Differentiating Between Compliance and Security

Security and compliance are related but each has to be approached differently. More and more Canadian businesses require help navigating security and industry regulations and this is where a Managed Service Provider can help. In this blog post, we will outline the key differences.

1. Security

• Goal: Security is focused on protecting a business’s digital and physical assets from unauthorized access, cyber threats, data breaches, and other forms of malicious activity.
• Scope: Security involves creating, implementing, and managing technical measures and policies designed to protect sensitive information and critical systems.
• Approach: Canadian businesses implement security through measures like firewalls, encryption, multi-factor authentication, network monitoring, and employee training. Security practices evolve with new threats and emerging technologies.
• Responsibility: Security teams in a business work to reduce risk and respond to security incidents, ensuring the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of information.

2. Compliance

• Goal: Compliance is about adhering to industry standards, legal requirements, and regulations set by governing bodies relevant to the industry and the regions where the business operates.
• Scope: Compliance focuses on ensuring that business practices, policies, and procedures meet legal and regulatory standards, like Canada’s PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) for data privacy.
• Approach: Compliance is typically monitored through audits, assessments, and certifications that verify adherence to laws and standards. For example, compliance frameworks for Canadian businesses include ISO/IEC 27001 (international security standards) or SOC 2 (information system controls).
• Responsibility: Compliance officers or legal teams are often responsible for maintaining compliance, which involves regular assessments and documentation to meet legal and industry requirements.

Key Differences:

• Purpose: Security is primarily concerned with protecting data and systems from threats, while compliance is about adhering to legal and regulatory requirements.
• Flexibility: Security practices can vary based on risk tolerance and company goals. Compliance, however, requires strict adherence to specific regulations.
• Scope of Enforcement: Security is proactive, continuously evolving to mitigate threats. Compliance is often reactive, ensuring existing practices align with set laws and standards.

In short, security protects, while compliance ensures adherence to the laws governing protection standards. Canadian businesses often prioritize both to protect their operations, their customers, and their reputation. Your industry is generally going to be what dictates which compliance standards you need to abide by, as different industries typically use sensitive information in different ways. On another note, your business will also need a dedicated plan to protect all of its assets as a part of a comprehensive security strategy. This is especially important, as most breaches today leverage the end user to gain access.

Keep in mind, regardless of how compliant you are to your applicable guidelines, it may not guarantee that your business is sufficiently secure. This is why it is crucial for there to be an effort to ensure both your compliance to accepted standards, and your business’ overall security awareness, preparedness, and training.

Digital Sky Solutions can help. With our team of IT consultants that specialize in compliance and security experts supporting your business, we can provide you with the infrastructure you need to operate, along with the policies and protection to ensure it is both compliant to regulations and secure against threats. To learn more about what we have to offer reach out to us.