Compliance and Regulatory Preparation for Q4

Despite it only feeling like yesterday that we celebrated New Year, the final quarter of 2024 has begun and brings the annual rush to Christmas with it. Businesses typically gear up for end-of- year audits and reviews for a variety of areas, such as financial or stock. However, an often overlooked area for audit is cybersecurity, despite its critical nature. Non-compliance with cybersecurity regulations can result in hefty fines, reputational damage and even legal repercussions, as well as the operational disruption a cybersecurity incident can bring.  

This blog will delve into the key data security compliance regulations that many UK businesses must conform to and some top tips from our expert team to achieve and maintain compliance for your business. 

Key compliance regulations  

GDPR 

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a set of regulations initially set out by the European Union to give individuals more control over their own personal data, regardless of where it is held. It also has strict requirements for businesses to handle data responsibly. Key principles include accountability, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality. This is a regulation that is standard across all countries within the European Union and the United Kingdom, and it is a slightly modified version of the act created post-Brexit.  

PCI DSS 

The Payment Card Industry, Data Security Standard, is a set of security requirements designed to protect cardholders' data when they make payments with retailers. This regulation has been created by the major card brands including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover and JCB. Whilst this regulation isn’t legally enforceable, the consequences of noncompliance can result in financial penalties, increased transaction fees, or even a ban from processing card payments. The focus of this regulation is to ensure that the infrastructure supporting the card payment such as the network infrastructure, software and applications and card data environment is secure as well as there being strong policies and procedures around its use.  

WEEE 

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment is a standard for the collection and disposal of all electronic equipment such as computers, mobile phones, appliances and toys. This standard, set out initially by the European Union but upheld by the UK Government post-Brexit, has a goal of minimising the environmental impact of electronic waste, encouraging the recycling of components and preventing hazardous substances from entering landfills. Non-compliance can lead to hefty fines and legal action, as well as negative environmental impact.  

Display Screen Equipment (DSE) 

The Display Screen Equipment (DSE) regulations are not directly related to cybersecurity, however it can still have unexpected impacts. The DSE regulations are UK health and safety laws designed to protect employees who work with computer screens for a prolonged period of time. The aim of these regulations is to increase employee comfort and reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders associated with DSE work. Key requirements of this regulation include risk assessments, suitable workstations, regular breaks, eye tests and training. Failure to comply can result in fines or legal action to a business as well as reputational damage and a loss of productivity or absenteeism (frequent or excessive absence of an employee from their place of work). This loss of productivity and absenteeism can see people letting their guard down and, therefore, becoming more vulnerable to social engineering cyber attacks.  

Further challenges for modern businesses 

Modern businesses face additional challenges in keeping up with compliance regulations, including complex supply chains, multi-client work and remote work.  

Multiclient work introduces complexities, especially if they are spread globally, as different regions have different regulatory requirements. There could also be conflicting regulations or interpretations of the same regulations, making it difficult to develop a uniform compliance strategy. Data segregation is another challenge. Ensuring that data from different clients is kept separate and secure can be complex, especially when dealing with sensitive data. Your clients may also have their own audit requirements, which you need to adapt your methodology to support. This range of challenges can introduce complexities when working with multiple clients.  

Supply chains have become more complex with many businesses collaborating with many third parties to deliver services, such as software and applications, it is important to understand whether these third party organisations comply with the set of regulations your business must adhere to. This also includes subcontractors if they are used within your business to ensure that both your internal and client data is protected.  

Remote working and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) also further introduces complexities.   Remote working drastically reduces the control your organisation has over its employees work environment, which can cause issues for compliance. Bring your own device (BYOD) reduces that control further, meaning your organisation loses a lot of control over its data flow.  

Best practices for compliance preparation  

• Comprehensive risk assessment: A comprehensive risk assessment should begin by understanding what the compliance regulations your business must conform to are, the standards that must be met and the consequences of non compliance.   You should then benchmark your operations, IT infrastructure and organisational policies against these requirements to see where the weaknesses are and where any potential non compliance lies.  

• Policy and procedure development: Creating clear policies and procedures is critical to ensure that your entire organisation understands what they have to do and how their infrastructure is set up to ensure compliance.  

• Continuous monitoring and evaluation: Monitoring your estate continually is critical to ensuring continued compliance. This includes both the policies and procedures put into place to ensure they are being followed and continue to align with the regulations should they or the business's operations change. It also, from a cybersecurity perspective, includes continual monitoring of IT infrastructure, both hardware and software, to ensure that it continues to comply with necessary regulations. 

How CTRL-S can help 

Whilst time consuming compliance and regulatory preparation is a critical part of running any business. The experienced team at CTRL-S can help your business ensure compliance with your IT infrastructure with our wealth of combined experience across multiple systems.  We also provide remote monitoring software for all infrastructure supported by our team. This toolkit provides continuous device monitoring to ensure it is always up to date and locked down, helping you achieve cybersecurity compliance.  

To discuss your requirements, get in touch with the team.