Ensuring security and compliance in multi-departmental teams - SearchInform

Ensuring security and compliance in multi-departmental teams

26.08.2020

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As the crucial sections of the POPIA came into effect a month ago and included the provisions governing lawful processing of personal information, related to Codes of Conduct issued by the Information Regulator, managing complaints and eliminating marketing through unsolicited electronic communication, the issue of supervising processes of a complicated organisational structure, which comprises many departments with their own regulations to conform to, arises. Enterprise risk management helps companies ensure consistency and compliance.


What compliance issues can arise within a corporate perimeter?


ERM enhances organisations’ approach to identifying risks and ensures pertinent risk response, minimises surprises and financial losses related to them, allows companies to see beneficial and detrimental processes therefore letting them focus on and profit from advantageous developments.

Installing a system which disallows any interaction involving data exchange a company fails to observe the reasons which make incidents recur or issues worsen.

For example, a company can’t get rid of all the identified weak spots once and for all, because problems are inconsistent and evolving and there is no everlasting treatment for that. Instead of trying to do the impossible it is better to shape the understanding of risks and boost the awareness, being twice as ready next time.

Blocking all the data transfer channels is a short-sighted approach as it doesn't make you bulletproof – not only because information still needs to be moved and shared, even though via secured channels, but also because if someone really wants to leak the data, he or she will find the way to do it. Today, when flexible systems and business philosophy of resilience are worth their weight in gold, it would be much wiser to release data and keep an eye on it.

Risk management is the complex of processes needed in every department within a company to identify specific for the department issues, discrepancies, discover existing and potential exposures and weak spots. Risk management procedures are involved to assist heads of department with overseeing activities whether efforts, performance level, results, known shortages and possible risks don’t hinder eventual productivity.

Risk identification and measurement, assessment, including frequency statistics and prognosis, vulnerabilities regarding third-party exposures, cost of potential threats are among the tasks and issues which are analysed and considered within each department.

ERM, enterprise risk management, provides business with a framework for risk management, analysis and evaluation which covers a company as a whole helping to identify the logic and consistency of certain processes, work on a strategy and improve its implementation.


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Enterprise risk management builds strategy based on incurred and possible risks. Risk prioritisation constitutes the major part of its program which helps to determine the most hazardous threats to an activity and facilitate further elimination of negative conditions which can impact a project. ERM helps to realise that risk is part of the strategy and embrace prognosis and awareness, track risk development phases, concentrate on critical risk and allocate responsibilities to manage risks properly.

How can a CEO embrace each and every department to ensure compliance?

As different departments have their own specific risk management frameworks they lack correlation and coordination. Enterprise risk management ensures consistency and is capable of analysing the aggregates of issues, deficiencies, inadequacy, non-compliance information collected from various sources bringing to your company an all-encompassing framework for strategy management and operational risk forecasting. Proper decision making based on awareness of possible threats and loopholes create new financial opportunities instead of losses.

Integrated risk management represents a set of practices and processes, tools for risk mitigation, ongoing investigation, data protection, compliance analysis, assessment whether the taken security and continuity measures conform to the standards and meet recent requirements. Integrated risk management is about introduction of methods and technologies, that improves performance of all departments through understanding of how well an organisation manages its own set of risks.


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This understanding comes with continuous monitoring of internal activities, business processes, operations on data and assets within the corporate perimeter and outside the company. Special monitoring software allows a company to:

  • at the level of corporate assets – enhance database access management, control user requests and data export, administer privileged user accounts, ensure correct access rights and task assignment, classify all the documents from any department of an organisation and guarantee strict control of confidential information, detect any change made to a file, identify data transfer channels via which an abnormal amount of documents or sensitive data was sent, allow encryption of information uploaded to devices, ensure software and hardware inventory
  • at the level of corporate culture – evaluate user behaviour, employee communication, report to suspicious activity, conduct time-tracking, analyse performance of each user or the whole team within a project, conduct automated profiling which help to identify a malicious insider or diligent and smart employee who deserves a corresponding job position.

Risk management software allows you to control all the data channels or choose the ones which need to be controlled offering a selective solution for specific needs or comprehensive and complete approach covering all data channels.


Risk management Compliance Confidential documents


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