IT GRC (Governance, Risk, & Compliance): Best Practices & Tools

Pansy

Pansy

Jul 22, 2024

Investment in IT increases as businesses expand and scale, with funding to support strategic goals. With it, the focus on practices like data analytics, building a cloud infrastructure, and improving cybersecurity measures increases to keep up with the growing technology demand. 

GRC plays a crucial role in supporting this investment by ensuring sustainable growth and securing the organization’s IT infrastructure and network. It provides a framework that protects the organization from casualties like data breaches, compliance violations, operational disruptions, and financial losses.

In this blog, we explore the nuances of IT GRC, its key elements, the best practices for scaling businesses, and the tools required to carry out its functions effectively. 

TL;DR

IT GRC integrates cybersecurity governance, risk management, and compliance to align IT with business goals, reduce vulnerabilities, and ensure regulatory adherence.

The best practices include training employees on cybersecurity, assessing your security posture, maintaining a risk register, managing incident response and leveraging GRC automation.

The must-have features of IT GRC tools include workflow management, vulnerability scanning, risk assessment, continuous compliance and an audit dashboard.

What is IT GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance)?

IT Governance, risk, and compliance is the strategy companies use to manage cybersecurity governance and risk management while complying with industry standards. It applies the overall corporate GRC strategy to an organization’s Information Technology (IT) department. 

IT GRC plays a crucial role in ensuring a secure, reliable, and compliant IT environment that supports the strategic objectives of the organization. It helps identify and address IT vulnerabilities, reducing the risk of cyberattacks and data breaches.

Peter Hoffman, a Certified GRC Professional and CIPM (Certified Informaiton Privacy Manager), defines GRC as

A management model that promotes the criteria unification, as well as communication and collaboration between different stakeholders in the management and control of an organization.”

Key Elements of IT GRC

Let’s understand the three elements of IT GRC as mentioned above in detail:

IT Governance

IT governance ensures that the overall IT efforts of an organization are aligned with business goals and objectives. It oversees decision-making processes, project management, and workflows in IT while having security as priority.  

IT governance is mostly carried out in the form of  security policies and documents, or other rules that guide the company on how IT activities are to function. Let’s see what principles international frameworks have defined for IT governance.

ISO/IEC 38500

The ISO/IEC 38500 framework is an international standard for IT governance. It guides decision-makers on how governance of IT should be practiced across the organization. It has six main principles:

  1. Define responsibilities clearly
  2. Develop a strategic plan to support the organization effectively
  3. Make acquisitions for justified reasons
  4. Maintain required performance levels
  5. Ensure compliance with regulations
  6. Respect and consider human factors

COBIT 5

COBIT 5 is a framework for the governance and management of enterprise IT. Its five key principles include:

  1. Satisfying stakeholder needs
  2. Addressing the enterprise comprehensively
  3. Using a unified, integrated framework
  4. Adopting a holistic approach
  5. Distinguishing between governance and management

Continuous Compliance for 24/7 Peace of Mind

IT Risk Management

IT risk management refers to how a company identifies, evaluates and mitigates risks related to IT infrastructure, devices, data, software and other assets. It also entails threat detection and fixing vulnerabilities.

Common IT threats that the risk management process works against are malware, phishing, DDoS (distributed denial of service), broken access control, data exposure, data leaks, etc. It operates with the help of security controls that ensure that appropriate measures are in place to detect and mitigate risks from such threats. 

Learn about the risk management process in detail

IT Compliance

IT compliance assures that your organization adheres to regulatory requirements and security standards laid out by national and international entities like ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, NIST, etc.  

These frameworks specify the IT security, data protection, data availability, and data integrity requirements a company must fulfill to comply with the relevant standards. Failing to do so can result in significant consequences for companies, including hefty fines and, in some instances, imprisonment based on the severity of the violation.

The process of achieving compliance roughly involves:

  1. Identifying relevant regulations.
  2. Assessing current security practices.
  3. Conducting a gap analysis.
  4. Implementing necessary controls.
  5. Training employees.
  6. Getting an auditor.
  7. Documenting your processes.
  8. Regularly reviewing and monitoring.

However, the real scenario is far more complex and the requirements are very specific depending on the regulation you want to comply with. Usually, this process is made easier with the help of compliance or GRC automation tools like Sprinto.

Stay Ahead with Automated Continuous Compliance

5 IT GRC Best Practices for Scaling Businesses

GRC best practices

Your IT GRC framework will depend on the business objectives of your entire organization. It should be a structured approach with enterprise risk management systems, corporate governance, and sustainable compliance programs. 

Before digging deep into such practices, determine where your company stands today and get input from org-level leaders and stakeholders. Most strategies related to effective governance, cyber risk, and compliance issues should be under the oversight of your board of directors. 

Devika Anil, ISC 2-certified compliance expert, and ISO 27001 lead auditor at Sprinto suggests the following five IT GRC best practices for strengthening your business performance:

1. Have an employee handbook 

Employee training is a baseline for GRC practices, but having a handbook or a code of conduct handy gives employees easy access to business strategies and strategic goals. It serves as a mode of communication for compliance teams so that all employees in an organization have an integrated approach to business processes. 

The handbook should contain information about your security policies, compliance requirements, reporting requirements, potential operational risks, and how your company aims to govern security & risk. It should be easily available to employees at all times. 

2. Conduct security posture audits

An internal audit will inform you about your company’s current cybersecurity status and maturity in handling security risks. It will identify gaps, check the effectiveness of your workflows, and determine new security requirements. 

Assessing your security posture includes preparing for it by setting goals and identifying who will conduct the audit and how. It further involves evaluating employee awareness, testing and verifying security controls, and running risk assessments. 

At the end of it, you’ll have a report on your assessment that aids senior management’s decision-making process while considering corporate objectives. 

Read in detail about security posture assessment

3. Maintain a risk register

A risk register lets you interpret your IT-related risks effectively and evaluate their impact. It uses a comprehensive library to identify security risks within a business’s assets and processes. It helps with mitigation plans and summarizes the interconnectedness of risks.

Maintaining a risk register should include adding custom risks and assigning impact scores to enhance clarity. It should be updated continuously to align with business growth and enable actionable risk data. Here’s what a risk register should look like:

Maintaining a risk register like the above can be simplified by using a GRC automation tool that allows you to add risks to your organization’s various assets. It can also give you a bird’s-eye view of all the risks along with their status with the risk dashboard. Sprinto lets you achieve all of this and more. 

Get A Real-Time View Of Risk

4. Manage incident response

An incident response plan decides the course of action and mitigation strategies during a cybersecurity incident. It should say who is responsible for it, how they’re going to fix it, and how to prevent it from happening in the future.

It includes steps like containment, eradication, and recovery while also communicating about the incident to stakeholders and affected parties. Being able to conduct effective incident response is key to business continuity and hence is an integral part of IT governance, risk, and compliance framework.

5. Leverage GRC automation

Automating IT and cybersecurity functions makes governance, risk management, and getting compliance easier. Most GRC automation tools use security controls mapped with risks to ensure to reduce your attack surface. 

The key step here would be to pick the right GRC platform. But first, you need to set your requirements clearly so that you can compare various options depending on the features they present. Opt for platforms that provide you with free trials and demos so that you can have a more tailored approach. 

Here’s a detailed list with features, ratings, and pricing: Top 10 GRC tools.

IT GRC automation platforms

Fastrack your GRC efforts through automation

5 Must-Have Tools for IT GRC 

GRC tools

While deciding on your IT GRC strategy, there are some good-to-have tools like policy management, workflow management, compliance dashboards, governance reporting, etc. However, you cannot miss out on some capabilities that make your cybersecurity stance effortless and highly responsive. 

Here are the must-have IT GRC tools that ensure a robust cybersecurity program:  

1. Compliance automation tool

The third tier of GRC, that is, compliance is not a one-time process. It is a continous process of mapping controls and monitoring them while collecting evidences from across the organization to comply with IT industry standards like ISO 27001, SOC 2, etc.  

A compliance automation tool detects anomalies and initiates remediation automatically so that compliance is maintained 24*7. It also provides functions like automated evidence collection, mapping controls to respective frameworks, running periodic checks, and a communication channel between the business and the auditor. 

However, this is not possible without the use of a strong suite of integrations. Hence, make sure that you check with the integrations provided while assessing the platform. 

Watch the following video to find out how Steve (The CTO) achieves compliance effortlessly:

2. Risk assessment tool

A risk assessment tool should be able to track and address potential risks and threats, whether internal or external. You should be able to monitor your risks in real time to maintain consistency in your IT environment. 

This tool should also map respective risks to security controls that notify you as soon as there is a breach or failure. IT governance is not possible without risk management, so choose a tool with a strong risk management approach. 

Here are the 9 best risk assessment tools for GRC. 

3. Vulnerability scanner

A vulnerability scanner detects weaknesses and flaws in your cybersecurity system and IT network. It conducts tests to detect both known and unknown security issues, such as misconfigurations, weak passwords, or inadequate access management.

As a part of an integrated IT GRC effort, running vulnerability assessments should be a periodic task. A good GRC tool will give you real-time vulnerability insight and how to address them quickly. 

Sprinto makes it easy to schedule vulnerability assessments and gives you a quick update on all your vulnerabilities at a glance. It is led by various integrations and works seamlessly on your existing systems. 

4. IT governance management tool

IT governance tools align your business objectives with your IT security program. They instill accountability and transparency in your cybersecurity practices and help develop information security policies and procedures. 

Some of the key features of IT governance management are 

  • Documentation management
  • Centralized policy management
  • In-built training modules
  • Control monitoring
  • Incident management

5. SIEM (Security information and event management) tool

A SIEM tool provides you with an analysis of all the cyber incidents that occur in your system. It gives you real-time detection insight and prospective response plans that are well-documented. It is a key tool in IT GRC as suggested by Jeff Crume, Distinguished Engineer and CTO of IBM Security. 

It can include features like:

  • Endpoint detection response: To provide asset evaluation and information on breaches and malicious behavior. 
  • Network detection response: Information on network anomalies. 
  • Threat intelligence feed: Information types of threats in your industry and its external environment. 
  • Attack surface management: Information on your threat exposure levels and its reduction techniques. 

A Holistic Approach Towards IT GRC: Sprinto 

International organizations like ISO, AICPA, and NIST have laid down their definitions and principles for governance, risk management, and compliance. Organizations who are looking at broadening their customer footprint, need to get compliant with frameworks laid out with these orgs and GRC automation is a critical part of this process. 

Companies use practices like employee training, risk assessments, threat detection, incident response, and automation to show their best effort in achieving GRC. Although the market is filled with numerous tools to support this, only a handful can provide the best features, as listed above. 

Sprinto is a GRC automation platform that provides all the above-mentioned tools, and easily integrates with your existing cloud setup and reduces manual work by 90%. In fact, it makes GRC practices sustainable for you with:

  • Continuous compliance monitoring
  • 20+ major integrations + Open API
  • Mapping common controls among frameworks
  • Shareable security posture (Trust Centre)
  • Third-party risk management
  • Incident management
  • Zero-touch audit management

…and so much more. 

Get a wingman for your GRC tasks

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is GRC in IT security?

GRC stands for governance, risk, and compliance and combines these efforts to enhance IT security and ensure adherence to regulations and laws. It uses various tools and techniques to enable organizations to align their business objectives with cybersecurity best practices. 

2. Do all companies need GRC?

The GRC management approach is usually adopted by medium and large-sized organizations because of the complexity of security controls. However, smaller organizations can also enjoy the benefits of GRC using cost-efficient automation tools like Sprinto.

3. How is GRC related to cybersecurity?

GRC is a management approach to cybersecurity that aligns with organizational goals and objectives. It governs business security, manages risks, and ensures compliance with regulations.

4. What does a GRC Analyst do?

The GRC Analyst evaluates and ranks cybersecurity risks within the organization, helps ensure compliance with regulations and security policies, and creates and shares reports on security performance metrics.