There are many IT terms that we don’t fully understand, and for a lot of small business owners, IT compliance and IT security are pretty much the same thing. There are actually many differences between these two phrases, which we will look at in this article.
What Is IT Compliance?
To be IT compliant means that your company has the recommended digital security measures in place, and IT compliance is not really an option, as some companies can testify, when they were fined heavily after a reported data breach, when it was discovered they had inadequate cybersecurity in place.
Being IT compliant doesn’t guarantee you are secure in your data protection, indeed, it is often the case when an IT compliant organisation became the victim of cyber-theft, yet rarely is it seen the other way round. If a company has good IT security, this inevitably means that they are complaint with regulatory guidelines.
Technically speaking, IT compliance means that, at any given point in time, the cyber security measures you have in place exceed the minimum recommendations. The emphasis should be on the word “minimum”, which might be adequate to comply with regulations, yet inadequate to guarantee safety.
IT Security
This refers to the measures you have already taken to protect your online data, and with new examples of malicious code coming out daily, your cybersecurity needs to be ongoing, and if you meet the minimum compliancy levels, that doesn’t mean your data is completely safe.
If you want the best in the business, check out the Australian ISO 27001 compliance consultancy that helps many Australian companies protect their confidential data, and they have all the tools to bring your IT security up to scratch.
IT Security Comes Before Compliance
Generally speaking, if you have IT security that is up to date and from a leading cybersecurity provider, then you are certainly IT compliant, so rather than focusing on compliance, ask a cybersecurity provider to assess your IT security and act based upon their recommendations.
The specialist might recommend some penetrative testing, where ethical hackers do their best to break into your network, and should they succeed, they can plug the hole.
Penetrative Testing
This is the only way to test current cybersecurity measures, and ethical hackers would use all of the many tricks they know to try to gain access to your data, and if you are unsure about the effectiveness of your current firewall and anti-virus packages, ask an expert to carry out penetrative testing.
By talking to a cybersecurity specialist, you can be certain that you are both protected and compliant, and their services should be hired in an ongoing way, as cybersecurity is in a constant state of change.
You simply cannot afford to take any chances with digital data, as hackers are always looking for ways to gain unauthorised access, and they might not be specifically targeting your company, yet they happen to stumble on a weakness.
Contact your local cybersecurity today and see what they can do for you and your company.
