How to Evaluate GRC Technical Strategies

As an IT pro, Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) technical strategies can keep you up at night. They can be complicated and overwhelming. Even worse, ignoring them can significantly impact your organization and you personally. So, what are they and how do you evaluate GRC technical strategies? 

Though this article is an excellent intro to GRC, CBT Nuggets trainer Bob Salmans’ SC-100 training is an even better option. He covers everything related to designing and evaluating GRC technical strategies. 

What is GRC?

GRC stands for governance, risk, and compliance — and GRC technical strategies are methods that IT pros use to handle them. GRC is the alignment of business goals with IT operations while maintaining compliance. 

These terms aren’t new to the C-suite. Upper management has been responsible for defining business goals and ensuring organizations meet compliance for a long time. However, with GRC, the C-suite is bringing IT ops into the fold. 

Let’s use HIPPA and HITECH as examples. HIPPA doesn’t have anything to do with IT operations. It defines how medical businesses can share patient records with specific entities.

On the other hand, HITECH has everything to do with IT ops. HITECH stipulates how digital services can be used for medical services. It also defines minimum levels of IT security. 

It just so happens that HITECH enforces and strengthens parts of HIPPA. IT staff and upper management must work together to stay HIPPA and HITECH compliant. In today’s modern world, medical services can’t run without IT. 

How to Evaluate GRC Technical Strategies

Traditionally, IT operations and upper management tend to function as opposing forces in the business, but there are many ways that both can work together to meet compliance and risk management policies. Microsoft Azure is one of those ways. 

Let’s come back to the HIPPA and HITECH examples provided above. HIPPA requires that medical services keep sensitive patient data from being disclosed without the patient’s consent. It’s impossible to run a medical business without digital services today. That means that patient records must be stored securely on digital systems and subject to HITECH’s compliance regulations. 

Medical services can use data residency policies within Microsoft Azure to define who can access data, how they can access it, and when it can be accessed. Data residency policies can also define where data is stored. This is important for regulations such as GDPR. 

Defining data residency policies in Azure is one example of GRC technical strategy, but how do you ensure your policies are up to snuff? 

Here are some Microsoft solutions that can help you ensure your GRC technical strategy will be successful. 

Microsoft Defender for Cloud

One method is using Microsoft Defender for Cloud. MS Defender has grown from an antivirus application included with Windows into a complete security suite for cloud services. One of the features of Defender includes a compliance dashboard.  

Defender’s compliance dashboard has regulatory compliance policies built in. Using the example above, MS Cybersecurity Architects can use Defender to check data storage in Azure to ensure it meets HIPPA requirements. 

Azure Secure Score

Another option is using Azure Secure Score. Many businesses are migrating to a cloud or hybrid architecture for their IT services. Unfortunately, that migration process can introduce security holes. Azure Secure Score is designed to rate digital services provisioned in Azure and help cloud engineers discover insecure functions in their IT environment. 

It identifies an organization’s security posture and gives it a score. That analysis also includes a list of suggested steps that cloud engineers can use to improve a business's security posture. 

Azure Security Benchmark

It’s common practice for organizations to use multiple providers for IT resources. In a cloud world, that means using cloud products from both Microsoft and Amazon together. This is a perfect use case for Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark. 

Cloud Security Benchmark is like Azure Secure Score, but it can analyze multi-cloud deployments. As defined in Defender’s compliance dashboard, Azure policies can extend over Azure and AWS to ensure that both vendors meet GRC technical strategies. 

Ready to Leverage Azure for Your GRC Needs?

Analyzing GRC technical strategies can be a complicated task. Fortunately, vendors such as Microsoft offer multiple tools to help cybersecurity architects manage those strategies. 

Tools like Defender for Cloud, Azure Secure Score, and Azure Security benchmark are tightly intertwined. They help administrators quickly define policies to meet regulatory and business goal compliance. Azure bridges the chasm between IT operations and upper management, allowing both to come together in alignment. 

One of the best ways to learn how to work with Azure to maintain GRC technical strategies is by studying for the Microsoft SC-100 exam. Passing the SC-100 exam earns the Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect certification. That certification covers the entire gamut of building and maintaining a proper security posture across the IT industry.