ZenGRC

Simply Powerful GRC

Libby Bevin

Preparing for FedRAMP

· ·

Many government agencies exist as businesses and organizations use cloud-based technology for various services. Cloud computing is the way of the future – but it also introduces new security risks to organizations using the cloud as a technology strategy.

Many government agencies own susceptible data, which could have potentially devastating implications in the wrong hands. For this reason, any Cloud Service Provider (CSP) that works with the U.S. federal government must become FedRAMP-certified.

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is a U.S. government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring of cloud products and services. FedRAMP aims to ensure federal data is consistently protected at a high level in various cloud solutions so that government agencies can find and use those trustworthy CSPs more easily.

Receiving FedRAMP certification can be long and tedious, but it doesn’t have to be. Preparing for FedRAMP before you submit for authorization can help make the certification process less cumbersome.

In this article, we’ll help you prepare for FedRAMP certification so you can do so without a hitch when you’re ready to enroll.

What Is FedRAMP Certification?

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) is a comprehensive framework that defines the security requirements that cloud service providers must meet to be eligible to provide cloud products and services to government agencies.

All Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) that deal in federal data must receive FedRAMP certification. If you want to work with the federal government, FedRAMP must be essential to your overall cloud security plan.

FedRAMP provides a single set of standards and security controls for all governing agencies, all CSPs, and even Third-Party Assessment Organizations (3PAOs). In doing so, FedRAMP assures consistency in the security of the government’s cloud services and consistency in evaluating and monitoring that security.

FedRAMP certification can even help CSPs that only work with private-sector customers; it demonstrates your ongoing commitment to meeting high-security standards. FedRAMP certification baseline and a listing on the FedRAMP Marketplace can significantly boost your security credibility for all your clients.

Understanding FedRAMP is critical, especially for organizations that want to get certified. So, let’s start with the FedRAMP fundamentals.

Understanding the Basics of FedRAMP

FedRAMP was established over ten years ago as cloud migration became increasingly common. The framework was born from the U.S. government’s “Cloud First” strategy, which requires government agencies to consider cloud-based solutions a first choice for technology needs.

FedRAMP was officially launched in 2011 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The FedRAMP Program Management Office (PMO) was established in 2012 to promote the adoption of secure cloud services across the federal government by providing a standardized approach to security risk assessment.

FedRAMP uptake could have been faster initially, with only 20 cloud service offerings authorized in the first four years of its existence. The pace of adoption has accelerated since 2018. More than 250 FedRAMP-authorized cloud products are listed on the FedRAMP Marketplace, including some of the most popular CSPs, such as Amazon Web Services.

What Is the FedRAMP Certification Process?

Before FedRAMP, individual federal agencies managed their assessment methodologies following the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) guidance of 2002. At the time, CSPs had to prepare an authorization package for each agency they wanted to work with. This led to inconsistent requirements and duplicate provider, assessor, and agency efforts.

FedRAMP’s security baselines are derived from NIST SP 800-53 (the cybersecurity standard developed by the National Institute of Standards & Technology), with extra control enhancements specific to cloud computing requirements. More simply, FedRAMP is FISMA for the cloud.

The introduction of FedRAMP streamlined this process and introduced consistency to make it easier for both agencies and CSPs. While FedRAMP makes authorization easier to attain, it’s still a rigorous process, and the level of security is mandated by law. FedRAMP is considered one of the most stringent certifications in the world and encompasses 14 applicable laws and regulations along with 19 standards and guidance documents.

Today, there are two ways to gain FedRAMP authorization as a CSP:

  • A Joint Authorization Board (JAB) Provisional Authority To Operate (P-ATO): this process involves the JAB issuing a provisional approval, which tells government agencies that the risk has been reviewed by the member agencies that serve on the JAB agencies.
  • An Agency Authorization: this process requires the CSP to establish a relationship with a specific sponsoring agency and assessor that will be involved throughout the process. If the process is successful, the agency will issue an “Authorization To Operate” (ATO) letter to submit for FedRAMP authorization.

The JAB is the primary governance and decision-making body for FedRAMP. It is composed of the chief information officers from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Department of Defense (DoD). The JAB issues a provisional authorization to operate, known as a P-ATO.

No matter which authorization you pursue, FedRAMP authorization generally involves the three following steps. (We’ve simplified them for the sake of brevity.)

Step 1: Preparation

For JAB P-ATO, the preparation phase consists of three steps: FedRAMP Connect, Readiness Assessment, and the Full Security Assessment.

For agency authorization, the preparation phase consists of two steps: Readiness Assessment and Pre-Authorization.

Step 2: Authorization

For JAB P-ATO, the authorization phase consists of the authorization Kickoff, security deliverable review, and P-ATO issuance from the JAB.

The authorization phase consists of the Full Security Assessment and Agency Authorization Process. During this step, the CSP completes a System Security Plan (SSP), and the 3PAO develops a Security Assessment Plan (SAP). After completion, the 3PAO submits a Security Assessment Report (SAR), and the CSP creates a Plan of Action and milestones (PoAM).

Once all submissions have been received, the JAB or 3PAO decides whether the risk as described is acceptable. If yes, they submit an ATO letter to the FedRAMP project management office. After the FedRAMP clearance process, the CSP is listed on the FedRAMP Marketplace.

Step 3: Continuous Monitoring

The continuous monitoring phase consists of post-authorization activities to maintain your approval for a JAB P-ATO and agency authorization. Those activities must meet FedRAMP requirements.

For more detailed information about each stage of the FedRAMP authorization process for both JAB P-ATO and 3PAO ATO, visit FedRAMP’s webpage.

FedRAMP Impact Levels

The number of security controls and practices a CSP must implement depends on the “impact level” for whatever contract the CSP is bidding on. The more sensitive the data is – and therefore, the more severe the consequences would be if a breach were to happen – the higher the impact level and the stronger the CSP’s security needs to be.

The four FedRAMP impact levels are:

  • High. This impact level defines the loss of Confidentiality, Integrity, or Accessibility (CIA) as causing a “severe or catastrophic adverse effect” on operations, assets, or individuals. It usually applies to law enforcement, emergency services, and financial and health systems.
  • Moderate. This impact level defines the loss of the CIA as having “a serious adverse effect” on operations, assets, or individuals. It is CSPs’ most common impact level; nearly 80 percent of approved FedRAMP applications are at the Moderate level.
  • Low. This impact level defines the loss of the CIA as having “a limited adverse effect” on operations, assets, or individuals.
  • Low-impact Software-as-a-Service (Li-SaaS). This impact level, also known as FedRAMP Tailored, is designed for low-risk cloud systems for users. It includes collaboration tools, project management applications, and tools that help develop open-source code.

Implementing a FedRAMP system and obtaining a Moderate or High-impact ATO takes most organizations 12 and 18 months to complete. Organizations should ideally use this time to draft requirements, design and architect the system, implement and document technical controls and processes, train staff, and perform a 3PAO system assessment.

The FedRAMP framework is comprehensive, so take the necessary steps to prepare for a project of this size. Before you begin, you’ll need to ensure that the implementation of your FedRAMP program will meet your own cost and budget requirements, as well as the U.S. government customer requirements.

Next, we’ll provide some steps your organization should take to ensure the successful implementation of FedRAMP.

How to Prepare for FedRAMP

Preparing for FedRAMP is the most essential step in the whole authorization process. If you aren’t well-prepared for FedRAMP before you begin, you may need to repeat the process after a failed first attempt. This mistake will inevitably be more costly than getting it right first.

Here are some things you can do to prepare for FedRAMP authorization:

Put a Support Network in Place

FedRAMP P-ATOs and ATOs are expensive. They require significant resources up-front to support the numerous system and process changes and staff modifications needed to meet the security standards.

Any endeavor that requires resources will need support from senior management, the board of directors, and the C-suite – that is, all of your organization’s decision-makers. These people can help ensure that any large-scale changes to your organization (like the ones required by FedRAMP) can be implemented promptly and efficiently.

You’ll also need to establish a project team. This team should consist of representatives from various departments that will either drive FedRAMP compliance or be affected by it. Your team should include at least the following stakeholders:

  • System or software engineers
  • System security engineers
  • Corporate IT staff
  • Customer service specialists
  • Human resources
  • A 3PAO

To manage all of these people and the moving parts associated with implementing a FedRAMP-approved system, assign an experienced project manager to hold the responsible parties accountable for enacting FedRAMP initiatives. A project manager will help to ensure that the project meets all of the scheduling, budget, and FedRAMP P-ATO or ATO requirements. A project manager can ensure the process is completed on time.

Participate in FedRAMP Training

The FedRAMP PMO recommends that when a CSP is bidding for FedRAMP compliance, all stakeholders at that CSP should participate in free FedRAMP training to ensure that everyone is aligned with the government’s expectations and how your organization’s units will fit into the overall compliance program.

FedRAMP training courses are geared for several groups:

  • CSPs. This FedRAMP training course helps CSPs understand the requirements of the security package and gives a detailed overview of the required templates and their supporting documentation.
  • 3PAOs. This FedRAMP training course is required for all 3PAOs seeking FedRAMP recognition. It focuses on specific functions, processes, procedures, policies, and guidance needed to complete their assessment of a CSP.
  • Federal agencies. This course provides agency stakeholders with the best practices and tips for successfully implementing the FedRAMP authorization process.

The FedRAMP training webpage hosts several deep-dive courses and webinars on various elements of the authorization process and what specific stakeholder groups require, as well as relevant and timely videos about FedRAMP requirements and program updates.

Establish Business Context

Ultimately, FedRAMP’s requirements extend beyond IT and will affect your organization’s management and operations teams. Although various departments may clearly understand the processes within each specific business unit, those departments may still be unclear about how those processes fit into larger business workflows.

For this reason, it’s critical to include all of the appropriate representatives from each business unit during crucial processes and to make sure that they understand both the processes that are specific to their department as well as how those processes relate to each other and the organization as a whole.

In general, the ability to understand the detailed steps of each business process from end to end will allow your organization to facilitate integration between cross-functional teams, identify any dependencies between existing processes and opportunities for improvement, quantify and understand any gaps between existing processes and FedRAMP requirements; and better align your organizational culture and governance process with FedRAMP system authorization requirements.

Engage with a Sponsoring Agency

Due to the stringent requirements and limited engagement with the JAB for P-ATOs, most organizations opt first to obtain an ATO. To do so, your organization must establish a relationship with a sponsoring agency.

Unlike other frameworks, FedRAMP includes requirements deemed “organization-defined,” meaning that the specific government agency you work with will define the criteria that your organization must meet and inform you of these requirements.

To increase an agency’s willingness to work with you, you should first establish a relationship with the agency’s stakeholders to demonstrate your commitment to the security of their data.

Whether you’re working with the JAB or a 3PAO, the principle is the same: establishing a relationship with the agency that will determine the organization-defined requirements for FedRAMP authorization will only make the process easier for you, primarily since the 3PAO or JAB must provide the final approval and sign off to grant your system an ATO or P-ATO, respectively.

Get Help

The cost and complexity associated with the FedRAMP authorization process make it nearly impossible for organizations to do so on their own. A blind attempt without guidance will likely lead to costly changes and delays in achieving authorization. It may even result in your organization needing to start again from the beginning.

If you haven’t already, you should first consider partnering with a 3PAO – specifically, an organization certified to perform FedRAMP assessments and has met the requirements set forth by A2LA, ISO/IEC 17020, and the FedRAMP PMO. (A 3PAO is also required to demonstrate mastery of FedRAMP by completing the government’s Cyber Range Assessment.)

Although required by law, the FedRAMP framework is somewhat vague and risk-based; there isn’t always a clear path to demonstrate whether your organization meets a particular control requirement.

A 3PAO can help you determine whether a control is met based on the associated risk and control contact; assure the appropriate architectural, process, and staffing changes are identified and implemented; minimize the cost and project duration; and certify that the requirements are met and that the system is appropriately secure.

Additionally, a Governance, Risk management, and Compliance (GRC) software solution can help automate many of the processes and workflows involved in the FedRAMP authorization process.

FAQs About FedRAMP Certification

How Much Does It Cost To Be FedRAMP Certified?

The costs for becoming FedRAMP certified can vary greatly depending on the impact level, whether you pursue a JAB P-ATO or agency ATO, and how much remediation your systems require. However, most estimates put the cost at $1.5 million to $2.5 million for a moderate-impact level over 3 years.

How Long Does It Take To Get FedRAMP Certified?

The FedRAMP PMO estimates that FedRAMP system implementation and agency authorization for a moderate-impact level typically takes 12-18 months. However, if your systems and processes closely match FedRAMP requirements already, you can complete authorization in less time.

How Hard Is FedRAMP Certification?

FedRAMP certification is considered one of the most stringent security compliance certifications globally. It encompasses 14 applicable laws and regulations, 19 standards and guidance documents, and has over 300 configured security controls even at the moderate baseline. Given the complexity, most organizations find getting through the process requires external help from consultants and managed service providers.

Manage Compliance with RiskOptics ZenGRC

FedRAMP compliance generally requires a considerable investment in time and resources, particularly for organizations using outdated systems and tools to achieve and maintain compliance. Even then, initial compliance certification is only half the battle.

To stay compliant, your organization must also demonstrate continuous monitoring. At the same time, as a program, FedRAMP is still evolving, so your organization must ensure that the new systems, processes, and controls don’t degrade over time and meet any new compliance requirements that might emerge.

ZenGRC is a compliance and audit management solution that delivers a faster, easier, and brighter path to compliance by eliminating tedious manual processes, accelerating onboarding, and keeping you up-to-date on the progress and effectiveness of your programs. With RiskOptics ZenGRC, your organization can get audit-ready in less than 30 minutes – no coding or cumbersome imports required!

With expert-built, preloaded content at your fingertips to make scoping, sending requests, and gathering evidence easier, RiskOptics ZenGRC can help you reach your goals faster and keep your teams connected. Streamlined collaboration capabilities and automated workflows minimize manual task tracking and eliminate audit fatigue.

Take your compliance to the next level with ZenGRC. Talk to an expert today to learn more about how the RiskOptics Product Suite can help your organization improve its risk and compliance posture.

What is Data Governance?

· ·

Data governance is the collection of policies and practices that an organization uses to assure that it can use its data assets effectively and efficiently to achieve its business goals.

Typically data governance includes such concepts as data quality and data stewardship, which allow a company to control its enterprise data assets and metrics more effectively. Data governance also includes “metadata” management, master data management (MDM), data classification, and data lifecycle management.

Data governance also deals with data privacy and data security across an enterprise, and supports regulatory compliance as well. It governs who can take what action, on what data, in what situations, and using what methods.

Why Is Data Governance Important?

  1. Ensures Data Quality and Reliability:
  • Data governance provides the structure and policies needed to ensure that data is accurate, complete, and available, making it a reliable foundation for analysis and decision-making.
  1. Enhances Compliance and Security:
  • With increasing regulations on data privacy and security, such as GDPR and HIPAA, data governance is crucial for ensuring that an organization meets legal and regulatory requirements, thus avoiding fines and reputational damage.
  1. Improves Decision Making:
  • High-quality, well-governed data allows for better business intelligence and analytics, leading to more informed and effective decision-making across the organization.
  1. Reduces Data Management Costs:
  • By eliminating redundancies and streamlining data management processes, data governance can lead to more efficient operations and reduced costs related to data storage, cleaning, and retrieval.
  1. Mitigates Risk:
  • Data governance helps in identifying and mitigating risks related to data breaches, misuse, and inaccuracy, thereby protecting the organization’s reputation and bottom line.
  1. Fosters a Data-Driven Culture:
  • Effective data governance encourages a culture where data is valued and utilized strategically throughout the organization, enhancing overall performance and competitiveness.

Who Is Involved in Data Governance?

  1. Executive Leadership:
  • C-level executives, such as the CEO and CIO, are responsible for endorsing and advocating for data governance, securing resources, and ensuring alignment with business strategies.
  1. Data Governance Committee:
  • A cross-functional team typically comprising senior members from IT, business operations, finance, legal, and other relevant departments. This committee sets the overall direction, policies, and standards for data governance.
  1. Data Stewards:
  • Individuals or teams responsible for managing the data assets within their domain. They ensure that data is maintained according to governance policies and that it meets quality and consistency standards.
  1. Data Owners:
  • Senior-level employees who have ultimate responsibility for data assets in their area of the business. They make decisions about data access and usage and are accountable for data quality.
  1. IT and Security Teams:
  • Responsible for implementing the technical aspects of data governance, such as data storage, security measures, and access controls.
  1. Legal and Compliance Officers:
  • Ensure that data governance policies comply with relevant laws and regulations and advise on compliance matters.
  1. End Users and Business Analysts:
  • The consumers of data who need to understand and adhere to governance policies to maintain data quality and security.

How Are Regulatory Compliance and Data Governance Frameworks Related?

  1. Compliance as a Driver of Data Governance:
  • Regulatory compliance is often a primary motivator for establishing a data governance framework. Laws and standards dictate how data should be handled, driving organizations to implement governance practices that ensure compliance.
  1. Frameworks as a Blueprint for Compliance:
  • Data governance frameworks provide a structured approach and best practices for managing data, which can be tailored to meet specific regulatory requirements. They serve as a blueprint for building a compliant data management environment.
  1. Governance Policies Enforce Compliance:
  • Data governance policies and procedures directly support compliance by defining how data is to be handled, who can access it, and how it’s protected. These policies help enforce compliance across the organization.
  1. Regular Audits and Monitoring:
  • Data governance involves ongoing monitoring and auditing of data practices, which is crucial for demonstrating compliance with regulations and identifying any areas of non-compliance for remediation.
  1. Adaptability to Changing Regulations:
  • A robust data governance framework allows an organization to quickly adapt to new or changing regulations, ensuring continuous compliance and reducing the risk of penalties.

Data governance is essential for ensuring data quality, security, and compliance, involving a wide range of roles within an organization. Regulatory compliance and data governance are intrinsically linked, with governance frameworks providing the structure and processes needed to meet the demands of various regulations effectively.

What are the Four Pillars of Data Governance?

Effective data governance is built upon four pillars. Those pillars should be the foundation for data governance at every organization, and every organization should strive to put those pillars into effect.

Creation of Standards

Standard creation is the central tenet of the data governance system. The question of “why the data must be from your company” must be addressed in this standard. The organization must participate in this pillar by establishing its data definitions. Additionally, the organization’s master data definition must be defined. In addition, the formation of enterprise data models, taxonomies, and other technical stands is required. The organization will also have its fundamental language of communication with this successful deployment of the first pillar. The data will be more distinctive and trustworthy thanks to standardization.

Curation Of Procedures And Policy

A robust Information Security (INFOSEC) Governance framework establishes the most nuanced rules and procedures for the future. The organization is required to set the rules for data management, use, and execution under this pillar.

Additionally, it must choose the appropriate procedures. For example, the regulations for a data-related company must be established, and data changes must be handled. With this, deciding on data control or audit is also necessary. This pillar also underlines the requirement for data transmission and accessibility through all quantified modalities.

Institutional Structure

Creating the organizational framework for data governance is the primary difficulty that any firm or organization faces. This is the reason it makes up one of the framework’s pillars. This pillar highlights the need for companies to identify their roles and obligations regarding data responsibility. These position distinctions can be made to various degrees, including business and Information Technology (IT) staff.

The organizational system must also resolve the management challenges to maintain the data governance plan’s coherence. It would be simpler for the company to know who is doing what if the roles and duties were clearly defined. The data governance architecture must also include executive councils and distinct day-to-day implementers.

Use of Technology

The use of technology is the last pillar of the data governance architecture. Technology has tremendously accelerated the usage of data governance and its instruments. However, while employing technology for the same, there are a few things to bear. First, the framework’s technology foundation must be appropriate for the policies.

The companies must choose the technology tools, such as spreadsheets, based on the guidelines. Utilizing technology in a data governance team and framework can assist with erroneous standards enforcement and audits. Additionally, it can help simplify prior solutions to prevent errors during the final implementation of data cyber governance strategies.

These four pillars support the framework for data governance. All of the features of data governance are assured when these pillars are applied:

  1. It ensures the data governance strategy is carried out without interruption.
  2. Data administration, use, and protection must be secured by deploying a data governance framework.
  3. It is introduced before the data governance plans are fully implemented.

How Do You Create a Data Governance Framework?

Any company that works with big data will benefit from a data governance strategy as it details how uniform, standard processes, and responsibilities can help an organization operate more efficiently.

Generally, a data governance program consists of a governing body, a governance office, a collection of established data governance initiatives and processes, and a plan to implement these data governance processes. A data governance program also includes data management and information technology teams and employees from the operations side of the business.

What is in a Governance Framework?

A data governance framework establishes the guidelines, processes, organizational structures, and rules implemented as part of the data governance program. The data governance framework determines data owners and addresses data inconsistencies across different workflows and departments. It helps an organization deal with big data needs to realize the many benefits of big data.

Various vendors offer Data Governance software tools to help organizations automate the management of their data governance programs. You can also use data governance policies and tools, such as data stewards for data quality, metadata management, and Master Data Management (MDM).

What Are the Elements of Good Data Governance?

The elements of a good data governance program include enhanced data quality, lower data management costs, and improved access to essential data for data scientists, analysts, and business users. In addition, a successful data governance program can enable better data policies and, thus, decision-making because executives also have access to better data.

With a high-quality data governance program, an organization might be able to resolve data inconsistencies in different systems throughout the business units. For example, customer names listed differently in the sales and customer service systems may cause problems with data integration and data integrity, affecting the accuracy of reporting, business intelligence, and analytics applications.

Inadequate data governance may also hinder regulatory efforts, leading to issues for companies that need to comply with data privacy and protection laws, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Data Governance Framework Best Practices

  1. Establish Clear Objectives and Scope:
  • Define what you want to achieve with data governance and the scope of your initiative. Whether it’s compliance, data quality improvement, or business intelligence, having clear goals will guide your strategy and measure success.
  1. Secure Executive Support:
  • Ensure top management understands and supports the data governance initiative. Their backing is crucial for securing resources, driving cultural change, and enforcing policies.
  1. Develop a Cross-Functional Team:
  • Form a data governance committee comprising members from various departments like IT, legal, business operations, and finance. This ensures all perspectives are considered and promotes a collaborative approach.
  1. Define Roles and Responsibilities:
  • Clearly outline the roles, responsibilities, and authority of everyone involved in data governance. This includes data owners, stewards, users, and the governance team.
  1. Establish Data Standards and Policies:
  • Develop and enforce standards and policies for data management, quality, privacy, and security. This should include how data is collected, stored, accessed, and deleted.
  1. Implement Data Quality Measures:
  • Ensure mechanisms are in place to maintain, measure, and improve the quality of data. Poor data quality can lead to inaccurate analysis and misguided decisions.
  1. Foster a Culture of Data Literacy:
  • Encourage an organizational culture that understands and values data. Provide training and resources to help all employees make better decisions based on data.
  1. Leverage Technology:
  • Utilize technology for data cataloging, quality control, compliance monitoring, and other aspects of data governance. The right tools can automate processes and provide valuable insights.
  1. Monitor, Review, and Adapt:
  • Regularly review the effectiveness of your data governance framework and be prepared to adapt as necessary. This includes staying updated with new regulations and industry standards.
  1. Communicate Transparently: – Maintain open communication about policies, changes, and the importance of data governance. Transparency helps build trust and encourages compliance.

Data Governance Framework Use Cases

  1. Regulatory Compliance:
  • Example: A financial institution needs to comply with regulations like GDPR and CCPA. A data governance framework helps ensure personal data is handled correctly, access is controlled, and data retention policies are followed.
  1. Data Quality Improvement:
  • Example: A retail company finds that inaccurate customer data is leading to delivery errors and lost sales. Implementing data quality measures as part of a governance strategy helps clean existing data and maintain its accuracy over time.
  1. Business Intelligence and Decision Making:
  • Example: A healthcare provider wants to use data analytics to improve patient care. A data governance framework ensures the data used is accurate, complete, and reliable, leading to better analytics and outcomes.
  1. Risk Management:
  • Example: An insurance company needs to manage the risk associated with data breaches and data misuse. Data governance helps by ensuring proper data classification, implementing security policies, and monitoring data access.
  1. Mergers and Acquisitions:
  • Example: During a merger, two companies need to integrate their data systems. A governance framework can guide the process, ensuring data compatibility, quality, and compliance throughout the transition.
  1. Master Data Management:
  • Example: A manufacturing firm struggles with inconsistent supplier data across its operations. A data governance strategy supports master data management efforts to create a single, accurate view of supplier data.

Implementing a robust data governance framework is not just a regulatory necessity but a strategic asset that enhances decision-making, operational efficiency, and risk management. By adhering to best practices and understanding potential use cases, organizations can unlock the full value of their data.

Take Control of Data Governance with ZenGRC

Position your business operations at the forefront with the ZenGRC platform by Reciprocity, empowering you to strategize more effectively in IT. ZenGRC offers an innovative approach to managing your risk posture, providing a unified platform to understand and tackle your IT risks comprehensively.

Experience a remarkably intuitive user interface combined with in-application expert guidance, allowing you to analyze, manage, and communicate risks and their potential business impact efficiently. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), ZenGRC facilitates the creation of connections between assets, controls, and risks, keeping you informed of changes in your data risk management stance. This intelligence makes it easier to scale and oversee your risk programs effectively.

Discover how ZenGRC can transform your approach to data governance and risk management. Schedule a demo to learn how we can help guide your organization to confidence in infosec risk and compliance.

What is a PCI Gap Assessment?

· ·

A PCI DSS gap assessment (sometimes called a PCI gap analysis) examines a company’s cardholder data environment (CDE) to determine compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). A qualified security assessor (QSA) performs the assessment.

An information security framework, the PCI DSS aims to help merchants and service providers protect credit and debit card transactions from data breaches. However, PCI DSS isn’t a law or regulation but rather an industry mandate that applies to all organizations that store, process, and/or transmit cardholder data.

A PCI gap assessment helps companies spot any technology, process, and administrative gaps in their cybersecurity programs, particularly regarding their procedures and controls for handling customers’ card data. The PCI DSS gap analysis also helps organizations ensure that they are meeting their PCI compliance requirements.

Benefits of a PCI DSS Gap Analysis

Identifying Security Weaknesses: A PCI DSS gap analysis systematically reviews your current security posture against the stringent requirements of the PCI DSS. It helps identify areas where your security measures are lacking, allowing you to understand where improvements are needed to protect sensitive cardholder data effectively.

Prioritizing Compliance Efforts: By pinpointing specific areas of non-compliance, a gap analysis allows you to prioritize remediation efforts based on the severity and risk associated with each gap. This ensures that the most critical vulnerabilities are addressed first, optimizing resource allocation and effort.

Minimizing Risk of Data Breach: By proactively identifying and addressing gaps, you significantly reduce the risk of data breaches and the associated financial and reputational damage. A gap analysis is a proactive measure to safeguard against potential security incidents.

Streamlining Compliance Process: Understanding exactly where you stand makes the path to full compliance more straightforward. A gap analysis provides a clear roadmap of the steps needed to achieve and maintain compliance, making the process more efficient and manageable.

Avoiding Fines and Penalties: By ensuring that all PCI DSS requirements are met, a gap analysis helps avoid costly fines and penalties associated with non-compliance. It’s an investment in your business’s financial and reputational well-being.

PCI DSS Gap Analysis vs. Readiness Assessment

PCI DSS Gap Analysis: This is a detailed and technical review of your current security controls against the specific requirements of the PCI DSS. The primary focus is on identifying the “gaps” between your current practices and the standard’s requirements. It’s a more granular approach that provides specific insights into deficiencies and required improvements.

Readiness Assessment: This is often a broader and more strategic evaluation of your preparedness to undertake the PCI DSS certification process. It assesses not just your current compliance status but also your organizational readiness, including staff awareness, resource allocation, and overall capability to implement necessary changes.

While both are critical in the journey towards PCI DSS compliance, a gap analysis is more detailed and focused on the specifics of the standard, while a readiness assessment is broader and considers organizational readiness and strategic planning.

When Should an Organization Complete a PCI DSS Gap Analysis?

Before Initial Certification: If you’re pursuing PCI DSS certification for the first time, conducting a gap analysis early in the process is crucial. It sets a clear baseline of your current compliance status and what needs to be done.

After Significant Changes: If your organization undergoes significant changes, such as introducing new payment systems, merging with another company, or changing operational processes, a new gap analysis can help ensure these changes haven’t introduced new compliance gaps.

Regularly as a Best Practice: Even if there haven’t been significant changes, regularly conducting a gap analysis (annually or bi-annually) is a best practice. It ensures ongoing compliance and keeps up with any updates to the PCI DSS requirements.

The Three Fundamental Components of a Gap Analysis

Current State Analysis: A detailed examination of your existing security controls, processes, and technologies. This includes reviewing current policies, procedures, and technical safeguards in place.

Future State Definition: A comprehensive understanding of the PCI DSS requirements and what needs to be in place to achieve full compliance. This involves interpreting the standard’s requirements in the context of your specific operational environment.

Gap Identification: The core component where you identify the discrepancies between the current state and the required future state. This involves listing each area where your practices do not meet the standards set by PCI DSS and understanding the implications of these gaps.

Requirements for Completing the PCI Gap Analysis Process

In-depth Knowledge of PCI DSS: Understanding the intricacies of all 12 requirements and their sub-requirements is crucial. Often, organizations enlist the help of a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) for their expertise in this area.

Detailed Documentation: Having comprehensive documentation of your current processes, data flows, and security measures is essential. This will serve as the basis for the current state analysis.

Access to Key Personnel: The process will involve discussions and interviews with various stakeholders, including IT staff, security officers, and department heads. Their cooperation and input are vital.

A Methodical Approach: A structured methodology to conduct the analysis is necessary to ensure no aspect is overlooked. This typically involves checklists, interviews, system inspections, and process reviews.

Remediation Plan: Post-analysis, you’ll need to develop a remediation plan to address the identified gaps. This should include timelines, responsibilities, and resource allocations.

Conducting a PCI DSS gap analysis is a crucial step in understanding and enhancing your organization’s security posture. It’s not just about compliance; it’s about protecting your customers, your reputation, and your business.

The Gap Analysis

The gap analysis should focus on the 12 PCI DSS requirements:

  1. Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data.
  2. Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters.
  3. Protect stored cardholder data.
  4. Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks.
  5. Protect all systems against malware and regularly update anti-virus software or programs.  
  6. Develop and maintain secure systems and applications.
  7. Restrict access to cardholder data by business need-to-know.
  8. Identify and authenticate access to system components. 
  9. Restrict physical access to cardholder data.
  10. Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data.
  11. Regularly test security systems and processes (such as with penetration testing).
  12. Maintain a policy that addresses information security for all personnel. 

A PCI Data Security Standard gap assessment sets the foundation for a PCI DSS compliance program. It helps a merchant or service provider determine its compliance status and improve security by spotlighting areas that need immediate attention. 

A PCI gap assessment helps a company understand its PCI environment at the control level. It’s used to help a company understand how ready it is for its PCI audit or self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ) and to identify any inadequate controls that impact the organization’s PCI DSS compliance.

Steps in the PCI Gap Assessment

A company should begin its PCI gap assessment by determining its scope, i.e., decide what area(s) to focus on, where it needs to improve, along with collecting the necessary information to create a good remediation plan. Many organizations hire external quality security assessors (QSAs) to help with their PCI gap assessments. 

After determining the scope of the PCI gap assessment, the company should accurately define its goals and describe the services, areas, and equipment that it plans to assess. It also makes sense to decide how long the gap analysis will take and communicate that information to team members.

Next, it’s time for the organization to identify the areas it needs to improve or change and then work out a plan to remediate those areas.

Finally, the company has to resolve or remediate the gaps it found during the PCI gap assessment.

If a company hires a QSA to conduct the PCI gap assessment, the QSA will write up a final report that contains a summary of their findings and information about the status of the company’s controls. The QSA will also recommend ways to remediate any issues.

Find PCI Gaps Automatically

A PCI DSS gap assessment or gap analysis can take a long time and much work to complete. A good governance, risk management, and compliance solution can make the job much easier, however.

ZenGRC’s unlimited self-audits help you find and stay on top of PCI compliance gaps.  The prioritizing and workflow tracking features help you feel confident that, come audit time, you’ll attain that coveted Report on Compliance (RoC) with ease.

Worry-free PCI DSS compliance is the Zen way. Contact us now for a free consultation, and find out why many of the world’s leading companies rely on ZenGRC.

Schedule a demo to learn how we can help guide your organization to confidence in infosec risk and compliance.

Hybrid Cloud vs. Multi-Cloud: What’s the Difference?

· ·

In the beginning, there was “the cloud.” The concept was a bit fuzzy around the edges (like all clouds), but compliance officers understood what the term meant. The cloud was the ability of one company to provide computing, storage, and networking capabilities to other companies via the Internet — whenever the customer needed those services, and as many services as needed.

As cloud computing evolved, so did specializations. Platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) rose to prominence, creating massive cloud environments for paying customers. Over the last 15 years or so, “the Big 3” cloud providers became what we now know today as the public cloud. 

Not every business was ready to surrender control of its IT infrastructure to the public cloud providers, so IT teams began exploring a hybrid approach: perhaps development and testing done on-premises or in a “private” cloud, with routine services delivered via the public cloud. As applications and infrastructure started to exist in two places, coordination between the two became important. 

And so the hybrid cloud was born.

The cloud’s evolution kept going. As cloud adoption increased, businesses wanted more flexibility. Not only did they want cloud presence, they wanted redundancy. Organizations embraced several cloud services, both private and public — and pioneered the “multi-cloud” movement.

Now that we have a basic understanding of the common cloud approaches, what are their differences?

The Hybrid Cloud Difference

The hybrid cloud environment typically consists of physical data center locations you control and a public cloud. An orchestration layer exists between the public and private cloud. That orchestration component allows workloads to move seamlessly from one place to another.

Organizations find this flexibility useful since running a workload in the public cloud can be more expensive than doing so in a private cloud. The elasticity of the public cloud solution, however, is still necessary for various reasons — say, a spike in application traffic. 

Examples of hybrid cloud service providers include Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. Some of the benefits of a hybrid cloud include:

  • More support for your remote workers
  • More cost-effective
  • Greater control and scalability
  • Greater agility
  • Better business continuity
  • Redundancy for computer power and data storage

Moreover, the hybrid cloud provides incredible computing speed compared to multi-cloud because IT departments can spread the workload across hardware and their different cloud platforms to reduce latency. With a hybrid cloud setup, an organization responsible for maintaining sensitive data within a data center can still leverage cloud resources for other aspects of its business.

Why Multi-Cloud?

A common misconception is that when someone talks about a multi-cloud strategy, they refer to multiple public cloud providers. That’s not wrong, but it’s not quite accurate either. The “multi-cloud” is generally recognized as Azure, AWS, and GoogleCloud, as well as private cloud infrastructure.

There are other minor players for a public cloud option, such as IBM (which provides a different public cloud option). Still, most developers work on applications and workloads for the Big 3 cloud providers.

Why do organizations leverage multi-cloud environments?

  • Risk reduction, just like having multiple internal service providers in a data center for disaster recovery
  • Departmental preferences in large organizations
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Features, since not all features may be available for each cloud vendor: Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS), Software as a service (SaaS)
  • Mitigation of vendor lock-in

What Are the Benefits of a Multi-Cloud Infrastructure?

A multi-cloud setup can bring significant business advantages. Instead of relying on a single cloud, companies can blend other cloud services — public, private, or on-premises — to create a robust digital toolkit.

  • Flexibility and choice. The multi-cloud approach allows businesses to cherry-pick different cloud services and providers based on their needs. It’s like shopping for apps: you get to choose the ones that fit perfectly with your needs.
  • Reliability and security. The multi-cloud setup boosts reliability. If one cloud has a hiccup, others keep things running smoothly. Plus, spreading data across different clouds beefs up data security, minimizing the risks of a single breach.
  • Performance and cost-efficiency. Multi-cloud doesn’t just promise variety; it delivers improved performance, too. Companies can tap into different cloud functionalities and configurations, optimizing workflows and computing services. Plus, it’s a savvy move financially; shopping around for other providers means finding the best deals for different services.

Key Differences Between Hybrid Cloud and Multi-Cloud

The key difference between hybrid and multi-cloud environments is that the hybrid cloud environment includes a data center.

Multi-cloud is generally recognized as having Azure, AWS, or GCP and private cloud infrastructure.

Some consider multi-cloud as only multiple public clouds, but it all depends on what you think of “cloud.” For a hybrid cloud model, there are typically physical data center locations that you control, as well as public cloud services.

The orchestration is what drives a proper hybrid cloud environment. Furthermore, organizations can have a hybrid multi-cloud platform if they wish; it depends on their unique business needs.

Overall, cloud computing has changed how organizations provide customer services, regardless of how many clouds are being leveraged.

Multi-Cloud vs. Hybrid Cloud vs. Distributed Cloud

Cloud computing isn’t a one-size-fits-all; it’s more like a spectrum of options catering to different tastes and needs. Enter the trio: multi-cloud, hybrid cloud, and distributed cloud, each with its unique flavor and purpose.

Multi-cloud. Imagine managing a buffet offering various dishes from different cuisines, and that’s similar to navigating the multi-cloud landscape! It’s when a company strategically uses services from different cloud providers, balancing pricing models and features from Google Cloud, AWS, Azure, and others to meet specific needs. Each cloud operates independently, providing a range of functionalities and services.

Hybrid cloud. Similar to blending various recipes in cooking, hybrid cloud combines different types of cloud (public, private, and on-premises infrastructure). This approach allows seamless connectivity and migration, catering to specific needs and use cases while optimizing pricing and performance.

Distributed cloud. Think of the distributed cloud like a shopping mall full of stores, each one strategically carrying different products. This decentralized approach extends beyond physical locations, managed remotely by the cloud provider. This assures connectivity and consistency across various locations while addressing specific use cases.

Can a Hybrid Cloud Be a Multi-Cloud?

Yes, a hybrid cloud can be part of a multi-cloud strategy. A company may use a mix of public and private clouds from different providers in a hybrid setup. For instance, it might use AWS for its public cloud needs and Microsoft Azure for personal cloud services.

The hybrid cloud becomes a part of a more significant multi-cloud approach whenever multiple clouds — whether hybrid, public, or private — work together. It’s like having different sections in a big store: one for groceries (private cloud) and another for electronics (public cloud), and they can both be from other providers, contributing to the overall shopping experience.

While a hybrid cloud involves a blend of different cloud types, it can certainly be a part of a broader multi-cloud strategy where multiple clouds from various providers and types coexist and complement each other.

What Is the Best Cloud System for My Needs?

Whether you choose a single- or multi-cloud deployment model, cloud security is essential.

Cybersecurity incidents are becoming more common in public cloud environments. So it’s imperative for organizations using a multi-cloud architecture or a hybrid cloud deployment to prioritize risk management, compliance, and ongoing support for monitoring existing and emerging threats.

Using a cloud security solution can empower you to resolve short-term threats quickly while working to embed risk management optimization throughout the organization over time.

What are The Factors While Choosing a Cloud Strategy?

Selecting the right cloud strategy is like finding the perfect recipe. You need to consider the ingredients you want to use.

Specific business needs. Tailor your cloud choice to meet specific business requirements, such as storage demands and machine learning integration, assuring alignment with your objectives.

Use cases and workloads. Identify which cloud features, such as cloud-native solutions or hybrid architectures, suit your varied workloads and applications for seamless integration.

Cost and pricing models. Analyze pricing structures and cloud storage options across different providers to find a cost-efficient solution while managing cloud budgets effectively.

Security and compliance. Prioritize security features so that you can assure compliance with regulations, especially when dealing with on-premises data centers or multi-cloud models.

Connectivity and integration. Evaluate cloud management tools and migration capabilities for smooth integration with existing systems, fostering hybrid cloud solutions when necessary.

To choose the right cloud strategy you must carefully balance these factors, assuring an optimal fit for the company’s current and future needs in cloud computing.

Improve Your Risk Management Strategies With ZenGRC

ZenGRC is a governance, risk management, and compliance platform that supports the management of your cloud infrastructure. It can automate many repetitive tasks associated with compiling your security documentation and following up on alerts to implement security controls.

ZenGRC can also trace your security requirements and compliance stance across multiple frameworks, showing you where your gaps are and what you need to do to improve your compliance stance.

Schedule a free demo today to see how ZenGRC can improve your risk management and continuous monitoring strategies.

Infrastructure Lifecycle Management Best Practices

· ·

As your organization scales, inevitably, so too will its infrastructure needs. From physical spaces to personnel, devices to applications, physical security to cybersecurity – all these resources will continue to grow to meet the changing needs of your business operations.

To manage your changing infrastructure throughout its entire lifecycle, your organization must implement a robust infrastructure lifecycle management program to meet your business needs and enable the optimal configuration of all your assets.

In particular, IT Asset Lifecycle Management (ITALM) and security compliance management are becoming increasingly important for organizations across industries. As threats to organizations’ cybersecurity become more sophisticated and successful cyberattacks become more common, your business needs (now, more than ever) to implement an infrastructure lifecycle management strategy that emphasizes the security of your IT infrastructure.

In this article, we’ll explain why infrastructure management is essential. Then, we’ll outline steps your organization can take to design and implement a program and provide you with some of the most important infrastructure lifecycle management best practices for your business.

What Is IT Lifecycle Management?  

IT lifecycle management refers to the policies and procedures organizations implement to manage their technology assets across the different stages of those assets’ lifespans.

It encompasses planning, procuring, deploying, maintaining, upgrading, and decommissioning hardware and software assets cost-effectively and securely, reducing risk and improving functionality for end users.

Effective IT lifecycle management enables organizations to optimize the value of IT investments while minimizing costs, downtime, and business disruption. It requires clearly defining asset lifecycles, implementing transition control between stages, continuously monitoring assets, and performing periodic audits.

What Is the Purpose of Infrastructure Lifecycle Management?

No matter the size or industry of your organization, infrastructure lifecycle management is a critical process. An infrastructure lifecycle management program aims to protect your business and its infrastructure assets against risk.

Protecting your organization and its customer data from malicious actors means taking a more active approach to cybersecurity. Simply put, recovering from a cyber attack is more complex and expensive than protecting yourself. If 2020 and 2021 have taught us anything about cybersecurity, cybercrime is on the rise, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon.

As risks to cybersecurity continue to grow in number and harm, infrastructure lifecycle management and IT asset management are becoming almost unavoidable. In addition to protecting your organization from potential cyberattacks, infrastructure lifecycle management makes for a more efficient enterprise, delivers a better end-user experience for consumers, and identifies where your organization needs to expand its infrastructure.

Some of the other benefits that come along with a comprehensive infrastructure lifecycle management program include the following:

  • More accurate planning;
  • Centralized and cost-effective procurement;
  • Streamlined provisioning of technology to users;
  • More efficient maintenance;
  • Secure and timely disposal.

A robust infrastructure lifecycle management program helps your organization keep track of all the assets running on (or attached to) your corporate networks. That allows you to catalog, identify, and track these assets wherever they are, physically and digitally.

While this might seem simple enough, infrastructure lifecycle management, particularly ITALM, has become more complex as the diversity of IT assets has increased. 

Generally speaking, there are four major stages of asset lifecycle management. Your organization’s infrastructure lifecycle management program should include specific policies and processes for each of the following steps:

  • Planning. This is the most essential step for businesses and should be conducted before purchasing assets. During this stage, you’ll need to identify what asset types are required and in what number, compile and verify the requirements for each asset, and evaluate those assets to ensure they meet your service needs.
  • Acquisition and procurement. Use this stage to identify areas for purchase consolidation with the most cost-effective vendors negotiating warranties and bulk purchases of SaaS and cloud infrastructure assets. This is where a lack of insights into actual asset usage can potentially result in overpaying for assets that aren’t necessary. For this reason, timely and accurate asset data is crucial for effective acquisition and procurement.
  • Maintenance, upgrades, and repair. All assets eventually require maintenance, upgrades, and repairs. A holistic approach to infrastructure lifecycle management means tracking and consolidating these needs into a single platform across all asset types.
  • Disposal. An outdated or broken asset must be disposed of properly, mainly if it contains sensitive information. For hardware, assets older than a few years are often obsolete, and assets that fall out of warranty are typically no longer worth maintaining. Disposal of cloud infrastructure assets is also critical because data stored in the cloud can stay there forever.

Now that we’ve outlined the purpose and basic stages of infrastructure lifecycle management, it’s time to look at the steps your organization can take to implement it.

6 Key Benefits of IT Lifecycle Management

Implementing robust IT lifecycle management delivers significant advantages:

  1. Reduces costs by optimizing end-of-life hardware and software refresh cycles, consolidating vendors, eliminating unused assets, and negotiating better deals through data management.
  2. Thanks to application lifecycle management, productivity increases by ensuring employees have the right tools and systems to do their jobs effectively.
  3. Lowers security risks by removing vulnerable, outdated technology and keeping firmware/software updated as part of digital transformation efforts.
  4. It enables better decision-making with improved visibility into IT asset inventory, status, usage, and total cost of ownership data through IT services and IT systems.
  5. Boosts compliance by maintaining licensing documentation and settings that adhere to regulations through ITAM audits.
  6. Decreases business disruption from IT failures and downtime by proactively upgrading aging assets before issues emerge through automation and robust management plans.

The 5 Steps of IT Lifecycle Management

There are five core components to building an effective IT lifecycle management program that optimizes the entire ecosystem:

  1. Discovery and Inventory: Compile a central record of all Microsoft product lifecycle hardware and software license assets, including details like specifications, licensing, support status, and assigned end user(s).
  2. Optimization: Analyze inventory data to identify consolidation, upgrade, or end-of-life decommissioning opportunities to reduce costs and risk exposure.
  3. Lifecycle Transitions: Define and implement policy-based procedures to guide assets through key lifecycle stages like refresh, reassignment, disposal, etc., enabled through increased workflow automation.
  4. Monitoring and Reporting: Continuously track real-time asset data like utilization, performance, and support status and collect metrics to guide data management and decision-making.
  5. Policy Improvement: Regularly evaluate program efficiency and make enhancements to increase automation and optimize based on new technology needs or digital transformation initiatives.

What Are the Steps for Implementing an Infrastructure Lifecycle Management Process?

Step 1: Assemble a Team

As with implementing any program, the first step is ensuring the right people are assembled to complete the job. Your IT team will primarily be responsible for the ensuing steps involved in infrastructure lifecycle management, so ensuring they are qualified is important. Include any departmental managers, senior executives, and other people responsible for decision-making that you want to be involved in the process, and make sure that you communicate roles and responsibilities to anyone on board.

Once you have a solid team of stakeholders, you’ll be ready to begin the next step in the infrastructure lifecycle management process: asset identification.

Step 2: Identify and Inventory Your Assets

Conduct tabletop exercises with your team to compile a list of assets that you’ll use to develop a more comprehensive inventory. You’ll need to account for every physical and digital asset, which can take some time.

Some of the assets you should include in your inventory are as follows:

  • Your network has computers, laptops, mobile devices, and other computing devices.
  • Network infrastructure and access points, including both physical and virtual barriers.
  • Operating systems.
  • All information is stored on or within all devices, networks, and servers.

Your inventory must be updated often (ideally via an automated process) whenever new assets are added or any other changes, including upgrades. Your inventory will also need to be indexed for shifting compliance requirements.

Step 3: Prioritize Your Assets and Assign Risk Ratings

Especially if you’re just starting on the journey toward infrastructure lifecycle management, you’ll want to prioritize your assets so you can focus on the ones that matter most. Otherwise, you’ll quickly get overwhelmed by the sheer number of numbers that require your attention.

Next, conduct a risk assessment for each asset so that you can prioritize them and assign risk ratings. Mitigating risks in lifecycle management is a crucial component of a secure organization. But before you can begin prioritizing your assets, you need to establish some metrics for measuring risk.

Most organizations opt for qualitative measurements such as “high/medium/low,” but quantitative measures such as statistical analysis are also gaining popularity. You should aim to choose units of measurement that you can use enterprise-wide to establish a baseline for comparison.

Once you’ve ranked your assets from most important to least important, you should start at the top of the list and work your way down, identifying any risks associated with each asset. Using a risk matrix, determine which assets pose the highest risk to your organization and what you can do to mitigate those risks.

Step 4: Cross-Reference Licenses and Compliance Regulations

You’ll also need to ensure that all your software and hardware are up to spec for required licensing and regulatory compliance. Often, regulatory compliance frameworks will require you to do these steps in a particular way, so you may want to take note if there are any additional steps you’ll need to take.

Here are just a few of the compliance frameworks that businesses must follow to meet regulatory compliance requirements:

Most of these frameworks have built-in controls for asset management, such as inventory protocols or requirements to replace factory default security settings with more robust options.

Step 5: Practice Continuous Monitoring

Continuously monitoring your assets means keeping track of them in real time. This process will eventually eliminate waste, reduce downtime, bring down incidents of theft, and keep your assets well-maintained.

Again, your infrastructure lifecycle management process should be dynamic and flexible to adapt quickly to organizational structure changes. Revisiting your infrastructure asset management will ensure that it’s protecting your assets and your organization throughout the evolution of your business.

Step 6: Automate the Process

Automated solutions are designed to make the infrastructure lifecycle management process less painful. Automation can make your organization’s work in infrastructure lifecycle management less prone to errors when used correctly.

For this reason and more, it’s best to automate whenever possible. Automating all aspects of the infrastructure lifecycle management process will be nearly impossible, so start by focusing on the most repetitive tasks and go from there.

Consider tasks such as reporting, patching, and application deployment. These can be easily automated, saving your IT team time and money. You may consider outsourcing the entire process for small to medium businesses with smaller budgets. Ultimately, management software that provides automation will reduce the burden of work on your employees.

Step 7: Collect and Analyze Data

Once you’ve implemented a comprehensive infrastructure lifecycle management program, demonstrate how well it’s working. The only way to determine performance in business is by measuring results against business metrics or company standards.

Throughout the asset lifecycle management process, you will have amassed data to help you identify the most critical metrics. These metrics include network configuration, licensing, financial data, metrics linked to business objectives, and user information.

Using these key metrics, you’ll better understand your organization’s asset depreciation rate, average fines paid, compliance failures, average maintenance cost, etc. Looking at this data holistically will help you determine which aspects of your infrastructure lifecycle management process need revision, mainly when a change occurs, such as introducing new technologies.

Step 8: Adapt

Adaptation is key to survival in the modern business environment. These days, technology changes quickly and frequently. Everything linked to that technology must be upgraded or modified when those changes occur.

This is where a dynamic approach to continuous monitoring and improvement will come into play. By continuously updating your asset inventory, you’ll be better positioned to respond to changes when they occur, and your infrastructure asset management processes will be better equipped to adapt to any future changes.

What Are the Best Practices for Infrastructure Lifecycle Management?

Now that we’ve outlined the steps for implementing an infrastructure lifecycle management program, it’s time to look at some of the best practices your organization should incorporate for the most successful implementation possible.

Develop Comprehensive Inventory Management Practices that Include Identity and Access Management

Creating a plan for comprehensive inventory management is one of the most essential components of a solid foundation for infrastructure lifecycle management. Inventory management best practices should ideally be baked into your architecture implementation, with the knowledge that you’ll need to account for every asset your organization owns.

While creating an inventory for physical devices such as computers and laptops will be easy enough, user accounts are one of the most often overlooked (but most important) parts of infrastructure lifecycle management. This means accounting for all the software and hardware your organization relies on and then thinking about everyone who uses it and how they’re using it.

One of the best ways to do this is using Identity and Access Management (IAM) techniques. You should also consider requiring access session monitoring and control so that even authenticated users are monitored when accessing sensitive data to ensure that they uphold protocols. Together, these practices can empower insights about how, when, and why your infrastructure needs to be revisited or repaired.

Implement an Incident Response Program and Integrate Threat and Vulnerability Management Measures

Planning for and adequately responding to cybersecurity incidents as they happen is more important than ever before. Even the best-protected systems will be targeted, so organizations must implement a robust, dedicated incident response program.

An effective incident response solution should deliver most, if not all, of the following functionalities:

  • identification of an incident and immediate notification to all relevant stakeholders;
  • logging of the incident in inventory systems and indexing against threat intelligence;
  • investigation and deep analysis of root causes and short- and long-term solutions;
  • assignment of responsibilities and resources to personnel for recovery measures;
  • resolution of the incident, including both seizure of attack and recovery of resources, and
  • customer satisfaction and business continuity, including getting back to normal operations.

Incident response is most effective when integrated into a holistic cybersecurity system and will ultimately extend the life cycles of all your infrastructure.

Threat and vulnerability management includes implementing measures for monitoring, analyzing, and mitigating any existing risks and those that still need to come to fruition. Doing so will allow your organization to better deal with cybersecurity threats in real time.

Fortunately, threat and vulnerability management is a practice that’s already baked into most cybersecurity implementations, including most regulatory compliance frameworks. The most effective vulnerability management involves collecting and utilizing threat intelligence, including proprietary data and governmental lists, such as the index of Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs). It should also be a system that’s integrated throughout your organization, including both on-location hardware and all software, applications, web presence, and cloud-based networking and computing.

While infrastructure maintenance has always been critical for a system’s physical parts, accounting for and mitigating risks of lapsed cybersecurity protocols and cybercrime is becoming increasingly essential in our more digitized and mobile environment.

This also includes accounting for risks across third-party networks along the supply chain. Your Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) program should work with your infrastructure lifecycle management process. As you would with your other assets, you should start by compiling a comprehensive inventory of all your third parties and their infrastructures that communicate with yours. TPRM and vendor lifecycle management should integrate into your vulnerability, infrastructure, and asset lifecycle management.

Go Above and Beyond What’s Required

If there’s one thing that organizations with successful infrastructure lifecycle management programs have in common, they go above and beyond for implementation.

Moving beyond a risk management system’s basic protections and into the most complex and advanced analytical methods means better understanding where your organization is most vulnerable. By executing a root cause analysis, you’ll be better positioned to understand and eradicate a problem’s source rather than simply treating its surface effects.

You should also consider conducting penetration testing, also called ethical hacking. Penetration testing involves a simulation of a cyberattack performed by an ethical hacker and is used to determine how a malicious actor would operate.

There are two primary forms of penetration testing: external penetration testing and internal penetration testing. Either type of test can be set for optimization for your assets or asset classes, such as network or firewall penetration testing. Some companies combine these two types of penetration testing into a hybrid form using internal and external penetration testing elements.

Choose Automated Tools to Help

The best way to keep your infrastructure lifecycle in check is to integrate all your practices into one seamless solution. However, this can often challenge small and medium enterprises with modest IT budgets.

Finding tools to help can mean the difference between a thriving infrastructure lifecycle management program and one that leaves your organization vulnerable to cyberattacks. Fortunately, there are management solutions designed to help.

Implement Better Infrastructure Lifecycle Management with ROAR

Managing risks, complying with industry standards and regulations, and inventorying and tracking infrastructure assets can be challenging. Fortunately, there are solutions designed to help.

RiskOptics ROAR is an integrated cybersecurity risk management solution that provides actionable insights to gain the visibility you need to stay ahead of threats and communicate the impact of risk on high-priority business initiatives. Turn the unknown into quantifiable and actionable risk insights with built-in expertise that identifies and maps risks, threats, and controls so you can spend less time setting up the application and more time using it.

A single, real-time view of risk and business context allows you to communicate to the board and key stakeholders in a way framed around their priorities, keeping your risk posture in sync with the direction your business is moving.

ROAR will notify you automatically of any changes or required actions so you can be on top of your risk posture like never before. Eliminate time-consuming, manual work and streamline collaboration by automating workflows and integrating with your most critical systems.

Now, through a more active approach, you can give time back to your team with RiskOptics ROAR. Talk to an expert today about how the RiskOptics Product Suite can help your organization mitigate cybersecurity risk and stay ahead of threats.