In the era of digitization, the value of data is skyrocketing. However, keeping the data secure is now becoming challenging. The increasing professionalism and sophistication of cybercriminals mean a rise in unethical data hacking and ransomware.
For the protection and safeguarding of customer and test data, appointing a data protection officer has become necessary. A data protection officer ensures that a firm abides by the provision of data compliance standards like GDPR, HIPAA, SOX, CCPA, and PCI DSS.
Consider the following best practices while implementing data compliance standards.
5 Practical Data Compliance Tips
Create An Incident Response Plan
Organizations adhering to compliance standards need to report any personal data breaches within 72 hours of detection to the relevant authority.
Therefore, firms should implement an incident response for quick response to any data breach incident.
The incident response plan should clearly define the steps you have to take in case of such a critical event. The company should mention who is responsible for making decisions making and incidence management.
An incident response plan helps inform and educate employees, improve organizational structures, reduce any potential financial impact of a significant incident, and improve customer relationships.
Train your Staff And Keep Training Them
To keep your staff updated with the data compliance standards and minimize any data breach incidents, security staff awareness training should be mandatory.
With repeated training, the staff is well-informed about the regulations, legal requirements, company policies, and their role in data compliance workflow.
Companies need to establish that their employees and data projection officers have read and understood data compliance standards.
Implementation Of An Effective Policy Management System
Traditional corporate communication methods like emails make compliance a challenging task. On the other hand, a policy management system, easy to use, centralized solution for creating, storing, and distributing essential policy documents.
A dedicated policy management software can efficiently target the high-risk areas to data security, and demonstrate compliance with legislative requirements and streamline internal processes.
Additionally, implementing an effective policy management system provides a consistent policy creation method, makes compliance monitoring simple, and adds structure to company procedures.
Defend All Access Points
Companies dealing with data must ensure that all endpoints are protected to achieve complete adherence to compliance standards. However, unpatched systems can be responsible for multiple data breaches.
Updates and patches are necessary for discovering new vulnerabilities. Hackers can exploit new vulnerabilities for breaking into an unpatched system.
The firms must document every patch they deploy since auditors may demand reports of applied patches. Patches keep your systems stable, updated, and safe from security threats.
Stay Updated With The IT Security News
Knowing about the latest security breaches, scams, and cyberattacks will help you proactively identify privacy threats and mitigate risks.
Sharing news and articles about security incidents with your staff also helps to raise awareness, remind them of privacy protection importance and security best practices.
Data compliance is a continuous process. You can’t be compliant once and sit back and relax for the following years to come. You need to keep updating your security policies, monitor data, train your staff, and keep the security process rolling.
