Organizations are no longer just vulnerable to cyber threats; they're also at risk of encountering non-compliance issues and internal challenges that impede their ability to achieve set objectives. So what can be done? How to address all these issues? The answer is simple — follow a structured governance risk and compliance strategy. What is that? In this article, we'll explore it in detail.

Did it ever occur to you — 'When your organization is addressing different issues (non-governance, security risk, or non-compliance) individually, as isolated tasks, are you truly achieving the intended goals, or are you simply missing the mark?'

Most organizations rely on a fragmented approach, in which different aspects such as governance, risk management, and compliance adherence are managed separately (different teams are assigned, different resources are allocated, and different goals are set). To provide you with more clarity, let's go through an example.  

• Let's say the IT/security team discovered that the existing intrusion detection (ID) software was not functioning as intended, so they acted promptly and replaced it with a new one. However, the issue is that this new software doesn't adhere to compliance regulations (maybe it's compromising data confidentiality or falling short in other areas).

So why do you think the IT team overlooked the compliance aspect? Their objective is to mitigate risk in whatever way possible, so they aren't concerned about the compliance part (as it doesn't fall under their responsibility). This results from a fragmented approach, where each team works in isolation and pursues its set goals without considering how they align with the broader organizational objectives.

To make matters worse, the organization's different levels of hierarchy operate in isolated silos as well, each level focusing on its own objective without sharing or collaborating insights with others. 

As a result, the organization as a whole misses the opportunity to create a well-governed, risk-resilient, and compliant infrastructure. So, what's the solution? The answer is simple: ditch the fragmented approach and embrace a cohesive approach. Combine governance, risk, and compliance management efforts into one aligned focus and bring your team to work towards one broad, unified business objective. 

This was just a glimpse of governance risk and compliance cohesive approach; there is more to explore, so let's dig in.

What Is Governance Risk And Compliance?

'Open Compliance and Ethics Group (OCEG) defines governance risk and compliance as the integrated collection of capabilities that enables an organization to reliably achieve objectives, address uncertainty, and act with integrity to achieve principle performance.'

Simply put, governance risk and compliance (aka GRC) is a concept that was introduced by the Open Compliance and Ethics Group (OCEG) in 2002 to promote the integration of strategies (such as governing, managing risk and compliance) and to encourage every individual (working for the organization) to work collaboratively and ethically. 

The idea behind introducing this concept is to help organizations —

• Address security risk-related uncertainties 
• Achieve their goals without unnecessary disruption (caused due to interdepartmental tension, siloed approach, or miscommunication)
• Act ethically and responsibly in accordance with regulations

Now, you will probably ask – 'How does this general notion or strategic cohesive approach actually work?' GRC lays down a framework that outlines the rules for managing each area, i.e., governance, risk, and compliance, and ensures all the strategies implemented directly or indirectly contribute to achieving a unified organizational goal (building well-governed, risk-resilient, and compliant infrastructure). For example:

Area 1# Governance — Governance risk and compliance framework outlines rules that mandate creating a well-defined set of policies and procedures. For instance, you have to clearly state — how resources (applications, systems, network, or any other on-prem or cloud assets) should be used, how employees should act (e.g., they should take accountability for the action they have performed and follow ethical practices), how decisions should be made (making sure it aligns with the organization's overall purpose) and how to review the actions taken.

Area 2# Risk — Governance risk and compliance framework specifies rules that compel organizations to leverage tools or technologies that help identify, evaluate, manage, monitor, and remediate different risks (can be legal, financial, and security-related risks). Also, it outlines rules that obligate organizations to assign a dedicated team of experts to manage those risks and keep everyone (including stakeholder senior executives) informed about the risk status.

Area 3# Compliance—Governance risk and compliance outlines rules that require organizations to adhere to both internal (company-specific protocol) and external rules (industry standards and requirements set forth by compliance regulations) without fail. In fact, by meeting this obligation, you, as an organization, can avoid legal disputes and bear financial penalties associated with non-compliance.

Think you're done? Not yet! There are a few more tasks to check off. What are they? Let's quickly find out.

Activities Included In Governance Risk And Compliance Program

Below, we’ve outlined a few more key activities that are covered under the governance risk and compliance program.

1: Documentation Management

You need to create and document a detailed set of appropriate guidelines that define the governance risk and compliance framework. You also need to make them easily accessible to all team members and periodically update them (to ensure they stay relevant and in line with any up-to-date internal protocols or regulations).

2: Risk Review

You need to perform regular risk reviews/risk assessments to identify potential security loopholes or vulnerabilities that malicious actors can exploit. By following this practice, you can avoid encountering financial, legal, and reputation repercussions that come along with security breaches.

Also Read: How To Create A Risk Management Methodology?

3: Stakeholder Management

You need to keep your senior management and key stakeholders informed about the status of the governance risk and compliance program (as in, how it is progressing, whether any issue is faced during the implementation of GRC practices, basically, let them know what's working, what's not, and where challenges occurred). This way, they can make timely decisions regarding what needs to be done next — whether to continue with the program, re-think the strategy, or bring in additional resources to make the progress even smoother.

4: Incident Management

You need to create an incident response and disaster recovery plan well in advance. With a well-planned strategy, you can promptly act when an unforeseen security incident occurs—minimizing its impact and ensuring operations continue with minimal disruption. It's all about being proactive, so you're ready to respond quickly and efficiently when an unexpected event happens.

5: Vendor Management

Before bringing in a third-party vendor, you need to first perform a vendor risk assessment or due diligence. This practice will clarify whether or not the practices your preferred vendor follows could potentially impact your organization's risk and compliance posture. In fact, you also have to make sure they are flexible enough to mold their practice so that they can align with your GRC requirements and other standards. You also have to clearly outline your expectations in contracts and Service Level Agreements (SLAs)—this way, you can hold them accountable if they fail to meet the commitments they made.

Also Read: Vendor Risk Assessment Checklist

6: Audit

You need to perform a formal audit (either you can allot this task to your internal team or appoint an external auditor for the purpose) to verify whether the governance risk and compliance program is delivering the intended results or not. If it fails to meet your expectations, you can take corrective measures to fix the gaps (where it fell short).

7: Reporting

You need to generate a detailed report specifying insights regarding the GRC program's progress, what strategies were implemented, which concerns were addressed, what actions were taken by the senior executive, IT/security team, or legal team, and a few other details. Later, you can re-visit these well-documented reports to understand where improvements need to be made to achieve more desired outcomes. Also, since these reports will act as attestation (declaring necessary measures were taken to maintain a well-governed, risk-resilient, and compliant infrastructure), you can even use them for compliance purposes.

Now you might have a question—' Where to exactly start?' To guide you through the process, OCEG introduced a GRC Capability Model (also known as the OCEG Red Book) that acts as your roadmap. This guiding framework breaks everything down step by step, guiding you through exactly what needs to be done.

Governance Risk And Compliance Capability Model: Step-By-Step Guide To Setup GRC Program

Mentioned below are the steps to set up the governance risk and compliance program — as outlined in the governance risk and compliance capability model (guiding framework).

Step 1: Learn — Assess Which Maturity Level Your Organization Fall Under

Start by evaluating what practices are already in place and then find out which GRC Maturity Model level your organization falls under.

• Maturity Model Level Initial/Ad Hoc: If you as an organization operate without clearly defined policies, practice a reactive approach to managing risk(responding to actions after an event has already happened), and have little to no coordination across departments, then you fall into this category.
• Maturity Model Level Preliminary: If you have well-defined policies in place and follow standardized approaches to managing risks and compliance, but your departments operate in isolation, i.e., the operating environment is siloed (e.g., different departments or teams handle risks independently without a coordinated or unified approach), then you fall into this category. 
• Maturity Model Level Defined: If you have clearly defined policies that outline roles, responsibilities, and the practices to be followed, and also actively inform senior executives and key stakeholders about — what governance risk and compliance management strategies are put in place and how well they are performing ( basically eliminating the fragmented approach), then you will fall into this category.
• Maturity Model Level Integrated: If you have an integrated and coordinated environment and continuously review the effectiveness of implemented strategies, you will fall into this category.

By following this practice, you will get a clear picture of your organization's current standing. Based on the findings, you can guide your efforts toward what needs to be done.

Step 2: Align — Lay Out A Plan That Will Help Align With Your Ultimate Goal

Based on the findings, you have to plan your governance risk and compliance management strategy. For example:

• If you’re at the initial/ad hoc level — Start by planning how to frame a well-defined set of policies (note: create policies that clearly outline roles and responsibilities for your team) and what practices need to be performed (we’ve already discussed these practices earlier in the above section). Also, make sure to plan strategies that can help everyone coordinate with one another so that they work towards a unified goal.  
• If you’re at the preliminary level — Your focus should be solely on planning about how to break down silos.
• If you’re at the defined level, you need to simply plan how to review the effectiveness of the governance risk and compliance strategies you have implemented. Along with that, you also need to find ways to check whether all your teams can truly achieve the unified goal.

Note: If you are at the integrated level, then you don’t have to do much; just make sure to update your policies regularly and conduct periodic audits to ensure that everything stays on track. 

Step 3: Perform — Implement Necessary Measures And Perform Relevant Actions To Drive Better Results

In this step, you just have to implement the strategies that you planned out previously (can be creating policies, eliminating silos, performing audit reviews). By performing these actions, you can ensure that your governance, risk, and compliance initiatives are conceptual and help actively drive results when put in place.

Step 4: Review — Check For Discrepancies & Remediate Them

Lastly, you have to review your governance risk and compliance program and check, if it is delivering the results you expected. If you detect any discrepancies after performing the review, you can assign a team to resolve the issue. 

For example, if the policies that you carefully crafted aren’t accessible to senior executives (which can hamper the decision-making part), then you can request the IT team to re-configure the settings and make them readily accessible to the senior executives. Think of this step as fine-tuning your governance risk and compliance program – every tweak and adjustment you make will bring your organization closer to its ultimate goal (i.e., building a well-governed, risk-resilient, and compliant infrastructure).

Leverage Automated Solutions To Simplify Governance Risk And Compliance Management Process

After reading the blog, you may have realized how intricate the governance risk and compliance management process is. It's not just about setting up policies and practices—it's also about ensuring every individual and department aligns with the organization's unified goal. But let's be honest—balancing implementing GRC strategies effectively and maintaining coordination is not as easy as it looks.

So what can be done? It's simple — you, as an organization, must divide the work. Let's automated solutions handle repetitive tasks such as performing reviews, creating reports, conducting risk assessment, and more (which doesn't need much human involvement), assign your team and managers the task of creating policies and supervising how the solution works, and involve senior executive and stakeholders in the decision-making process (like budget and resources allocation). 

This way, you can achieve your desired outcome faster with fewer mistakes. 

But how exactly can an automated solution help? Let's look at the Zluri solution and how it works (this will give you the clarity you need). Zluri offers an access review solution that helps assess the effectiveness of the GRC internal controls you have implemented. How? It integrates with the applications and fetches all the necessary information about the user (such as the user's active status, designation, role, access level, and more) required for review. Then, it lists the relevant info in a centralized dashboard, making it easier for the reviewer to assess whether the controls are performing as intended or not (as in if they can make sure no unauthorized users gain access to apps and data stored in them). 

Now, here's the exciting part—if any access misalignments are detected, your reviewer can immediately inform the IT team that the controls are not functioning properly and need to be fixed. 

But what about the detected misalignments? Will it be left like that? Not at all. With Zluri, your reviewer can take spot-on remediation action (revoke or modify user access rights) and prevent data stored in apps from getting compromised due to access misalignments. The best part is they can perform these actions on the same interface without switching tabs. In fact, Zluri gives you the option to perform these actions post-review as well. You simply have to create a revoke or modification playbook, and it will perform the remediation action on its own (without manual intervention). 

That's not all. After review, it generates a detailed UAR report (audit trail) outlining what has been reviewed and what actions were taken. You can share these reports directly with senior executives and stakeholders to keep them in the loop about your GRC program's progress. You can use these reports directly for compliance purposes as well.

You just need a single platform like Zluri's access review to lighten your team's workload (allowing them to focus on other strategic GRC tasks). It will discover who has access to what, perform remediation action, generate reports, keep executives informed, and help achieve compliance – with just a few clicks. Saving time, effort, and money – all at once! So, why wait? Take a leap, leverage automated solutions today, and simplify governance risk and compliance management.