Meeting Industry Regulatory Requirements: Key Steps for Information Security Managers

Understanding the High Implementation Costs of Compliance

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Question

An organization has to comply with recently published industry regulatory requirements " compliance that potentially has high implementation costs.

What should the information security manager do FIRST?

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Explanations

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A. B. C. D.

B.

Since they are regulatory requirements, a gap analysis would be the first step to determine the level of compliance already in place.

Implementing a security committee or compensating controls would not be the first step.

Demanding immediate compliance would not assess the situation.

The best approach for the information security manager to take when faced with industry regulatory requirements that potentially have high implementation costs is to perform a gap analysis.

A gap analysis is a method of comparing an organization's current information security practices with the requirements of the new regulatory requirements to identify gaps or areas of non-compliance. By conducting a gap analysis, the information security manager can assess the organization's readiness for compliance, identify potential risks, and prioritize remediation efforts. This analysis can also help the manager to determine which aspects of compliance will require the most effort and resources.

Implementing a security committee, implementing compensating controls, or demanding immediate compliance without conducting a gap analysis may be premature and lead to additional costs, wasted effort, or failure to address the most critical compliance issues.

Therefore, the first step should be to perform a gap analysis to understand the current state of compliance, identify gaps and areas of non-compliance, and develop a remediation plan that prioritizes the most critical issues while managing the costs of implementation. Once the gap analysis is complete, the information security manager can then decide on the appropriate course of action, which may include implementing a security committee, implementing compensating controls, or demanding immediate compliance.