5 Ways to use Compliance & Cybersecurity Best Practices to Improve Outcomes

When you run a business, compliance and security are two essential factors. Both are equally important for the seamless operation of your business. While compliance helps your business stay within the limits of industry or government regulations, security protects the integrity of your business and sensitive data.

It is worth noting that although security is a prime component of compliance, compliance does not equal security. This is because compliance does not consider the growing threat landscape and associated risks. What it considers, however, is a set of predefined policies, procedures, controls, etc, or cybersecurity best practices.

If an audit concludes that these predefined elements are adequate and your business adheres to them, everything is considered “okay” from a compliance standpoint. However, you still may not be up to scratch from a security standpoint, which only goes to show that you can be compliant but still fall short on security.

In other words, because compliance requirements take a predictable path and change slowly, the compliance landscape lags behind the rapidly changing, unpredictable security landscape.

Now, let’s find out how your business can benefit by combining security and compliance.

Get Covered with Security and Compliance Solutions

There are multiple security loopholes that you must proactively fix to stay out of danger. You can do it by deploying suitable security solutions. A few common security loopholes and related solutions are:

1. Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)
APTs across three attack pillars — endpoints, network and the cloud — are capable of paralyzing hybrid/remote/on-site work environments. Experts estimate the global APT protection market to be worth close to $6 billion in 2021 and $12 billion in 2025.This statistic highlights the trouble caused by APTs. The best way to tackle it is by deploying a solution that can:

– Offer 24/7 monitoring and threat hunting
– Efficiently block malicious actors that evade firewalls and antivirus systems

2. Insider threats skyrocketing at alarming rates
Over the last two years, insider incidents have increased by 47%.What makes the scenario even worse is the fact that insider threats are tough to detect. That’s why it is advisable to have an advanced internal threat detection solution that combines machine learning and intelligent tagging to identify anomalous activity, suspicious changes and threats caused by misconfiguration.

3. Lack of clarity about the network
Keeping track of all the computers, mobile phones, printers, and servers on your business’ network is challenging, especially in today’s increasingly remote-first approach to work. But without knowing the devices on your network, it is not possible to know your IT network’s health. To combat this problem, you need an automated assessment and documentation solution capable of identifying risks to all assets, including those not physically connected to the network.

4. Untrained employees and credentials getting sold on the dark web:

– When your employees are untrained and are unaware of risky actions, it could lead to severe security setbacks. For example, an employee carelessly clicking on a phishing link could lead to a full-blown ransomware attack on your business.

– Another major security issue that you may encounter is when your credentials get sold on the dark web. Experts estimate that 60% of the information available on the dark web could negatively affect most businesses’ security and financials.

– Remember that inadequate data access protocols are not just a security issue but can also land you in hot water with regulators.

Tackle all the above issues by deploying industry-best solutions for security awareness training, dark web monitoring and identity/access management.

Just like security loopholes, you must also fix compliance loopholes the moment you spot them. Non-compliance can even lead to regulators levying penalties as high as 4% of your company turnover.Beyond financial loss, you will also have to face stakeholder dissatisfaction, drop in market share, etc. To avoid such trouble, use a solution that automates compliance processes and generates insightful reports that document compliance.

Convergence of Cybersecurity Best Practices and Compliance

Most companies have at least minimum protection in place, such as an antivirus on workstations/active firewalls. However, you must make sure that your business’ security posture can withstand the growing cyber threat landscape. With some effort using cybersecurity best practices, you can incorporate your security solutions into your compliance strategy as well.

By carefully bringing both security and compliance together systematically, you can reduce risks significantly. To ramp up your organization’s security posture, you can implement strong authentication, data protection, access monitoring, network-to-edge defenses, etc. By routinely validating the effectiveness of these solutions once they’re in place, you can ensure your organization is taking the necessary measures to avoid non-compliance and security breaches.

Better Outcomes Start with Aligning Compliance and Cybersecurity

Organizations often treat compliance and cybersecurity as separate initiatives, but the most successful businesses understand that they work best together. Compliance provides structure, accountability, and governance, while cybersecurity helps protect the systems, data, and operations that keep the business running.

When organizations align compliance requirements with cybersecurity best practices, they are often better positioned to reduce risk, improve operational resilience, strengthen customer trust, and make more informed business decisions. Risk assessments, employee training, access controls, vendor oversight, incident response planning, and ongoing monitoring all contribute to stronger outcomes across the organization.

The goal is not simply to satisfy a regulatory requirement or implement a security tool. It is to create a culture of accountability and continuous improvement that supports long-term business success.

Organizations that integrate compliance and cybersecurity into everyday operations are often the ones best prepared for future challenges.

Is Your Compliance Program Driving Better Security Outcomes?

Many organizations invest in compliance activities and cybersecurity controls without evaluating how effectively those efforts work together. If you’d like help assessing your current program and identifying opportunities for improvement, schedule a free consultation with ITNS Consulting.

We’ll help evaluate your current governance, risk management, compliance, and cybersecurity efforts, identify potential gaps, and develop a practical roadmap for improving security, accountability, and business resilience.

How Mature Is Your Compliance and Cybersecurity Program?

Strong compliance and cybersecurity programs are built on governance, accountability, risk management, and continuous improvement.

Download our Compliance Program Maturity Scorecard to evaluate your organization’s current efforts, identify opportunities for improvement, and gain a clearer understanding of your overall governance, risk management, and compliance maturity.