, policies, and compliance to reduce compliance risk.

It is more than a mere checklist that enables organizations to align their everyday operations with planned strategic objectives while managing risks and complying with relevant regulations. When adopted well, a GRC framework can help organizations integrate best practices and process day-to-day operations to effectively manage its IT and security risks, reduce costs, and meet compliance requirements.

Key components of GRC framework

The GRC framework comprises three important components. Each of these components has its own nature, and mastering all three is important for a rewarding GRC framework.

Governance

Governance, in simple terms, is about the set of rules, policies, and processes that help an organization plan its everyday activities and align them to support and enable its business goals.

Good governance in the GRC framework

includes ethics, procedures, resource management, accountability, stability, and management controls.
enables the top management to guide and take control of what happens at every level of the organization.
helps every business unit in the organization be directed and aligned with the defined corporate goals and overall customer needs.
makes employees feel empowered, though their behavior and resources are controlled, but not in a negative way.
focuses more on being well-coordinated and heavily controlled.
aims to achieve accountability for conduct and results.
defines employee roles based on lines or sectors of the business.
evaluates employees based on their performance and results achieved, not on their job responsibilities.

Governance in the GRC framework predominantly aims to balance the interests of multiple stakeholders in the organization. These include top management, employees, contractors, freelancers, suppliers, and investors. It also provides control over available facilities and infrastructure.

How does governance help in maintaining balance? Here’s a GRC framework example – an organization encompasses multiple internal and external stakeholders. The contracts between these stakeholders need to be intact so that there is a proper sharing of responsibilities, rights, and rewards. It also includes well-defined procedures for reconciliation in cases of conflicting interests among stakeholders. Also, structured policies aid in supervision, control, and data flow functions, including a system of checks and balances.

Risk Management

Right on cue comes risk management. The ignored middle child of the GRC framework turns out to be a headache later. Risk management is the process of identifying, evaluating, analyzing, and mitigating or transferring different risks. These risks can be financial, legal, process-oriented, strategic, and security-related and threaten an organization’s operations.

Risk management

reduces the risks faced by an organization through an effective IT governance and compliance framework.
effectively monitors, controls, and reduces the impact of negative incidents on the organization.
focuses on maximizing the impact of positive events.
creates objectives that are in line with an organization’s values. Based on this, it builds a system of people, processes, and technology.
aims to achieve the objectives of an organization while refining its risk profile and securing value.
works on identifying threats and risks related to cybersecurity and information security.

For example, a risk management program within the GRC framework will include an assessment of the technology used and the identification of operational and technological failures, as these will impact the core business. It will also monitor the risks involved with infrastructure and the potential failure of networks and find ways to control them.

A risk assessment program needs to adhere to internal, contractual, legal, ethical, and societal objectives and keep track of any new rules pertaining to technology and cybersecurity. A company can safeguard itself from uncertainty, cut expenses, and raise the possibility of success and business continuity by concentrating on risk and allocating the resources required to control and mitigate risk.

An effective risk assessment program

should be in line with the different objectives of an organization, such as legal, contractual, internal, social, and ethical.
stay on top of the new technology-related regulations, and government regulations and monitor them to ensure compliance.
will allocate resources accordingly and help businesses safeguard themselves against uncertainty.
helps in effective risk control that results in cost reduction and enhances the likelihood of business continuity and success.

Compliance

Here comes the last one on the cue, the most spoiled one of the lot: compliance. Compliance management deals with adherence to rules, procedures, policies, and laws laid down by an organization, government, agency, and more. Non-compliance leads to a lack of performance, hefty fines, penalties, and lawsuits.

Regulatory compliance also encompasses external laws, regulations related to jurisdiction, and industry standards that are mandatory for functioning. On the other hand, internal compliance deals with different aspects such as rules, regulations, and management internal controls decided by an individual company. Both the internal compliance management program and external compliance requirements need to be integrated for the smooth functioning of an organization.

An effective compliance program

helps in understanding the areas of greatest risk and allocating more resources to those areas.
focuses on developing, implementing, and communicating policies to employees to overcome those risk areas.
offers guidance for employees and vendors. This makes the process of following compliance policies easier.

Types of GRC Framework

The key components of the GRC framework are clear now. Let’s learn more about the types of GRC frameworks.

Integrated GRC Framework

In an integrated GRC framework, governance, risk management, and compliance functions are unified under a single overarching structure. This approach promotes synergy and efficiency by streamlining processes and fostering a holistic view of organizational risks and compliance requirements.

Modular GRC Framework

A modular GRC framework consists of distinct but interconnected modules for governance, risk management, and compliance functions. Organizations can customize and implement individual modules based on their specific needs and priorities, allowing for greater flexibility and scalability.

Specialized GRC Framework

Specialized GRC frameworks cater to organizations operating in highly regulated industries or facing unique compliance challenges. These frameworks are tailored to address specific regulatory requirements or industry standards, offering targeted solutions for governance, risk, and compliance management.

Benefits of GRC Framework

Implementing the GRC framework makes your life easier. Period. No other way to argue about it. So, what are the benefits of the GRC framework? Read below:

Improved operational efficiency

GRC framework helps automate common mundane processes. Continuous monitoring of controls, risks involved, and KRIs leads to this. So, organizations learn better and more efficient ways to run operations.

Better quality information

The GRC framework brings an integrated approach, and now your management team can have a complete 360-degree view of every piece of data. This helps with informed decision-making.

Cost reduction

With the GRC framework, you can build a roadmap of business rules, better reviews, and consolidated controls. This leads to better use of resources and reduces the cost of implementation.

Automation

The GRC framework reduces manual efforts by eliminating the need for spreadsheets, documents, emails, and direct calls to manage everyday functions. This leads to a shift in reduced manual efforts and eliminates redundant tasks, processes, workflows, and more.

Transparency

Siloed functions come with the GRC framework, and this helps provide full visibility into processes. In this scenario, every department works independently. So, you get visibility for all involved parties.

Efficiency

GRC frameworks bring all the processes related to risks, internal audits, and compliance into a centralized system, which makes managing time-consuming, complex processes easier.

Risk and security

Businesses can manage, implement, track, monitor, and automate risks with the aid of GRC frameworks. This gives upper management the ability to decide more wisely, define objectives that match shifting market demands, and allocate resources to reduce risks.

How to Implement GRC Framework

There is no right or wrong way to build your GRC framework. But the starting point is to bring together all your business components and unify them from a bottom-up approach to implementation.

1. Determine the Benefits of Putting a GRC Platform in Place

The first step is understanding, analyzing, realizing, and accepting the value of GRC framework implementation in your business. Only this will help you identify wide range GRC strategies that can be beneficial for your organization.

Identify existing processes that are working just fine and need not be changed. These can be retained and added to your unified system.
Identifying irrelevant data, technologies, and assets that are redundant reduces value and can even complicate your unification process.
Now, you have the most profitable assets in your hands, and these can be used to enhance your GRC strategy.

2. Create a GRC Project Roadmap

To understand your strategy’s scope, outline the purpose clearly and summarize the main functions of the GRC framework. This has to be accurately done with ongoing collaboration between all stakeholders. Only then will the product result align with the needs of each department without contradictions. Knowing the potential benefits of the GRC framework can help identify desired outcomes for every department here. This helps in the cybersecurity GRC framework and the IT governance risk and compliance framework.

3. Conduct a Gap Analysis

A crucial step in the compliance assessment process is gap analysis, which acts as a diagnostic tool to find differences between an organization’s current procedures and the ideal level of compliance.

During gap analysis, determine the following for each:

Process maturity
Data quality
Operational gaps

Keep these factors in mind when you conduct a gap analysis:

Finding any duplicate or missing data
Finding any redundant or duplicate processes
Finding ways to automate processes or reduce the manual ones

4. Establish and Match Expectations with Stakeholders

Ensure your entire organization is on board with the GRC framework and its implementation. This is often overlooked. The GRC framework involves every department, and all your key stakeholders should have their voices heard about the proposal.

The main steps in achieving organizational alignment are:

Align executive team members with important considerations, like budget and roll-out dates. Before moving forward and making any necessary changes, you must ensure the leadership is on board with your plan before you notify the rest of the organization.

Use a top-down strategy. After receiving executive permission, you must establish practical and well-communicated change management procedures throughout all other business divisions. For instance, it’s reasonable to anticipate that your suggested modifications will encounter some opposition. Long-standing internal policies, external policies, and procedures within departments will probably need to be phased away gradually.

You should provide each team with frequent, educational updates explaining the pertinent changes and how they will impact their duties to facilitate a smooth transition. Establish an open channel of communication for team members to share any worries, recommendations, or other insightful comments that might change your approach.

5. Create a Solid Base for Your GRC Strategy

Get the proper groundwork done. Make sure your GRC system is practical and adaptable. This plays a significant role in the IT governance risk and compliance framework given the increased risk of cyber threats and vulnerabilities and the disastrous impact of data breaches. It is also important to pay closer attention to check if your GRC framework is adaptable to ever-changing regulatory changes.

6. Join Forces with a GRC Solution Supplier

There are a lot of moving components involved in implementing a GRC program from scratch, such as merging information silos, maintaining updates, and employing manual procedures like spreadsheets. Many of these pain points can be streamlined by a smart GRC platform, freeing up your implementation time for higher-level work.

You must exercise due diligence, just like you would with any third-party vendor, to make sure your selected GRC technology complies with regulations and doesn’t put your company at serious risk for security breaches.

Through time and money savings, the appropriate GRC technology should provide a return on investment (ROI).

When selecting GRC software, consider the following crucial inquiries:

Is it simple to use and intuitive?
Is it using workflows that are automated?
Is customization possible? Custom reporting, for instance
Is it adaptable?
Do its features carry out actions?

7. Make Your GRC Strategy Uniform

The ability of a GRC strategy to meet the needs of the entire business is one of its key characteristics. Although every department will have unique needs, there ought to be a standard to work from.

8. Oversee and Update Your GRC Plan

Launching your GRC framework is not a one-time, set-and-forget endeavor. Once the implementation is over, it is your responsibility to ensure your strategy is adaptable and evolves with the changes in your business objectives.

Every team should keep up-to-date, precise records of its GRC requirements that are dated and include a note of any significant changes, including the introduction of new technology. A smart GRC platform can automate a good majority of this workflow.

These reports are the reference for your regular stakeholder meetings. Based on these recordings and meetings, you can ensure that your whole organization is aligned with the overall strategy. Another best practice is to conduct an audit at least annually to maintain regulatory compliance management. Any compliance issues identified should then be prioritized for remediation.

How does GRC automation work?

GRC automation software works by seamlessly integrating with your existing systems and processes, streamlining governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) procedures. This integration allows for efficient data collection, analysis, and reporting, ultimately saving time and effort.

Data Integration:

GRC automation integrates with various systems like ERP, HRIS, etc., to automatically collect data, eliminating manual entry and reducing errors.

Automated Workflows:

Predefined workflows and rules process data, aligning with policies and regulations. Automated tasks include risk assessments, control testing, issue management, and compliance monitoring.

Real-time Monitoring and Reporting:

Continuous monitoring assesses adherence to policies and regulations, enabling prompt identification and resolution of risks and violations.

Centralized Dashboard and Reporting:

Consolidated dashboards provide a comprehensive view of GRC posture. Automated reporting tailors information for stakeholders, promoting transparency and informed decision-making.

Scalability and Flexibility:

GRC automation solutions adapt to growth and evolving requirements, incorporating new data sources, workflows, and reporting needs for ongoing compliance and risk management.

What are the advantages of GRC automation?

Efficiency and Time Savings:

Automating data collection, analysis, and reporting processes streamlines GRC procedures, saving significant time and effort compared to manual methods.

Reduced Human Error:

By minimizing manual interventions, GRC automation lowers the possibility of human error, ensuring consistent and trustworthy compliance management.

Proactive Risk Identification:

Real-time monitoring capabilities enabled by automation allow organizations to quickly recognize and resolve potential business risks before they escalate.

Scalability and Adaptability:

GRC automation solutions are easily scalable and can adapt to evolving compliance requirements as businesses grow and expand, ensuring ongoing regulatory adherence.

Centralized Visibility:

Automated GRC platforms often provide centralized dashboards, offering a comprehensive view of an organization’s governance, risk, and compliance posture, promoting transparency and informed decision-making.

Consistent Application of Policies and Regulations:

Automated workflows and rules ensure that policies, regulations, and risk management frameworks are applied consistently across the organization, reducing the risk of non-compliance.

Audit Trail and Reporting:

GRC automation solutions maintain detailed audit trails and generate customized reports tailored to specific stakeholders, such as executives, auditors, and regulatory bodies, facilitating compliance demonstrations and regulatory reporting.

Resource Optimization:

By automating repetitive and time-consuming GRC tasks, organizations can reallocate human resources to more strategic and value-adding activities, optimizing resource utilization.

How can Cyber Sierra’s Smart GRC automation help?

Cyber Sierra’s platform goes beyond traditional GRC frameworks by offering an all-inclusive AI-enabled platform. It encompasses features such as control mapping, automated checks, risk unification, staff training, and streamlined access control, effectively turning compliance into a seamless and integrated process.

Here’s a look at the top features:

Automated Data Collection and Risk Identification:

Cyber Sierra automates data collection and analyses from various sources for effective risk identification and mitigation.

Near Real-time Compliance Monitoring:

Cyber Sierra’s Continuous Control Monitoring (CCM) feature enables real-time monitoring of processes and activities, ensuring ongoing compliance with relevant regulations and internal policies. It proactively identifies and flags any instances of non-compliance, allowing organizations to promptly address issues before they escalate.

Comprehensive Reporting and Auditing:

The platform offers you in-depth reporting tailored to stakeholders, and detailed audit trails promote accountability and transparency.

Multi-framework Compliance Management:

Cyber Sierra streamlines compliance across multiple industry regulations and standards such as ISO, PCI DSS, HIPAA, SAMA, CIRMP, MAS TRM, and HKMA, reducing non-compliance risks.

Proactive Risk Assessment:

It identifies and prioritizes potential risks based on impact and likelihood for strategic risk management.

Prioritization and Scoping

: The platform prioritizes compliance requirements, scopes risks and controls for efficient resource allocation.

Cyber Insurance:

The platform can also help you transfer risks through cyber insurance coverage.

If you are looking for a smart GRC solution, talk to our experts today to know how Cyber Sierra can help you reach your security goals.

Srividhya Karthik

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Third Party Risk Management

MAS Outsourcing Guidelines - What CISO Should Know in 2024 ?

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11th December 2024.

That’s the grace period the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has allowed before its new Notices on Outsourcing (658 and 1121) takes effect. Announced on 11th December 2023, the 12-month grace period also repeals the Outsourcing guidelines outlined in Notices 634 and 1108.

This means even if your organization was compliant with Notices 634 and 1108 last updated in 2018, you still have work to do. You’re probably here because you know that. So without much ado, in this article, I’ll:

Highlight who the latest MAS Outsourcing guidelines apply to
Discuss the key areas in the new MAS Outsourcing guidelines
Show you how to automate parts of the process of becoming (and staying) compliant with MAS’ updated regulations.

Who the Latest MAS Outsourcing Guidelines Apply to

According to the regulator’s official statements, Notices 658 and 1121 spells out compliance requirements for banks and merchant banks outsourcing relevant services to third-parties, respectively.

As illustrated below:

Both outsourcing guideline Notices are issued pursuant to section 47A(2), (4), (6), (7) and (12), as applied by section 55ZJ(1), of the Singaporean Banking Act 1970 (the “Act”) and applies to all banks and merchant banks.

The stated information confirms who the new MAS Outsourcing guidelines apply to: Banks and merchant banks. However, the responsibility of becoming compliant rests on the senior management, CISOs, and executives at such financial institutions (FIs).

You’ll see that as we proceed.

But before we proceed:

Key Areas in the New MAS Outsourcing Guidelines

Although there are dozens of requirements, key areas FIs must adhere to, to become compliant with the new MAS Outsourcing guidelines are:

Having a register of all outsourced service providers
Third-party risk governance and management oversight
Ongoing evaluation of 3rd (and 4th) party vendors
Continuous independent audits of third-parties

Register of All Outsourced Relevant Services

Under this requirement, MAS mandates all banks and merchant banks to have and keep a register that comprehensively records all:

More importantly, the regulator requires all FIs to update the register promptly and submit the same to the Authority semi-annually and at any time it is requested.

You can have and keep an updated register of outsourced relevant services like the one required by MAS through the good ol’ spreadsheet. But this will take a lot of manual data entry and maintenance efforts. A more optimal way is to leverage Cyber Sierra’s third-party risk management suite:

With our platform, an updated inventory of all third-party vendors and service providers are kept automatically. As shown above, you also get a database for your security team to quickly search and track how critical vendors perform relative to outlined MAS cybersecurity guidelines.

Third-Party Risk Governance & Management Oversight

In the new Outsourcing guidelines, MAS requires the implementation of an appropriate third-party risk management governance framework. They also require FIs to have an executive team to provide oversight of the same.

Two critical must-dos are:

To comply with these requirements, you can create a custom third-party risk management governance framework. A better option that helps in streamlining the compliance process is to adopt and customize globally-accepted governance frameworks like SOC and NIST.

Cyber Sierra helps with that:

Our platform is pre-built with customizable versions of the SOC and NIST governance frameworks used to assess 3rd parties worldwide. You also get a single pane to invite all stakeholders needed to collaborate, customize, and oversee any of the governance frameworks your team implements.

Ongoing evaluation of 3rd (and 4th) party vendors

In the updated Outsourcing guidelines, MAS requires FIs to properly evaluate third-parties before and after engaging them. The financial regulator also requires due diligence extended to the subcontractors (fourth-parties) a 3rd party service provider is working with.

This due diligence checks should be ongoing:

To become compliant with the ongoing evaluation of third-and fourth-parties, MAS expects third-parties working with FIs to provide evidence of meeting designated security assessment requirements.

Specifically, the expect that:

You can automate processes involved in collecting such evidence documents with Cyber Sierra. For instance, you can request and have third-parties upload required security assessment evidence from one pane.

Our platform also auto-verifies each uploaded evidence:

The ability to automate crucial third-party risk management processes like this is why financial institutions trust Cyber Sierra. Take one global bank based in Singapore:

Continuous Independent Audits of Third-Parties

The compliance requirements here is straightforward:

Working with independent auditors has many benefits. One is giving external, more experienced eyes a chance to assess 3rd parties that pose risks and can stop your company from becoming compliant. But because MAS requires that this is done on an ongoing basis, there’s a need to streamline the process for everyone.

For instance, you can give auditors a central place where they can search, easily review, and identify third-parties with unsatisfactory security measures in place.

Again, you can do this with Cyber Sierra:

Take the MAS Outsourcing Notices Seriously

Singapore’s threat landscape is always evolving.

To stay one step ahead, Notice 658 and Notice 1121 sets out updated measures necessary for protecting financial institutions from threat actors increasingly trying to strike through outsourced services. By taking the new MAS Outsourcing guidelines seriously and complying with them, you bolster your organization’s cyber resilience.

Another reason to take this seriously is the allowed grace period. MAS expects all financial institutions to become compliant with all new requirements before 11th December 2024. Depending on when you read this, that’s just a few months away.

To facilitate the process for your team, consider streamlining and automating the crucial parts of becoming (and staying) compliant. Of course, this is where a platform like Cyber Sierra comes in:

Pramodh Rai

Meet Pramodh Rai, a technology aficionado and Cyber Sierra's co-founder, whose zest for innovation is fuelled by a cupboard stacked with zero-sugar Redbull. With a nimble footwork through the tech tulips across Asia Pacific, he's donned hats at Hmlet (the proptech kind) and Funding Societies | Modalku, building high-performing teams and technologies. A Barclays prodigy with dual degrees from Nanyang Technological University, Pramodh is a treasure trove of wisdom, dad jokes, and everything product/tech. He's the Sherpa in sneakers you need.

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Third Party Risk Management

Third-Party Risk Management - A Comprehensive Guide 101

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In today’s rapidly changing business environment, success is often a matter of who you know – or in many cases, who you work with. Third-party relationships can be a boon, opening doors and enabling innovation. However, they can also be a complex web, a vast network that can introduce a host of risks, especially cybersecurity risks.

Understanding the gravity of these risks is crucial.The vulnerability of third-party connections presents a formidable challenge for organizations navigating the cybersecurity landscape.This underscores the critical importance of implementing a proactive and strategic Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM).

This TPRM blogpost will help demystify TPRM, explain why it’s important, and provide best practices to fortify your organization against these risks.

What is TPRM?

Third-party risk management (TPRM) is a proactive and strategic approach to identifying and mitigating the varied risks associated with an enterprise’s use of third parties (also known as vendors, suppliers, partners, contractors, or service providers) for its business requirements

TPRM helps organizations understand the third parties they work with, how they are used, and what safeguards the third parties have in place. The scope and requirements of TPRM vary from one organization to another based on industry, regulations, and other factors, but many best practices are universal. TPRM can be thought of as a broader discipline that includes vendor risk management (VRM), supplier risk management, and supply chain risk management. By implementing a robust TPRM program, organizations can reduce the likelihood of disruptions to their operations and protect their reputation, data, and assets.

Importance of TPRM in 2024

In 2024, Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) continues to be critical for organizations across various industries due to the evolving threat landscape, increasing reliance on third-party vendors, and rising regulatory scrutiny. According to Deloitte, last year 62% of global leaders identified cyber information and security risk to be the top third-party risk. At the same time, almost half (42%) of them believe that their third parties play a more important role than ever in driving revenue compared to three years ago. This highlights the significant challenges and responsibilities faced by third-party risk management and security teams in identifying, managing, and mitigating the varied risks associated with integrating them into their IT environment.

Increased regulatory scrutiny:

The increasing focus on data protection and privacy regulations like GDPR, MAS TRM, and CCPA has led to a greater scrutiny of third-party outsourcing. Regulators worldover, like those in the EU and the US, are demanding tighter governance and accountability, particularly in AI and cloud services. Rules like DORA, NYDFS, and NIS2 mandate mapping third-party assets, evaluating criticality, and adopting proactive risk management strategies, including third-party risk assessments. This shift requires organizations to ensure TPRM practices align with evolving regulations.

Evolving threat landscape:

With businesses increasingly leveraging cloud services, the potential attack surface has grown. TPRM is crucial in identifying and mitigating these emerging risks by implementing and monitoring effective cybersecurity measures. However, enterprises must consider the shared responsibility model of cloud infrastructure systems like AWS, which shifts certain responsibilities to SaaS providers. This shift complicates data security and can lead to vulnerabilities, as seen in the 2015 Uber breach. Companies must implement best practices and maintain strong oversight of their cloud services and third-party relationships.

Examples of Third-Party Risks

Organizations face various third-party security risks, some of which are mentioned below:

Cybersecurity Risk: The association with third parties can result in many kinds of cyber threats, including data breaches or even data loss. Routine evaluation of vendors and tracking of their activities is one of the measures aimed at minimizing this risk.

Operational Risk: Third-party initiatives and disruptions can prevent business operations from going normal. To eliminate this, companies usually implement SLAs (service level agreements) with vendors and prepare backup plans for the sustenance of business continuity.

Compliance Risk: Third-party activities can increase an organization’s risk of noncompliance with established standards or contractual agreements. This area is particularly sensitive for companies that operate in industries with a high degree of regulation, such as banking, telecom, government, and the health sector.

Reputational Risk: Any organization working with third parties faces potential reputational risks from adverse incidents. Such incidents involve security failures, data breaches, or unethical behavior. They can damage customer trust loss, brand reputation, and overall business quality.

Financial Risk: Inadequate management of third-party relationships can also cause financial difficulties for companies. A third party with inadequate security measures may attract fines and legal fees, further damaging the company’s financial stability.

Strategic Risk: Furthermore, third-party risks can be detrimental to an organization’s strategic objectives. If not addressed adequately, they can impede business success.

These risks often converge – for example, a breach can lead to loss of customer data, posing simultaneous risks to operations, brand reputation, finances, and compliance

Third-Party Risk Management Lifecycle

1. Recognition and Categorization of Third-Party Risk

Effective third-party risk management starts with understanding and categorizing the risks posed by different third-party relationships. This involves creating a complete inventory of all vendors, suppliers, contractors, partners, and other third-party entities that an organization engages with. Here are several factors to consider when categorizing these relationships:

Determine access level: Providers with high levels of access to sensitive data or systems are the ones considered to be at high risk.

Relationship type: Providers that take a rather meaningful part in the enterprise are thought of as higher-risk ones.

Industry or sector: Particular industries or sectors could be more prone to risks, such as fraud or data breaches.

Regulatory compliance: Ensure clarity and alignment with regulatory expectations by categorizing third-party risks according to specific compliance mandates and industry regulations.

Financial stability: The providers with financial instability are likely to raise the risk levels of organizations.

Categorizing third-party relationships based on these factors can help organizations prioritize their risk management efforts and allocate resources more effectively to mitigate potential risks. It also provides a framework for ongoing monitoring and assessment of these relationships.

2. Risk assessment and Due Diligence

In the second stage of the TPRM lifecycle, organizations conduct a comprehensive risk assessment and due diligence to ensure the reliability and compliance of their third-party relationships with their security requirements.

Risk assessment involves:

Identifying the third-party risk associated with each outsourced relationship
Measuring the probability and potential impact of these risks, which may involve financial stability, operational resilience, regulatory compliance, and safe use of data.

Due diligence involves:

Assessing the provided information by the third parties for reliability and capabilities of the provider, which may include reviewing the financial data and documents, among others.
Creating policies and procedures for when outside parties are involved, such as making sure external agents are obligated to follow the security standards and provisions of the company, including data encryption and access controls.

This step of the TPRM lifecycle should be aimed at ensuring that the organization fully understands the risks that the third-party relationships will bring and acts in response to them, mitigating each to a possible minimum. It also serves as a reference for the constant monitoring and testing of the ties to guarantee that the actions are compliant and secure.

3. Risk Mitigation

After the assessment of risks and fulfillment of due diligence, the next step in the TPRM lifecycle is risk mitigation and management. This means that policies, controls, and processes must be developed to mitigate existing risks in the first stages of third-party risk management and expose the organization to lesser third-party risks.

Risk mitigation and control strategies may include:

Contractual clauses: Incorporating specific clauses that are meant to outline the duties of each party in the third-party agreement, the privacy, data security, compliance, and indemnification clauses.

Continuous monitoring: Developing the process of long-term surveillance of third-party actions to ascertain that they comply with the security requirements and conduct regular audits, activities, and periodic reports.

Data protection: Implementing enforcement measures, which include access restrictions, data encryption, and regular backups.

Incident response: Ensuring a quick response strategy focused on security incidents including protocols for alerts, incident management, and post-incident assessments.

4. Contracting Management

In the modern business landscape, organizations frequently look to external vendors for a whole host of services – financial services, marketing, and technology, for example. While these relationships can drive substantial benefits, they’re not without risk – risk that must be managed effectively. This is where contractual and relationship management practices come into play.

Establish SLAs: Service level agreements (SLAs) are contracts that set performance benchmarks and service level standards between an organization and a third-party provider. Critical services must have SLAs that include benchmarks for response times, availability, and the timeframe for resolving problems. These metrics should be frequently reviewed and adjusted as required to ensure they meet current business needs and goals.

Manage relationships: It is essential to have a dedicated relationship management team or point of contact to manage third-party partnerships effectively. This team or individual should be responsible for monitoring the third-party provider’s performance, addressing any issues or concerns, and ensuring that the organization’s expectations are being met. Establishing regular channels of communication, status updates, and conducting periodic evaluations are also critical.

Ensure compliance: Third-party providers must comply with all contractual obligations. This requires ongoing monitoring of the provider’s performance and ensuring that all service-level agreements and other contractual requirements are being met. Additionally, regular audits and assessments should be conducted to ensure compliance with relevant laws, regulations, industry standards, and best practices.

Perform regular review: Contracts with third-party providers should be reviewed and updated regularly to ensure they remain relevant and effective. This includes updating SLAs and other performance metrics to account for changes in business requirements or advancements in technology. Moreover, contracts should be reviewed to ensure they comply with all relevant rules and regulations.

5. Incident response and remediation

In the TPRM life cycle, incident response and remediation features are prominent since they are the safety nets for handling unknown cybersecurity risks. Although organizations use several preventive actions, security incidents can still turn up unexpectedly. Rapid acts of decisiveness are very important since they help mitigate the damage and avoid similar problems in the future.

Here are the key steps in handling security incidents:

Establishing incident response plans: All the parties involved should be well familiar with the roles analysis and the existing incident response plan. The plan should be detailed, identifying and addressing each task from start to finish, and should also cover communications with the key stakeholders and analysis of the incident aftermath.

Addressing third-party involvement: If it is a third-party provider that has been involved, steps should be retained to notify the provider and ascertain their part in the incident. This involves investigating the provider’s security policies and determining if they follow the compliance of any legal requirements and industry standards.

Implementing corrective actions: Once the situation is contained the organizations leverage corrective action to prevent similar incidents from happening again in the future. A new security framework may include: enhancing security measures, updating policies and procedures, and providing additional training and guidance to authorities.

Conducting post-event evaluations: It is essential to conduct a holistic review of the outcomes after the incident to identify areas of improvement. In this evaluation, the focus is on reviewing and improving the security measures, enhancing controls, and reinforcing employee education procedures.

Essentially the relationship between incident response and remediation is an integral part of the TPRM cycle as they function as reactive as well as proactive measures to avoid unexpected risks and secure the data and assets. The establishment of proper and effective incident response protocols can help to ensure the management of risks efficiently and maintain the company’s reputation as well as business continuity.

6. Ensuring Compliance

Compliance is an essential part of the Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) lifecycle. Compliance efforts ensure that all aspects of the TPRM program align with industry standards and provide a framework for continuous monitoring and improvement, helping organizations adapt to changing regulatory landscapes and emerging threats. This stage includes:

Monitoring and validating third-party compliance with contractual obligations, regulatory requirements, and industry standards.

Conducting regular audits and assessments to identify any compliance gaps or areas for improvement.

Implementing corrective actions or strategies to address compliance issues and improve overall compliance posture.

Providing ongoing training and support to third parties on compliance-related matters.

Reviewing and updating compliance policies and procedures in response to changes in regulations or industry standards.

Ensuring that all aspects of the TPRM program, including risk assessments, due diligence, and relationship management, adhere to compliance guidelines.

7. Monitoring of Third-party relationships

While third-party partnerships offer significant benefits, they also come with inherent risks that need to be managed effectively. This is where sound third-party relationship management practices come into play. This includes:

Establishing clear service level agreements (SLAs) to set performance expectations between an organization and its third-party provider. This includes defining response times, availability, and problem resolution timeframes.

Assigning a dedicated relationship management team or point of contact is essential for the effective management of third-party partnerships. They are responsible for monitoring the provider’s performance, addressing concerns, and ensuring that expectations are met.

Conducting regular audits and evaluations of contracts to ensure ongoing compliance with relevant laws and regulations, as well as alignment with organizational goals and standards.

Best Practices of Third-Party Risk Management

Segmentation

Divide third-party relationships into separate groups based on their risk levels, significance, data access, and regulation status.
Prioritize dealing with risks based on the profile of each group so as to use resources wisely.
Conduct ongoing and monitoring of high-risk groups while periodically reviewing low-risk ones.

Continuous Monitoring

Maintain an updated inventory of all third-party relationships, including vendors, suppliers, and contractors.
Establish a process for continuous monitoring of third-party relationships to ensure they meet security standards.
Regularly perform security assessments, audits, and compliance checks to identify and address emerging risks promptly.

Establish Clear Policies and Procedures:

Develop and enforce clear policies and procedures for managing third-party risks.
Identify the roles and responsibilities of the individuals who are part of maintaining the vendor relationships.
Review and refresh permissions when business needs and risks change.

Collaborate with Internal and External Auditors:

Collaborate with the internal and external auditors to build a strong third-party risk management program.
Get help and support from auditors and compliance experts to meet the industry standards and regulatory rules.
Form cross-functional teams of critical stakeholders and auditors from multiple departments to resolve issues and enhance third-party risk management processes.

Leverage automation for TPRM:

Utilize automation tools to streamline the collection, analysis, and reporting of TPRM data, enabling real-time insights into vendor risk profiles, compliance status, and performance metrics.
Implement customizable dashboards and automated reporting functionalities to visualize key risk indicators, trends, and compliance gaps, facilitating informed decision-making and strategic planning.

Challenges in Third Party Risk Management (TPRM)

Risk mapping: Organizations face difficulties in developing an overview of their vendor networks. This can result in a lack of visibility into risks and an increase in overall risks.

Dealing with risks: The risk landscape is constantly changing, requiring organizations to be adaptable and proactive in recognizing and handling emerging risks within their third-party partnerships. However many organizations struggle to keep pace with these changes, leaving them susceptible to threats.

Lack of preparedness for incidents: Despite having risk management strategies in place security incidents involving third parties can still occur. To minimize the impact, companies need incident response plans. Nevertheless, many organizations are not adequately prepared to respond effectively to incidents and lack readiness.

Implementation of ongoing monitoring: Most assessment methods used in TPRM offer a view of a vendor’s risk at a specific moment. This can be limiting. But there are some TPRM platforms, such as Cyber Sierra that allow for near real-time monitoring of the vendors’ security controls

Development of vendor risk management policy: Crafting a Vendor Risk Management (VRM) policy is essential for TPRM. This involves outlining compliance standards responsibilities in the event of a breach, acceptable vendor controls, response protocols, and oversight mechanisms.

Compliance: Ensuring compliance with regulations and industry frameworks is crucial for managing third-party risks. However, staying abreast of the evolving environment can pose challenges. It can get challenging for companies to guarantee that their third-party partnerships adhere to all the relevant regulations.

Integration: TPRM should be an integral part of an organization’s overall risk management strategy. However, companies often struggle to integrate TPRM into their existing business processes, leading to disjointed risk management efforts and potential gaps in risk coverage.

Leverage an Automated Third-party Risk Management program

In general, TPRM is one of the necessary components of a comprehensive risk management program. It helps organizations protect themselves, their customers, and their assets while meeting regulatory compliance, reducing cost, and improving efficiency. Through responsible policies and timely monitoring, organizations can reduce the impact of third-party risks. The right tools enable preparation and forge deals that stimulate growth and success. That said, while you can mitigate third-party risks, it is impossible to eliminate them completely.

This is where Cybersierra comes in. Our TPRM solution simplifies complex third-party relationships and strengthens an organization’s security posture. It provides a comprehensive view of the third-party ecosystem, identifies and prioritizes risks, and deploys targeted risk mitigation strategies. What’s more, it gives you a dashboard view of your vendor’s security posture at any time, instead of the static, one-time snapshot from traditional security questionnaires.

Schedule a demo now to see how Cybersierra can streamline your TPRM processes. Our platform effectively mitigates third-party risks so you can focus on driving business growth through strategic partnerships.

FAQs

Who falls under the category of a third party?

A third party or vendor can be broadly defined as an external entity with which an organization has entered into a contract or agreement to provide a good, product, or service. This can include suppliers, contractors, service providers, partners, or any other entity outside the organization’s immediate scope that contributes to or impacts its operations.

Why is third-party risk management important?

The importance of third-party risk management (TPRM) lies in safeguarding organizations from cybersecurity threats, supply chain disruptions, and potential data breaches that could lead to reputational damage. It’s not just a matter of best practice; it’s increasingly becoming a regulatory requirement.

Why is continuous monitoring of third-party relationships crucial?

Continuous monitoring of third-party relationships is critical because it allows organizations to identify and address emerging risks in near real-time. It provides ongoing insights into a vendor’s security posture and compliance, ensuring that the organization remains vigilant and proactive in managing potential risks associated with its third-party ecosystem.

Srividhya Karthik

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Third Party Risk Management

How to Create a TPRM Framework?- A Step-by-Step Guide

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In today’s business landscape, operating without a third-party vendor can be challenging. Therefore, organizations often seek the strategic advantage of third-party vendors. But unfortunately, outsourcing third parties comes with inherent risks that must be actively managed.

Compliance leaders frequently note that organizations often face unforeseen risks following the initial onboarding and due diligence processes. This underscores the inherent complexity of third-party connections and highlights the critical need for comprehensive Third-party Risk Management (TPRM) strategies. While it is not possible to eliminate all third-party risks, establishing a comprehensive third-party risk management framework will help mitigate potential risks associated with each vendor.

“To build pervasive security across that third-party ecosystem, you not only need to know who those third parties are and what they’re doing for you,” said Edna Conway, chief security officer, global value chain at Cisco, “you had best understand the leadership and the operational processes utilized in your own enterprise that manage the commercial relationship with those third parties.” –

It is, therefore, imperative to understand your third-party risks. So, in this blog post, we will detail how to create a suitable third-party risk management framework for your organization and their associated benefits. Let’s get started right away!

What is a TPRM Framework?

A third-party risk management framework evaluates and mitigates potential security risks associated with outsourcing to third-party vendors, partners, suppliers, or service providers. The framework provides a road map for organizations to build customizable risk management programs per their industry best practices.

A TPRM aims to comprehensively evaluate the risk landscape to minimize the likelihood of data breaches and vulnerabilities, and enhance the overall cyber resilience against threats from third-party vendor associations. The evaluation could range from access to your intellectual property to operational, legal, financial, and compliance risks.

There are two main categories under the TPRM framework— 1) Tailored specifically for TPRM or Supply Chain Risk Management program (SCRM) like Shared Risk Assessment TPRM framework and NIST – 800-161. 2) Supplementary information security programs that enhance the TPRM program or assist in vendor risk management questionnaires, such as NIST CSF v1.1. ISO 27001, and ISO 27036. These standards outline building an effective infosec program by effectively managing controls associated with third-party risks.

Why do you need a TPRM Framework?

While most organizations focus on securing endpoints such as servers, routers, and firewalls mostly, it is worth noting that they are not the only threat actors. There could be potential risks from unfamiliar sources such as the networks of trusted third parties too. These connections can become the vulnerabilities that hackers use to infiltrate your defenses! Hence it is important to come up with a holistic third-party risk management framework.

By employing a TPRM framework, companies can increase their understanding of risks and gain insight into the risk profiles of their suppliers and service providers. This way, the business can make conscious decisions on whether it should partner with a given entity or terminate its relationship to safeguard its operations.

Recent research reveals that a startling 62% of data breaches originate from vulnerabilities in third-party vendor relationships. This indicates just how vital having a TPRM framework is for protecting sensitive organizational information. A properly instituted TPRM program enables organizations to consistently uncover and address potential risks, as well as provide a structured approach for developing and deploying effective risk mitigation tactics.

Regulatory bodies demand rigorous third-party risk management. Start with a thorough due diligence, meet contractual obligations, implement internal security controls, and ensure ongoing compliance with security standards throughout the vendor management lifecycle.

A comprehensive TPRM framework is an essential catalyst for meeting these requirements by providing guidelines to comply with the prescribed security standards and regulatory obligations.

Failure to mitigate third-party risks can result in legal repercussions, reputational and financial losses, and more importantly, erosion of customer trust. A TPRM framework acts as a credibility amplifier that protects your business from vendor risks, safeguards your resources and assets, and maintains your trust and reputation in your marketplace.

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Different Components in the TPRM Framework

There is no one-size-fits-all TPRM program; you can customize your TPRM framework based on your business needs.This can be accomplished by either utilizing a TPRM automation software or developing a fully integrated risk management solution. Any effective TPRM approach should incorporate these six essential elements:

Due diligence

Third-party due diligence is a critical step in risk management, allowing companies to evaluate vendors before engaging in a business relationship. This involves conducting background checks and mitigating risks associated with conflict of interest, legal, cyber security, or compliance issues, ensuring these external partners are legitimate, reliable, and won’t harm the company’s reputation or finances.

Risk identification

The next step in choosing a TPRM framework is recognizing and assessing potential risks related to third-party vendors. Here, you evaluate the nature of the risks, such as operational, compliance, or data privacy risks, the scope of the risk, and the involved parties.

Risk assessment

Following risk identification, this phase involves determining the impact of the likelihood of identified risks. By analyzing the severity and probability of various risks, organizations can prioritize them and allocate resources accordingly to manage and mitigate the highest priority risks.

Risk monitoring

Risk monitoring is a sustained practice utilizing specialized tools and procedures to track, assess, and analyze risk factors continuously. This ongoing process enables organizations to stay abreast of changes in the risk landscape, swiftly identify emerging risks, and proactively address potential vulnerabilities in their third-party relationships.

Risk mitigation

This phase centers on mitigating identified risks to an acceptable level. Strategies may involve implementing internal controls, establishing well-defined contractual agreements, conducting routine audits, formulating contingency plans, and fostering transparent communication with third parties. The objective is to minimize the impact of risks, ensuring the ongoing integrity and security of the organization’s operations within the context of the third-party relationship.

Continuous assessment

Continuous vendor monitoring and risk assessments help you align with the industry best practices. It is essential to establish procedures for security incidents related to third-party vendors. This includes reporting, investigating, and remediating any possible security incidents.

How to Choose a Third-Party Risk Management Framework

When choosing a third-party risk management framework for your company, it’s important to carefully assess your company’s specific needs and risk exposure profile. This includes regulatory requirements, tolerance limits on risk, compliance requirements, vendor dependence, and many organizational considerations. Some key matters to consider are outlined below:

Regulatory Compliance & Risk Appetite:

Consider the prevailing regulations in addition to your organization’s risk tolerance
Ensure the framework aligns with regulatory requirements as well as reflects your risk appetite.

Dependence on Third Parties

Determine to what extent your organization depends on third parties Examine growing threats related to outsourcing and usage of technologies such as cloud services.

Core Business Functions Performed by Vendors

Understand that tasks previously handled by internal employees are now carried out by third parties.
Be aware of how the disruptions or failures caused by vendors can affect you. Increased reliance on vendors can amplify risks

Characteristics of TPRM Frameworks to consider:

Vendor risk assessment program: Ensure that it provides a structured approach within which vendors’ risks can be assessed using custom features based upon the nature of the relationships and the significance of services rendered.

Third-party vulnerability detection: Look for mechanisms that identify vulnerabilities, including cybersecurity gaps, and have features that enable vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, and continuous monitoring of third-party environments.

Compliance gap detection: Assess whether the framework enables continuous compliance monitoring with relevant regulations and industry-specific requirements. Look for functionalities that identify compliance gaps and deviations from established standards.

Risk assessment questionnaire: Evaluate if the framework offers automation capabilities for administering security questionnaires and collecting information from third-party vendors. Look for functionalities that streamline the assessment process, automate responses, and provide detailed risk analyses.

Remediation program: Check if the framework supports developing and implementing remediation plans to address identified risks and vulnerabilities. Check for availability of features that facilitate stakeholder collaboration, tracking of remediation progress, and help prioritize corrective actions based on risk severity.

Reporting: Ensure the framework includes reporting capabilities to communicate TPRM activities to stakeholders. Look for customizable reporting templates, dashboards, and metrics that provide insights into risk exposure and mitigation efforts.

Some cyber frameworks that align well with TPRM requirements and security controls include NIST CSF, ISO 27001, ISO 27002, ISO 27019, ISO 27036, and NIST RMF 800-37. These frameworks provide structured approaches to addressing cybersecurity risks and can be tailored to support your organization’s third-party risk management initiatives. By taking into account these elements and establishing a robust TPRM framework, organizations can adeptly handle third-party risks while optimizing the value gained from these partnerships.

How to Create a TPRM Framework

A strong third-party risk management framework helps avoid potential hazards and ensures vendor complexities do not derail a business. It safeguards assets, ensures regulatory compliance, and protects the company’s reputation. Here is an easy process for creating a third-party risk management framework:

1. Engage your stakeholders

The first step towards developing the TPRM framework is putting together a cross-functional team. It’s important to involve representatives from departments like risk management, operations, procurement, finance, IT, cybersecurity, legal, and compliance. This achieves alignment and allows each group to contribute their perspective and expertise in managing vendor risks effectively.

2. Group your third-parties

List down all your third-party service providers. Categorize them based on—the nature of the service or product offered, types of data accessed, the extent of data access and its necessity, and any fourth-party providers availed by the vendor.

Evaluate how important each third-party relationship is for the accomplishment of your organization’s goals. Also, consider geographic location of vendors for regulatory differences or geopolitical instability.

3. Define scope and risk tolerance

After thoroughly categorizing the vendors, define the scope of the TPRM framework by identifying the type of third parties involved and the risk factors to be considered. In addition, determine the organization’s acceptable level of risks.

Determine the organization’s risk appetite and tolerance levels, including cybersecurity, compliance, and operational disruptions. Account for industry-specific regulations and standards when defining the scope of the TPRM framework.

You can implement a risk matrix to categorize all the identified risks based on their criticality. This allows identifying risk thresholds.

4. Establish a TPRM process

Start by drafting vendor onboarding guidelines and pre-screening processing to categorize the vendors per their risk profile. Establish third-party risk assessment questionnaires to gather information on vendors’ internal controls, security practices, compliance, and industry-specific standards and best practices.

These questionnaires should cover areas like data encryption, access controls, regulatory compliance, and financial health, aligning with your organizational needs. Standardized or customized questionnaires can be used depending on our preferences and prevailing practices in our industry.

5. Risk identification and mitigation

Implementing a strong TPRM framework requires identifying and assessing risks systematically. This involves categorizing risks based on their potential impact and likelihood, and then conducting assessments to prioritize mitigation efforts.

Next, effective mitigation strategies, such as implementing security controls or enhancing contractual provisions, are defined. By following these steps, organizations can proactively manage third-party risks and safeguard their operations.

6. Due diligence

Before entering into third-party relationships, you must carry out a robust due diligence to thoroughly assess potential partners’ suitability and reliability. This involves monitoring and evaluating vendor performance, verifying their compliance with the required regulations, and adherence to contractual obligations. By staying vigilant and proactive in vendor management, organizations can develop fruitful partnerships and effectively mitigate risks over time.

7. Incident response plans

Develop corrective action or incident response plans to address security and data breaches, or other incidents involving third-party vendors. Also, establish business continuity and contingency plans to mitigate the impact on organizational operations, in the event of such disruptions or failures in third-party relationships.

8. Compliance

Ensure compliance with the applicable laws and regulations, industry benchmarks, and contractual obligations governing your third-party relationships. Establish open channels of communication with stakeholders, such as executive management, board members, and regulators on TPRM activities, results and risk status.

9. Continuous improvement

Ongoing monitoring and evaluation mechanisms must be implemented for the TPRM framework. This helps in identifying lessons learned from past experiences and highlights emerging risks or changes in the business environment to enhance policies, procedures, and risk assessment methodologies.

10. Training

Develop training modules and awareness sessions to educate employees about their roles and responsibilities in managing third-party risks. Doing this fosters a security-first culture and promotes risk awareness and accountability throughout the organization.

Best practices to maintain third-party risk management framework

A TPRM framework requires continuous monitoring and adoption to changing business conditions. Essential practices to ensure effective risk management in vendor relationships includes:

Develop standards and frameworks for third-party monitoring

Establish standardized operating procedures to be used throughout the organization.
Utilize established risk management frameworks such as NIST and ISO to complement the assessment process and ensure comprehensive coverage of third-party risks.

Risk cataloging and assessment

Catalog cybersecurity risks posed by third-party vendors and assess them based on potential impact and likelihood.
Adjust risk profiles per the changes in vendor operations, the scope of services provided, or any relevant regulations.
Segment vendors based on identified risks and prioritize mitigation efforts according to your organization’s risk appetite.

Conduct due diligence

Conduct annual audits to review the effectiveness of your risk management efforts
Compare performance against pre-defined risk tolerance thresholds.
Identify key security controls and monitor its adherence by the vendors.

Continuous improvement

Implement mechanisms to monitor third-party relationships, including performance, compliance, and risk indicators.
Develop incident response plans to ensure effective responses to security breaches or other incidents involving third-party vendors.
Provide training programs to educate employees and stakeholders on TPRM best practices and emerging risks.

Utilize automation tools for improvement

Leverage technology to automate evaluations and oversights, where possible.
Ensure continuous monitoring and improvement of third-party management processes.
Establish clear success criteria aligned to the level of risk tolerance.
Act on lessons and observations from incidents, audit findings, or best practices in the industry to strengthen due diligence processes.

How does Cyber Sierra help you manage third-party risk?

As emphasized, conducting thorough checks on third-party partners is crucial for businesses. It goes beyond merely ticking a checkbox; it’s an ongoing effort filled with inherent risks.

Developing a robust Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) program may seem daunting without a dedicated solution. Fortunately, your team can streamline critical processes of your vendor risk management program with Cyber Sierra.

Our unified cybersecurity platform empowers your team to assess, onboard, and manage your vendors’ security and compliance posture in near real-time, enabling you to mitigate vendor risks much faster. Ultimately, Cyber Sierra serves as a proactive partner, integrating governance, risk management, and cybersecurity adherence into a complete cybersecurity solution. Schedule a demo today!

FAQs

How can a TPRM framework benefit your organization?

A TPRM framework provides several benefits, including enhanced risk awareness, better decision-making regarding vendor partnerships, improved regulatory compliance, and protection of organizational assets and reputation. By systematically managing third-party risks, organizations can minimize the likelihood of vulnerabilities, data breaches, financial losses, and disruptions to operations, thereby safeguarding their overall resilience and competitiveness in the market.

How often should you conduct third-party risk assessment?

It is recommended to assess new third parties during onboarding, before audits, upon contract renewals, during incidents, during termination of partnerships, and also periodically whenever there are changes in the control environments.

Is there software for conducting third-party risk assessments?

Yes. There are specialized third-party risk management software and tools to perform risk assessment. These tools enable you to conduct assessments following a questionnaire, automate tasks, manage data, and offer insights into risks, streamlining the entire third-party risk management process.

Srividhya Karthik

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Governance & Compliance

The Proactive CISO’s Guide to CCoP 2.0 Regulations

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‘A lot more is now required.’

That’s how I’ll summarize the huge lift in requirements in version two of the Cybersecurity Code of Practice (CCoP 2.0) Regulations. Per KPMG’s assessments, to become compliant, clauses companies must now adhere to jumped 116%, from 102 to a whopping 220:

This increase leaves you, a CISO or company executive charged with leading your team’s compliance efforts, with much more to do. It’s also crucial to note that, after CCoP 2.0 went into effect in July 2022, Singapore’s CyberSecurity Act (CSA) allowed a grace period of just twelve (12) months. The implication of this is that you need some urgency to avoid the hammer.

But, first, why so many new security clauses?

Lionel Seaw succinctly answered that:

Who Is CCoP 2.0 Compliance For?

There are two ways to answer this one.

The first are the organizations in sectors explicitly spelled out by the CSA. Per their official statement, Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) of companies in designated sectors responsible for essential services in Singapore must comply.

They include:

Government
Energy
Healthcare
Banking and Finance
Transport (Land, Maritime, and Aviation)
Media
Infocomm, and
Security and Energy Services

Your company may not be in these sectors.

Regardless, if your organization works with businesses in those sectors, you also need to comply. This is because of the second way the CSA states who CCoP 2.0 is applicable to:

Based on this, I’d do two things with this guide:

Explore key CCoP 2.0 compliance requirements, and
Show how Cyber Sierra’s smart enterprise compliance management suite helps to automate their implementations.

Before that:

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Key CCoP 2.0 Requirements for CII

As earlier mentioned, across its eleven (11) requirement sections, there are about 220 auditable security clauses in CCoP 2.0.

As shown below:

Protection, Governance, Detection, Operational Technology (OT) Security, Response & Recovery, Cyber Resilience, and Cybersecurity Training & Awareness. These seven requirements all have over half a dozen security clauses. At face value, it may seem like the key requirements for complying with CCoP 2.0 CII revolve around these.

While they do to some extent, the bulk of what’s needed in the clauses under these requirements comes down to creating policy documents. Companies can work with compliance consultants to get these done. Where you want to channel your efforts is on ensuring that your CII systems are actually secured from cyber threats.

Achieving that goes beyond creating policy documents. You need a way to automate processes for governing, detecting, and training employees on ways to remediate cyber threats and vulnerabilities.

And that’s where Cyber Sierra helps.

Our platform enables you to coordinate your entire team and manage multiple compliance audits from one place. For instance, Speedoc, a Singaporean-based tech company, relies on Cyber Sierra for this:

How to Automate CCoP 2.0 Compliance Audit

The CSA applied five design principles in drafting CCoP 2.0. These principles are important because they provide the guardrails to successfully prepare for CCoP 2.0 compliance audit.

They are illustrated here:

Cumulatively, these principles give organizations the flexibility to focus on CCoP 2.0 requirements they deem necessary. With that in mind, the steps below summarizes how Cyber Sierra automates vital requirements involved in crushing a CCoP compliance audit.

Governance

This requirement essentially mandates having qualified employees assigned to the right roles and working collaboratively to:

Provide cybersecurity leadership and oversight
Handle cybersecurity change management
Create policies, standards, and guidelines
Perform periodic internal compliance audits
Select necessary cloud security requirements
Implement vendor risk management framework.

Cyber Sierra makes doing all these easier. With our platform, you can add all employees on your Governance team, assign responsibilities, and work collaboratively from one place:

Protection

Protection is the CCoP 2.0 requirement with the most number of security clauses. Clauses under this requirement primarily force organizations to protect their CII from unauthorized access.

Twelve crucial clauses covered includes:

Privilege access management
Access control
Patch management
System hardening
Database security
Penetration testing
Network segmentation
Windows domain controller
Cryptography key management
Network segmentation
Application security, and
Vulnerability management.

To meet CCoP 2.0’s Protection requirements, having a solid process for detecting threats is an important step. This is because in Clause 5.14.2, the Code states:

To achieve this, you need to automate detecting where threats and vulnerabilities are coming and get insights for remediating them.

And that’s the next vital requirement.

Detection

This requirement can be summarized to one thing: Your organization should have technology for enacting cybersecurity controls that helps your security team streamline processes involved in:

Cyber threat intelligence
Continuous controls’ monitoring
Cybersecurity log management, and
Threat hunting.

Cyber Sierra’s Risk Dashboard automates all that:

As shown, this feature enables your team to filter and scan Critical Information Infrastructure assets continuously. Besides detecting and identifying cyber threats and vulnerabilities that could affect your CII from this, you also get a dashboard with real-time reports needed for compliance audits. On the same dashboard, your team can manage and get factual insights for resolving vulnerabilities.

Cybersecurity Training & Awareness

Clauses under this requirement can be split into two parts:

Cybersecurity awareness programme, and
Cybersecurity training and skills.

Both may sound like the same thing, but they are not. One is about keeping employees aware of existing and emerging cybersecurity attack types. The other is concerned with equipping them with the skills needed to counter threats and effect cybersecurity responsibilities.

To comply with both, in 9.1.3, the CCoP 2.0 mandates that:

Cyber Sierra helps you automate this. Our Employee Awareness suite gives you a single pane to:

Launch and manage employee awareness and training programs
Monitor and nudge employees to complete programs, so everyone is always ready for CCoP 2.0 compliance audits:

Staying Compliant with CCoP 2.0 Regulations

Achieving CCoP 2.0 compliance is flexible.

As the guiding principles used in creating its draft revealed, organizations are free to choose and only comply with CII requirements that are applicable to them. But once those initial requirements have been chosen and their corresponding security controls defined, staying compliant can’t be treated flexibly.

The CSA mandates organizations to implement a continuous cycle of security assessments to enable swift responses to cybersecurity incidents. This was hammered in clause 13.21 of their official documentation of responses to feedback on CCoP 2.0 compliance:

In other words, you should monitor the cybersecurity controls defined in your CCoP 2.0 compliance continuously to stay compliant. Cyber Sierra’s Governance suite enables that.

Organizations leverage it to:

Monitor CCoP 2.0 compliance control breaks continuously
Get practical remediation insights
Assign and remediate risks with teammates collaboratively.

Here’s a peek:

Automate Becoming and Staying CCoP 2.0-Compliant.

Cyber Sierra automates crucial steps involved in becoming (and staying) CCoP 2.0-compliant

Pramodh Rai

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Third Party Risk Management

The Proactive CISO’s Guide to MAS TRM Guidelines

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Where there’s sugar, expect unwanted ants.

That has proven true in Singapore. As the country grows into a world-renowned tech hub, it has become a sweet spot for innovative startups and enterprises. So has it for unwanted bad actors.

So much that, in 2022 alone, Singaporean financial institutions (FIs) spent a whopping US$5.7 billion fighting cybercrime and meeting regulations. In one massive phishing attack, for instance, Singapore’s OCBC Bank and its customers lost over US$10.8 million.

With no end to such cyberattacks in sight, more stringent cybersecurity compliance measures were needed. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) rightly stepped up to update its Technology Risk Management (TRM) Guidelines.

Updating the MAS TRM Guidelines was Necessary

The updated MAS TRM Guidelines adds another item to the already loaded to-dos of CISOs of banks and financial institutions (FIs). But given that cybercrime is getting worse, becoming (and staying) compliant is necessary to help your team achieve cyber resilience.

According to the regulatory body:

In other words, threat actors are now more sophisticated. The dire situation means MAS TRM Guidelines helps banks, FIs, and all enterprises working with them to:

Understand their company’s exposure to technology risks.
Ensure IT and cyber resilience by erecting robust risk management frameworks across their company’s operations.

But achieving both can be overwhelming.

What’s even more troubling is the fact that to remain compliant with Singapore’s MAS TRM Guidelines, companies are required to monitor cybersecurity controls continuously. For this, you need a smart enterprise compliance automation suite that automates mundane steps involved.

That’s where a platform like Cyber Sierra comes in.

And in this piece, you’ll see how it automates the process of becoming (and staying) compliant with MAS TRM Guidelines.

Before we dive in…

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Becoming (and Staying) Compliant with MAS TRM Guidelines

The updated MAS TRM Guidelines has fifteen sections:

Preface
Application of MAS TRM Guidelines
Technology Risk Governance and Oversight
Technology Risk Management Framework
IT Project Management and Security-by-Design
Software Application Development and Management
IT Service Management
IT Resilience
Access Control
Cryptography
Data and Infrastructure Security
Cyber Security Operations
Cyber Security Assessment
Online Financial Services
IT Audit

The first and second sections provide an overview of the MAS TRM Guidelines. After that, each section from 3–15 has subsections outlining best practices organizations should follow to become and stay compliant. But as illustrated below, after reviewing all these sections and subsections, we grouped them into three critical areas:

Risk governance and oversight
Third-party risk management (TPRM)
Data and operational security management.

Risk Governance and Oversight

Sections under this area of the MAS TRM Guidelines outline the personnel and frameworks needed to ensure that a technology risk management strategy is established and implemented. The emphasis is first on having a more extensive list of roles appointed into your organization’s board of directors and senior management.

The regulatory body notes:

The importance of these roles can’t be overstretched.

Their combined expertise is needed to oversee the creation and implementation of technology risk management and IT project management frameworks, respectively. Once these personnels have been appointed, it’s best to have them working collaboratively.

That’s where an interoperable cybersecurity platform like Cyber Sierra comes in. Our platform gives you a central place to work collaboratively and implement the needed security frameworks:

As shown, you can add appointed executives for more streamlined collaboration based on their roles. This automatically gives them role-based access controls for overseeing:

The implementation of technology risk management strategy
The erection of a third-party risk management framework
The continuous assessment, management, and remediation of threats and risk necessary to remain compliant.

One benefit of having them collaborate from a streamlined platform like Cyber Sierra is that besides the ease of assigning policies and security controls to them, they’ll work together from a single pane.

Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM)

Sections 6–10 of the MAS TRM Guidelines, if you look closely, have a lot to do with 3rd party vendor risks. This is probably why the most recent update focuses mainly on third-party risk management. According to the regulatory body, this renewed focus is because:

By this recommendation, assessing risks from 3rd-parties should be prioritized. To do this effectively, it’s best to start by categorizing vendors based on their access to your organization’s sensitive data.

As illustrated below:

Once you’ve categorized vendors, the next step is to create, customize, and send security assessment questionnaires based on that categorization. Cyber Sierra automates this process.

Our platform has globally-recognized vendor risk assessment templates, such as NIST and ISO. Your team can customize them to suit regional requirements for compliance programs like MAS TRM. You can also add and use your own risk assessment templates:

The steps are streamlined into:

Choosing an appropriate assessment template
Customizing it by selecting and editing questions needed to assess a particular third-party vendor
Assigning reviewer(s) with different role-based access control in a few clicks, and
Providing details of the third-party vendor such as where they are located or the assessee type they are:

Through these steps, especially the 4th step, our platform enforces the categorization of 3rd-party vendors, right from sending out security assessment questionnaires. And by automating the entire process from one place, your organization can assess third-party risks and monitor their security postures in real-time.

That was the case for a global bank using Cyber Sierra:

Read their success story here.

Data and Operational Security Management

The last five sections of MAS TRM Guidelines deal with how organizations manage and secure data in their daily operations. Due to the dynamism involved in managing sensitive data, achieving compliance to requirements outlined in these sections calls for continuous monitoring of cybersecurity controls.

That is, your security team should:

Continuously monitor and analyze cyber events
Promptly detect and respond to cyber incidents.

The regulatory body recommends that:

Here’s why this recommendation is vital.

It allows enterprises to identify any changes in a provider’s risk profile over time rather than just at preset intervals, shifting from periodic risk assessments to continuous intelligence.

For instance, your organization outsources technology services to cloud providers like AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and others. Based on the MAS TRM’s official statement, your security team should automatically, through continuous monitoring, test controls and configurations in those environments. This removes the need for manual checks and provides assurance on cloud-based controls.

Cyber Sierra automates this process:

As shown, in one dashboard, your team can:

Continuously monitor and detect MAS TRM control breaks and their corresponding vulnerabilities.
View details of vulnerabilities related to a control break
Get actionable tips for remediating threats, and
Assign remediation to qualified teammates.

Automate MAS TRM Compliance

Begin the MAS TRM compliance journey in a few clicks. Automate the entire process in one place.

The Consequence of MAS TRM Noncompliance

Brand reputation damage and, of course, fines.

Those are the major consequences of violating MAS TRM Guidelines. Specific to fines, this report noted that the penalty per breach of a TRM requirement can exceed S$1 million. But it doesn’t end there. Multiple breaches of the MAS TRM requirements can result in a multi-million dollar fine for an organization.

This was demonstrated by MAS’s 2023 report of penalized financial institutions. DBS Bank was among those penalized. They were fined a whopping S$2.6 million for violations and noncompliance failures committed between July 2015 and February 2020.

Their case revealed that your organization can still be penalized several years after for noncompliance failures committed today. This necessitates the need to prioritize becoming (and staying) compliant to MAS TRM Guidelines today.

Ease through Singapore’s MAS TRM Guidelines

MAS TRM Guidelines has 15 sections.

Under each section, there are dozens of subsections of requirements organizations must adhere to become compliant. Along with these, their corresponding security controls that must be implemented. To ease the process, it is better to leverage a platform that automates most processes involved:

Our platform has the MAS TRM program built-in.

This means, in a few clicks, you can invite your team and work collaboratively to become (and stay) MAS TRM-compliant, while automating various tasks involved from one place.

Our platform has the MAS TRM program built-in.

This means, in a few clicks, you can invite your team and work collaboratively to become (and stay) MAS TRM-compliant, while automating various tasks involved from one place.

Automate MAS TRM Compliance

Begin the MAS TRM compliance journey in a few clicks. Automate the entire process in one place.

Pramodh Rai

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Continuous Control Monitoring

Enterprise Cybersecurity Continuous Control Monitoring Examples

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Examples of using cybersecurity continuous control monitoring (CCM) for enterprises revolve around three core areas:

Compliance automation
Cyber threats’ remediation
Vendor risk management.

Across these core areas, lots of activities go into implementing an effective cybersecurity CCM program. This piece will discuss examples in these areas. You’ll also see how enterprise security teams simplify implementation processes with a cybersecurity CCM tool.

Before we get to those…

Why Is Cybersecurity Continuous Monitoring Important?

Two main reasons:

You get real-time visibility into your company’s internal controls and cybersecurity infrastructure for taking timely security actions.
It increases your security team’s productivity.

Gartner’s research corroborates:

Beyond its importance, if implemented properly, the benefits of CCM are enormous. Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and enterprise tech execs leverage it to unlock benefits such as:

Enhanced visibility
Early threat detection
Proactive incident response
Continuous compliance, and
More effective risk management:

But there’s a caveat.

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to attain these benefits without properly implementing cybersecurity CCM. And that’s because continuous control monitoring has a whopping seven (7) lifecycle implementation phases:

If you’re just getting started, knowing this is crucial before trying to replicate examples. To help you, we created this cybersecurity CCM checklist relied on by enterprise CISOs and tech execs.

Grab a free copy below. It’d help your security team implement CCM properly, as you aim to replicate the examples that follow:

The Enterprise Cybersecurity CCM Checklist

Enterprise security execs use this checklist to effectively implement cybersecurity continuous monitoring (CCM).

Enterprise Examples of Continuous Control Monitoring

Gartner notes that:

The highlight above brings us to the first example (and prominent use case) of continuous control monitoring in cybersecurity:

1. Compliance Automation

There are numerous privacy laws and regulatory frameworks enterprise orgs must be compliant with today. From global programs such as SOC 2, GDPR, ISO 27001, to local ones like CCPA in California or Singapore’s Cyber Essentials Mark, the list goes on.

Here’s the most challenging part.

Each of these frameworks, whether global or local, has dozens of mandatory security controls. Ensuring each control is working as required by policy, as Gartner notes, is the only way a company remains compliant. And to achieve this, automating the entire compliance processes across all programs is necessary.

That’s a perfect example (and use case) of continuous, automated monitoring of compliance controls. With a pure-play cybersecurity CCM platform, enterprise security teams are able to manage multiple security controls and compliance audits smoothly.

Take the team at Speedoc:

Read the example (and use case) of Speedoc here.

2. Cyber Threats’ Remediation

Cyber threats could be external, from hackers looking for misconfiguration to exploit in your IT systems. It could also be internal, from your employees leaving vulnerabilities through which cyber thieves can exploit and steal critical data.

As a result, there’s a need to have a comprehensive overview of your IT, network, and cloud assets. Specifically, you want to continuously find and fix misconfigurations or user behaviors that could lead to data breaches. Doing both simultaneously is how your security team can better secure company and users’ information. This is another example (and critical use case) of a cybersecurity CCM platform.

Speedoc leans on Cyber Sierra for this, too:

3. Vendor Risk Management

Vendors will go the extra mile, checking off all security requirements to win a company’s business. But don’t trust them to consistently secure company data once they become part of your company’s 3rd party ecosystem.

This makes ongoing vendor assessments a vital example (and use case) of cybersecurity continuous control monitoring. Using a CCM platform with vendor risk management capabilities, enterprises monitor vendors’ security posture in real-time.

Consider this global bank using Cyber Sierra:

More on this example (and use case) here.

Automating Cybersecurity Continuous Monitoring Activities In One Platform

Done separately, each example of using cybersecurity continuous control monitoring comes with loads of activities. But with an interoperable cybersecurity CCM platform, activities related to monitoring of controls can be automated from one place. This saves your security team more time to focus on more strategic endeavors of securing the company.

Say you wanted to instill automation in your enterprise compliance management and continuously monitor controls. With Cyber Sierra, you get access to all the popular compliance programs, along with each one’s mandatory policies (1) and security controls (2):

It doesn’t end there.

Our platform even automates the process of continuously monitoring security controls of all implemented compliance programs. This enables your compliance team to get notified whenever there are control breaks.

Here’s a peek:

As shown, activities this streamlines in one view include:

Monitoring control breaks of all compliance programs
Viewing details of each control break
Getting tips for remediating each control break, or
Assigning remediation members of your security team.

CCM activities related to cyber threats’ remediation and vendor risk management also need to be automated. And with Cyber Sierra, your security team can monitor a range of controls from the same place.

Take cyber threats’ remediation.

Our platform lets you integrate and connect all IT, network, and cloud assets used across your organization. Once integrated, it continuously monitor and pulls data into a Risk Register, where misconfigurations and user behaviors that could cause breaches are flagged in real-time:

In this view, our Risk Register detected a vulnerable control break (3) by a user (2) of the GSuite cloud asset (1) automatically.

Last but not least are continuous control monitoring activities for third-party risk management. Identifying and mitigating vendor risks can be a handful, as your team must analyze, assess, and monitor 3rd parties’ security postures in real-time. This is why we built Cyber Sierra to enable enterprise security teams to do it all in one place.

Our platform’s TPRM capability automatically and continuously assesses evidence of security controls uploaded by vendors. It is also intelligent enough to flag vendors whose evidence fail verification:

Automate Continuous Monitoring Activities

The activities involved in cybersecurity continuous control monitoring can be daunting, especially if tackled manually or from different tools. But by automating them from a single platform, enterprises can constantly monitor and get full visibility needed for the proper implementation of security controls.

That’s a reason executives at enterprise tech companies rely on a pure-play cybersecurity CCM platform like Cyber Sierra. One example is Aditya Anand, the CTO of Hybr1d. Their security team monitors and gets full visibility of security controls with our platform.

In Anand’s own words:

Hybr1d demonstrates that the many activities of cybersecurity CCM can be automated with an interoperable platform like Cyber Sierra.

Your team can achieve the same:

Automate Cybersecurity Continuous Control Monitoring Activities

Ready to see how Cyber Sierra continuously monitors and automates compliance automation, cyber threats’ remediation, and vendor risk management activities?

Pramodh Rai

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Continuous Control Monitoring

Different Cybersecurity Controls and How to Implement Them

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The frequency at which cybercriminals are launching new —and more sophisticated— attacks will only increase. To buttress, imagine it takes you 5–7 mins to skim this article. In that short time, hackers would’ve targeted the cybersecurity infrastructures of over 33 enterprises.

And that’s by 2021 estimates:

As the predictions reveal, by 2031, enterprise organizations would be cyberattacked every two seconds. Given this alarming frequency, how can enterprise security teams identify, investigate, and counter-attacks at the pace of cyber thieves?

Joseph MacMillan; CISSP, CCSP, CISA, gave a clue:

I wrote this article to help proactive CISOs and Enterprise Security Leaders like you heed this crucial advice. We’d evaluate cybersecurity control types and go through how your security team can implement the right ones with Cyber Sierra.

But first:

What are Cybersecurity Controls?

Cybersecurity controls are measures used by security teams to detect, prevent, and remediate cyber threats. Creating, implementing, and enforcing them ensures the cybersecurity CIA triad —confidentiality, integrity, and availability)— of your company’s IT assets:

As illustrated, without the proper controls, achieving the cybersecurity CIA triad is difficult, if not impossible. The rise of cybersecurity continuous control monitoring (CCM) is as a result of this. Today, enterprises mustn’t just strive to have the right cybersecurity controls, but you must monitor them continuously to always ensure proper implementation.

So for the rest of this article, we’d:

Evaluate types of cybersecurity controls
Go through how to implement and monitor them.

Before that:

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Types of Cybersecurity Controls for Enterprises

All cybersecurity controls revolve around four essentials: People, technology, processes, and strategy. This means you must:

Have the right people on your security team
Empower them with the right technology
Institute the right security processes, and
Have a strategy that tracks the right security metrics.

Across the four essentials outlined above, all control types can be categorized under the core pillars of cybersecurity:

Governance and compliance
Cyber threat remediation
Vendor risk management

Governance and compliance controls

Continuously meeting all industry and government regulations is now a prerequisite for gaining customers’ and investors’ trust. To this end, having the required governance and compliance controls does two crucial things for your enterprise organization:

They help you achieve compliance for highly-sought standards like SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, PCI DSS, and others.
They also help your company continuously improve those controls to remain compliant as new changes emerge.

But the challenge: How do you know the specific controls required for each compliance standard your company must attain?

Each compliance program has dozens of policies, requiring multiple dozens of security controls to be in place. SOC 2, for instance, has 23 mandatory policies and over 96 cybersecurity controls. Creating, tracking, and implementing each can be a stretch, especially when you add those from other programs like ISO 27001, GDPR, and so on.

But with Cyber Sierra, your security team gets a centralized view of all compliance program policies and their corresponding controls:

From the view shown above, you can evaluate:

All the mandatory policies for all the compliance programs your company must become compliant with, and
Each control required under every policy.

Your security team can also implement these controls on the same pane with Cyber Sierra. This is why executives at enterprise companies trust the capabilities of our platform.

Take Hemant Kumar of Aktivolabs:

More on Aktivolabs’ success story here.

Cyber threats’ remediation controls

One of the ways cybercriminals exploit companies is through loopholes and vulnerabilities in their network and IT assets. To stay one step ahead, enterprise security teams must:

Continuously scan their network and cloud assets for threats.
Implement controls for detecting and remediating them.

With Cyber Sierra, your team can accomplish both.

Our platform lets you integrate and connect all your network, Kubernetes, and cloud assets for continuous scanning. Through our Risk Register, you also get cybersecurity controls from vulnerabilities related to all scanned assets automatically implemented. This means your team can focus on identifying and remediating control breaks:

As shown, Cyber Sierra’s Risk Register automatically detected a vulnerable control break (3) by a user (2) of the GSuite cloud asset (1).

Vendor Risk Management Controls

Third-party vendors, while crucial to all enterprises’ operations, introduce lots of cybersecurity risks. According to Joseph Kelly, EY’s Third Party Risk Leader, enterprise security teams have no option than to find a way to deal with the risks they introduce:

To answer the question Joseph raised…

Have vendor risk management controls for identifying, managing, and mitigating vendor risks. Specifically, you must analyze, assess, and monitor 3rd parties’ security postures in real-time. Your team can achieve this with a platform that automatically assesses evidence of security controls defined by your company. Such a platform should also be intelligent enough to flag vendors who fail verification for immediate remediation.

Cyber Sierra does both out of the box:

How to Ease Cybersecurity Controls’ Implementation

Using a centralized platform eases the implementation of all cybersecurity controls. The reason is that cybersecurity controls aren’t mutually exclusive. For instance, those required by compliance programs affect cyber threats’ remediation from cloud assets and third-party risk management.

Research by EY confirmed this.

Their study found that companies using a centralized platform performed vendor risk control assessments much faster:

Done with an automated, centralized platform like Cyber Sierra, enterprise companies can even do more. For instance, a global bank leveraging our platform was able to streamline their entire workflow.

A snippet of their success story reads:

It doesn’t end there.

Other cybersecurity controls are better implemented with a centralized, automated platform. Take the ongoing implementation of governance and compliance program controls. With a platform like Cyber Sierra, enterprise security teams get two benefits.

First, all controls of compliance programs you need to become compliant with are auto-consolidated into a single dashboard:

As shown, from this pane, you can:

See what programs a control is attached to
View and update evidence of having that control
Assign control implementation to team members
Add new compliance program controls as they emerge.

Second, after initial implementation, our platform automatically monitors and flags all control breaks for immediate remediation.

Here’s a peek:

From here you can easily:

Monitor control breaks across all compliance programs
View details of each control break
Get action tips for remediating each control break, or
Assign their remediation to anyone on your security team.

Implement Cybersecurity Controls with Ease

A point worth re-stressing is that cybersecurity controls aren’t mutually exclusive. The controls you need for becoming and staying compliant to governance and compliance programs relate to your internal risk management controls. To this end, it makes sense to constantly implement and monitor all controls from a single platform.

Aditya Anand shared how the security team at Hybr1d achieves both with Cyber Sierra’s intelligent, interoperable cybersecurity platform.

In his words:

Hybr1d shows that to easily implement and monitor cybersecurity controls, enterprise companies should consider using an automated, interoperable platform like Cyber Sierra.

And you can start with a free demo:

Implement & Monitor All Cybersecurity Controls with Ease

Get a 100% free demo to see how Cyber Sierra eases the entire process of implementing and monitoring cybersecurity controls.

Pramodh Rai

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Top 7 GRC Tools You Should Consider in 2024

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What are GRC Tools?

Best GRC Tools to Simplify Compliance and Boost Efficiency

1. Cyber Sierra

2. SAP GRC

3. MetricStream GRC

4. StandardFusion

5. ServiceNow

6. Fusion Framework System

7. SAI360 GRC

How to Choose the Best GRC Tool

i. Identify Your Goals and Requirements

ii. Consider Usability

iii. Consider Customer Support

iv. Evaluate The Cost

v. Consider Scalability

vi. Consider Customization Capabilities

vii. Deployment Options

viii. Integrations Capabilities

How Cyber Sierra Can Help You

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An Ultimate Guide to Regulatory Compliance

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What is Regulatory Compliance?

Importance of Regulatory Compliance

Challenges in Regulatory Compliance

When Regulatory changes keep changing

When finance and technology joined hands

When cybersecurity and data privacy risks became common

Cost of compliance management

Building a proactive compliance culture

Regulatory Compliance by Industry

Regulatory compliance for financial services

Regulatory compliance for energy suppliers

Regulatory compliance for government agencies

Regulatory compliance for the healthcare sector

How Does Regulatory Compliance Work?

Identify applicable regulations:

Assessment and analysis:

Developing a compliance framework:

Implementing controls and processes:

Monitoring and review:

Documentation and reporting:

Adapting to changes:

How to Implement a Regulatory Compliance Plan?

What are your goals?

What is your corporate culture?

What is your functional scope?

What is the nature of your regulatory environment?

How to develop formal procedures, rules, and standards?

Have you trained your employees?

Do you practice accurate record-keeping?

Do you monitor compliance consistently?

How does Cyber Sierra help you with regulatory compliance management?

FAQs

What is regulatory compliance management?

Is regulatory compliance management important?

How can regulatory compliance management benefit your organization?

How often should you create a compliance management plan?

Can we use automation for compliance management?

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GRC Framework: What is it and Why is it Important?

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What is a GRC Framework?

Key components of GRC framework

Governance

Risk Management

Compliance

Types of GRC Framework

Integrated GRC Framework

Modular GRC Framework