5 Ways to Increase Security and Compliance Efficiencies in 2023

Do more with less. That’s not an uncommon catchphrase in business. But the reality is many organizations, especially those in technology and similar industries, haven’t really had to focus much on cost-cutting and savings measures since the financial crisis of 2007. 

Unfortunately, however, increasing geopolitical and other issues are straining some economies, especially here in the U.S. The question that’s been asked by many in 2022 is, are we in a recession? The reality is there’s been no official declaration, but we’re seeing many economic indicators leaning that way. 

Cybersecurity and compliance programs can sometimes come with a hefty price tag, which often makes program managers concerned about potential cutbacks when times get tough. Yet, as many teams have successfully demonstrated during and after the pandemic, these programs are often critical to operational resilience, and cutting them could have long-lasting, and potentially detrimental impacts on business. Knowing that these types of conversations may be looming in your organization, here are five ways you can look to increase security and compliance efficiencies in the new year, without employing additional resources or asking for more financial support.  

1. Stop the manual work. One of the more time-consuming parts of managing a cybersecurity or compliance program has to do with the often repetitive and manual tasks associated with control and framework implementation and management. Many teams are tasked with implementing one control for one framework and then duplicating and repeating that exact same work to implement the same or similar control in another. This approach takes a lot of resources and consumes time. Not to mention it’s potentially human-error-riddled. Instead, consider adopting a SaaS-based cybersecurity compliance platform that can automate these tasks for you and eliminate duplicate work while decreasing the chance of mistakes.
2. Don’t wait for an audit or incident. Unfortunately, many organizations establish their cybersecurity and compliance programs and set them off into the wild hoping they have done all they can to prevent issues. Often, those issues aren’t discovered until you’re facing an audit, or a security incident occurs. When that happens, team members are often pulled away from their day-to-day responsibilities to respond and sometimes that response can take weeks, maybe even months, leaving necessary work undone in the background. Instead of waiting for your next incident to alert you about any potential issues, consider using a cybersecurity management platform that gives your organization insight into your programs in real-time. This will help you identify weaknesses so you can prioritize remediation and still give your teams time to focus on what needs to get done to run a business as usual. 
3. Keep it together. Another time-consuming part of managing cybersecurity and compliance is tracking everything you need—and knowing where it is. Traditionally, these programs were managed by smaller teams, and in some cases a single person—who knew, for the most part, where everything is and how to access it. Yet, today, as your enterprise becomes more complex and you face more regulatory and compliance scrutiny, you can’t rely on one person, or even a team of people to keep track of all your controls, sub-controls, frameworks, and related documentation. Instead, consider using a platform that will serve as a single source of truth for all your needs, including evidence collection, system integrations, task management, automation, and customized reports for instant insight into program performance.
4. Improve accuracy. Because historically many data-related tasks in cybersecurity and compliance have heavily relied on a small number of individuals to assign, track, and complete them, there has long been potential for errors. And an error not caught soon enough can easily steamroll into greater issues down the line. Instead of relying on your team to tackle all your data inputs manually, consider using a platform that can automate cybersecurity and compliance management for you, including using application-specific connectors to ensure you’ve got smooth integrations across your operations. Also, look for a platform that will automatically monitor, log tasks, and identify and alert you to incidents so you have plenty of time to remediate them with less chance of mistakes along the way.  
5. Find tools and resources with less effort. Oftentimes, when a new security or compliance requirement pops up or an incident or issue exceeds the skillset of your existing team, someone on your team is tasked with doing the research to find the best, most affordable, and most accurate solution to your problem. When that happens, that team member can get bogged down in research and even maybe suffer analysis paralysis by ensuring what’s the best path to take. Instead of doing manual research, look for an industry-trusted marketplace with all these solutions in a database ready for you. Apptega’s CyberXchange, for example, enables users to quickly not just find, but also assess cybersecurity software and services that are matched to your organization’s specific needs.  

Follow along in our 12 Days of Cybersecurity on our LinkedIn. Learn more about how Apptega can simplify day-to-day cybersecurity and compliance management and schedule a custom tour of the Apptega platform.