In today’s data-driven world, protecting your critical information and your customers’ personally identifiable information has become one of the most important aspects of running a business. The absence of proper IT security can lead to the loss of critical data with the potential for catastrophic consequences. Furthermore, compliance regulations are sprouting up all over as more government organizations require companies to protect customer data. Failure to comply with these regulations can bring hefty fines.
Here is an overview of some of the major existing regulatory standards worldwide:
HIPAA
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a U.S. compliance standard designed to protect sensitive patient data. All organizations dealing with protected health information (PHI) are required to maintain and follow process, network and physical security measures in order to be HIPAA compliant. The penalties for being out of compliance with HIPAA are based on the level of negligence and can range from $100 to $50,000 per violation (or per record). The maximum penalty is $1.5 million USD.
GDPR
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union (EU) compliance standard under which businesses are required to protect the personal data and privacy of EU citizens for all transactions that are performed within the EU member states. It is intended to reinforce and unify data protection for all individuals that reside within the EU and control the export of personal data outside the EU. There are two levels of penalties for GDPR noncompliance, with the upper level having fines of up to 20 million euros or 4% of prior year annual revenue, whichever is higher.
PCI
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, commonly referred to as PCI DSS, is a regulatory framework designed to protect the personal payment data of customers whenever it is processed, transmitted or stored by companies they transact with. All merchants who accept payment cards are required to comply with PCI DSS.
Managing Compliance Can Be Cumbersome
Given the increasingly stringent privacy regulations across the globe, you can no longer put compliance on the back burner. Some of the reasons why maintaining compliance can be challenging for businesses are:
Compliance standards are complex
Managing regulatory compliance requires a fair amount of coordination across multiple departments and teams in order to put the security systems in place to protect the data and then efficiently collect the data required to demonstrate compliance. You need to train designated teams in the requirements and intent of the different compliance standards and design a well-defined framework to manage compliance.
Regulations change
Another major challenge in managing compliance is that the standards keep changing according to constantly evolving industry requirements. These changes can be in the form of governance statutes, risk management and compliance requirements of these regulations.
Reporting requirements are stringent and time consuming
In addition to complying with applicable regulatory requirements to secure your business, you must also be able to provide proof of the same — that is, pass critical audits. Businesses are required to create and maintain comprehensive documentation in the form of compliance reports. These reporting requirements can be extremely time consuming to fulfill.
For companies that have customers in California and New York, there are a couple of new compliance standards that they need to adhere to.
CCPA
The California Consumers Protection Act 2018 (CCPA) is one of the most recent personal data protection laws that is designed to enhance consumer protection and privacy rights for the residents of California. It is a data privacy law that regulates how businesses all over the world are required to handle the personal information (PI) of California residents.
NY Shield Act
The recently implemented Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security (SHIELD) law stipulates breach notification and data security requirements for all businesses that collect private data of New York residents — and not just the companies that conduct business anywhere in the state.
Automate to Stay Compliant and Eliminate the Drudgery
Automation is the key to eliminating cumbersome manual processes and workflows and streamlining your compliance management. By automating compliance, you can make sure that you are always meeting the required regulatory standards and have all the right documentation for the purpose of audits. A robust compliance management solution should be able to assist with critical tasks such as:
- Creating and managing compliance processes and tasks
- Automating scanning and data collection
- Automating compliance reporting
Integrated Solution — Endpoint Management and Compliance in Kaseya VSA
Kaseya Compliance Manager is a comprehensive solution that automates and streamlines your compliance processes, making it easier for you to adhere to extensive regulatory requirements. Kaseya Compliance Manager is integrated with the Kaseya VSA endpoint management solution. It generates reports that document compliance and saves you time and helps avoid hefty fines.
Kaseya VSA Compliance Manager
With features like automated assessments, risk-based remediation and demonstrable compliance, Kaseya Compliance Manager provides you with complete peace of mind — enabling you to focus on more important revenue-generating projects and driving business growth.
Download the Kaseya Compliance Manager product brief to learn more about how it can help you scale your business and achieve sustainable profitability.
