Author: Payal Wadhwa

Payal is your friendly neighborhood compliance whiz who is also ISC2 certified! She turns perplexing compliance lingo into actionable advice about keeping your digital business safe and savvy. When she isn’t saving virtual worlds, she’s penning down poetic musings or lighting up local open mics. Cyber savvy by day, poet by night!
    How to Create an Effective Incident Response Plan
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    How to Create an Effective Incident Response Plan
    TL,DR: An incident response plan defines how teams detect, contain, and manage security events. It assigns roles, escalation paths, communication rules, and recovery actions before incidents occur. The article covers plan benefits, implementation challenges, templates, tracking, reporting, and compliance mapping. We are living in the age of zero-day exploits, where security teams have no time…
    Cyber Security Goals: Understanding the CIA Triad and How to Achieve It
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    Cyber Security Goals: Understanding the CIA Triad and How to Achieve It
    TL,DR: Cybersecurity goals protect confidentiality, integrity, and availability across data, systems, and user access. The article maps CIA triad outcomes to tools like encryption, access control, backups, and monitoring. Use it to connect security objectives with policies, controls, compliance duties, and measurable ownership. If you’ve ever wondered about the magnitude of power cyber threats hold,…
    GRC Requirements Explained: What You Must Follow
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    GRC Requirements Explained: What You Must Follow
    TL,DR: GRC requirements span governance ownership, risk management, compliance obligations, and policy control. The article separates governance, risk, and compliance requirements for building an integrated plan. Use it to define roles, controls, reporting, accountability, and compliance workflows. GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) has existed for over a decade, and we have collectively witnessed the transition…
    The 5 Key Components of a Risk Management Framework
    The 5 Key Components of a Risk Management Framework
    TL,DR: A risk management framework consists of 5 core components forming a continuous cycle: risk identification, risk assessment, risk mitigation, risk monitoring, and risk reporting across the organization Major frameworks include NIST RMF (risk-based approach for federal systems), COBIT (aligns IT goals with business objectives, developed by ISACA), and COSO ERM (integrates risk management with…
    Internal Control Risk Assessment
    Mastering Internal Control Risk Assessment: Key steps to strengthen your business
    As forward-thinking businesses focus on maximizing value, they recognize that risk must inform every decision, as it can enhance, maintain, or compromise value. However, instead of trying to eliminate or avoid risks entirely, they manage risk exposure to strike the right balance.  Such an approach stems from the understanding that risk is a part of…
    Top 11 Cyber Threat Intelligence Tools
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    Top 11 Cyber Threat Intelligence Tools to Use in 2025
    Years ago, security teams heavily relied on manually sourced intelligence to detect threats. They also employed traditional and largely manual techniques such as blacklisting a URL to eliminate known threats. However, the lack of real-time data meant there was no effective strategy in place to deal with upcoming potential risks. Therefore, as advanced threats and…