10 Biggest IT Compliance Challenges Organisations are Facing Today
Posted by Walid Abou-Halloun Date: Sep 13, 2018 6:56:40 AM
IT compliance is necessary for entities to operate within the law. When achieved, compliance improves business control and builds trust among stakeholders.
With the world being a global village, it is difficult to guarantee data security as new technologies continue to evolve. Devices can communicate seamlessly through the internet of things (IoT)while people are using social networks to communicate. There is no standard law among nations, and this has made it hard to combat cybercrime.
For these and other reasons, IT compliance seems like a mirage. Organisations have internal frameworks for dealing with compliance, but there are challenges which hinder their effectiveness.
This article discusses ten of the leading IT compliance problems organisations face today:
1. Limited Resources
Organisations should have a dedicated team of competent IT staff to run the compliance program and handle all regulatory issues.
Most organisations spend almost 20% of the IT budget on compliance, and it goes higher for sectors like banking. Large businesses can afford to implement a robust IT compliance strategy but some SMEs cannot. Sadly, most small companies consider IT as one of the most expensive departments.
They mainly rely on outsourcing their auditing requirements because they cannot sustain in-house staff. This mix of internal employees and hired contractors can compromise data integrity and security.
In worse cases, an organisation which is not doing well financially or lacks the necessary personnel can disregard IT compliance. Such a business becomes vulnerable to online criminal activities like hacking. Authorities can also slap the organisation with penalties when caught.
2. Constant Change in Compliance Guidelines
Although businesses may have the goodwill to follow the ever-changing compliance rules, highly regulated industries may not be able to keep up with the pace. For instance the 21st Century Cures Act contained many regulations which stakeholders in healthcare needed to enact all at once.
It encompassed matters if patient privacy, improved healthcare research, approval of new drugs, and support for mental health care. Signed into law in December 2016, the health industry had to adjust quickly in 2017.
The passing of Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorisation Act also had a considerable impact on the field of ophthalmology as there were drastic changes in the payment structures which physicians could use.
3. Cyber Threats and New Devices
Hackers are continually developing new strategies for perpetrating cybercrime. Organisations have no choice but to keep on investing more in cybersecurity. SMEs are particularly at risk since most of them don’t have the structures for protecting themselves.
Cybercrime will only get worse with more acceptance of cloud systems, unmanaged devices, and software-as-a-service (SaaS). These technologies have an overwhelming potential to change the way of doing business.
Traditionally, you could store data in hard disks and lock it up in strong rooms. Nowadays, systems are automated and users can access them remotely. Viruses and malware are adapting, while organisations have to keep on advancing their security measures.
New mobile devices are on the rise, too, and they are continuously upgrading. Thus, it becomes a challenge for IT to implement standardised security systems when different devices keep rolling out.
4. Complexity in Business Models
There are many areas which require compliance in businesses. It cuts across technology, processes, and staff. The extent to which every component of an organisation involves regulation raises complications in adherence.
That is why, in some organisations, it is not clear who should deal with compliance.
Some businesses have different centers of power. Various employees report to different supervisors who are under different managers, while some have no formal channels of data flow.
Some say it is the role of the IT department while some IT staff feel like it is not their job. Lack of a dedicated IT compliance team makes accountability an issue for many SMEs.
5. Lack of Employee Awareness
Every employee is responsible in safeguarding the organisation’s data.
Organisations tend to leave issues of information security in the hands of IT entirely. Ideally, this shouldn’t be the case.
The problem is that most workers do not know that they have a role, or what they can do.
Many companies do not invest in training their workers on this subject. For instance, everyone should know the importance of having secure passwords and not using public networks when accessing the organisation’s system.
These may seem like trivial matters, but if left unaddressed, they can compromise the security of the entire information system.
Most managers concentrate on technical control, which is okay, but they forget about the people.
The IT department simply cannot dictate what employees discuss in and out of the workplace. Sometimes, they reveal sensitive information for being uninformed or just reckless.
6. Software Bugs
Software updates and upgrades are vital for an organisation to maintain information security. To do so, the IT personnel must be vigilant to detect system vulnerabilities promptly and apply software patches.
Businesses which use third-party applications and open source software must be keen to acquire updates as soon as they get released. Such programs are risky since they are available in the public domain. For this reason, hackers can discover loopholes, if any, and exploit them.
That is what happened in the Equifax data breach where hackers exploited a vulnerability which the organisation failed to patch. The attack exposed sensitive data of about 143 million people.
7. Lethargy by Management
Despite the consequences, MANY decision-make rs remain more reactive than proactive.
The consequences of fraud and information theft can bring a successful company down.
Security needs should be the priority of any business, and there should be a budget for that. The big challenge is when the person making recommendations does not have a say in budgeting, managers sometimes look at the requirements for IT compliance as extravagant or unnecessary.
In most cases, the senior executives have no idea of the risks facing the organisation, but this should not be a justification for being passive.
In consultation with the IT department, the leadership should define the data they have, its storage location, and why it needs protection.
With that in mind, they can employ the appropriate security measures to preserve it.
8. Effect of Regional Regulations
Regulatory policies imposed on some countries affect the bilateral and multilateral trade. For instance, the European Union passed a law on data protection known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
This regulation introduces new policies for organisations trading within the European Union. Businesses will have to disclose what data they collect, for what purpose, and where they intend to use it, and when.
The law touches firms which process or collect data and sell products in Europe. Other entities to comply are those who receive, store, or process personal data belonging to European corporate customers.
Businesses will need to keep a data inventory, strictly use personal data as per the owner’s permission, and audit privacy compliance programs to be fully compliant. The owners of the data will have a right to have it wiped on demand.
9. More Regulations for Banks
Regulators of financial institutions are continuously demanding transparency from banks. They are also after US bank holding firms asking them to maintain credible internal reporting as well as secure management information systems.
Banks and similar financial institutions have to install effective data management systems to enable them to answer to stakeholders. The regulators want to have a clear view of how such firms are doing financially. Banks, therefore, will have to employ sophisticated technologies to manage their finances.
10. Harsh Regulations
There is no compromise to compliance, but some rules are too unforgiving. The law sometimes levels the ground for businesses no matter their sizes, but the smaller ones can’t cope with some conditions.
In the UK, organisations which support transactions with branded credit cards from the leading card schemes must be PCI-DSS compliant. The associated cost is hefty, as it can reach tens of thousands of pounds semi-annually.
Businesses which don’t comply pay a fine per transaction. The underlying price for compliance can be too high for SMEs with low cash flow.
Some entrepreneurs don’t have an idea of what they should comply with, while some have observed the wrong regulations and left the ones meant for them (for instance, a nonprofit operating like a commercial entity).
Regulations vary with industry and business environment. In some cases, business owners only realise what they ought to have done when they are already paying a fine.
IT Compliance is Crucial
Regulatory issues underline the need for heightened IT compliance standards, and more importantly, IT professionals who can make business owners’ lives easier. Traditional methods of information management were straightforward, but they are no longer applicable.
Organisations must find affordable ways to enhance data security while adhering to regulations.
The future of business is automation, big data, and IoT to ensure success. Business owners must brace themselves for the changes which are happening to data flow, processing, and storage requirements.
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Irrespective of your position at your workplace, you have a role to play in matters concerning compliance.
It is imperative to act within the guidelines provided to prevent unwarranted brushing with the law. Better still, your submission can save your organisation from a security breach.
If you’re interested in cybersecurity and big data, you can always reach out to us.
