There are endless things a business owner should do for their business to be successful. They have to develop a product or service that can attract customers, hire and train a team to oversee day-to-day operations, implement marketing strategies, keep track of finances, and so much more. While all these tasks are essential for your business to be profitable, your business will be much less successful if you aren’t compliant with standards that affect your industry.
Compliance standards are guidelines or rules that organizations must follow to meet legal, regulatory, or industry requirements. These standards are designed to ensure that organizations conduct business ethically by protecting the rights and interests of their customers, employees, and other stakeholders. When an organization does not maintain its compliance standards, it stands to risk fines, legal action, and other penalties.
Many compliance standards involve sensitive information protection. Here are a few examples.
National Institute Of Standards And Technology (NIST)
The NIST is a nonregulatory federal agency that promotes innovation and industrial competitiveness. It sets standards and guidelines for information security and data protection. It provides guidance on cybersecurity policies, best practices, and technologies.
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework “helps businesses of all sizes better understand, manage, and reduce their cybersecurity risk and protect their networks and data”.
It’s built on the following five core functions:
- Identify
Understanding the organization’s cyber security risks, assets, and the people responsible for them is vital.
• Protect
Implementing the necessary safeguards to protect the organization’s assets from cyber threats can shield companies from increasing risks.
• Detect
It’s important to detect when a data breach occurs. Detection includes activities like monitoring network traffic and reviewing logs.
• Respond
By responding to security incidents as they occur and containing the incidents, people can eradicate the threat quickly and recover from it with limited downtime.
- Recover
After a security incident occurs, organizations must know how to restore normal operations and their systems and data. This restoration process gets the business back on track, helps to understand what happened, and ensures similar incidents do not occur again.
NY Shield Act
Where NIST is a federal agency that sets non-binding standards and guidelines for information security and data protection that organizations of all types and sizes can (and should) adopt, the New York Shield Act is a state-level law that was enacted in July 2019.
The act is designed to enhance data privacy and security protections for New York residents, requires businesses that collect personal information on those residents to implement reasonable data security measures to protect against data breaches, and includes notification requirements, ensuring that individuals are informed if their data is compromised.
HIPAA/CMMC/NYDFS 500
While these standards share some commonalities with NIST and the Shield Act, their specific focus is on particular industries and the level of detail required for compliance.
While they all share the goal of promoting cybersecurity and protecting sensitive data, these standards offer specific guidance and requirements to address industry-specific cybersecurity risks.
HIPAA, for example, is a federal law that sets standards for protecting patients’ sensitive health information. It requires healthcare providers, insurers, and other covered entities to implement administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect patients’ electronic protected health information (ePHI).
CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) is a security framework developed by the Department of Defense (DoD) to ensure that contractors handling sensitive DoD information meet specific cybersecurity requirements.
And NYDFS500 is a set of regulations imposed by the New York State Department of Financial Services on financial institutions to protect consumer data. It mandates financial institutions to implement cybersecurity programs, maintain written policies and procedures, and conduct regular risk assessments.
These are just a few cybersecurity standards that may be required in your industry. Complying with these standards will help protect your business, customers, and employees.
Having a trusted IT provider (us) in your corner can be a lifesaver when it comes to dealing with compliance standards for your business. They are experts in the field of cybersecurity and compliance, and they know how to navigate the complicated landscape of regulations.
They will work with you to identify areas of vulnerability and implement security measures to protect your business and your customers. They’ll monitor your systems 24×7 and stay up-to-date on the latest compliance standards, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.
So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the different cybersecurity regulations, don’t panic! Instead, call your friendly neighborhood MSP and let them take care of everything. It’s like having a personal IT superhero on speed dial, the Superman to your Metropolis, ready to swoop in and save the day.
Who doesn’t like to have a superhero on their side?
Meeting Tree Computer was established in 1999, and for more than 20 years, it has been our deeply rooted mission to be a partner in business. Our goal is to make a positive difference in the lives of our clients every day. Some of whom have been with us since the beginning.
We can be that partner in business for you as well. Feel free to contact us at 845-237-2117 and let us know how we can help. It is that simple.
