It’s easy to get lulled into thinking that just because IT systems are compliant with regulations, that means they are secure. After all, compliance is intended to safeguard data and ensure privacy. Security seems like the natural outcome, and many organizations fall into a false sense of comfort, believing that just because they have checked all the boxes on compliance, their systems must therefore be secure.
In fact, compliance is no guarantee of network security and does not ensure the overall integrity of the IT architecture. To understand why compliance alone cannot secure IT systems across the enterprise, it helps to take a look at some of the fundamental differences between compliance and security, and how engaging with comprehensive services like those offered by FNTS can bridge this gap.
Compliance Defined
Compliance is a snapshot. It tells you how you are doing at a given moment in time, benchmarked against standards that reflect past events. Security, on the other hand, is forward-looking, anticipating the bad actors’ next moves. This discrepancy highlights the importance of adopting advanced protection measures, like those found in FNTS's Cybersecurity Managed Services, which are designed to go beyond compliance by implementing proactive and comprehensive security strategies.
Security by Comparison
Security is holistic. Where compliance aims to address specific, narrow concerns— such as privacy and transactional integrity—security looks at the bigger picture. Services like FNTS's Managed Security Services embody this holistic approach by offering a suite of security measures tailored to protect against a wide range of threats, thereby supporting not just compliance, but a more secure IT environment overall.
The Takeaway
Put security before and broader than compliance. Don’t build a security strategy to meet compliance requirements. Compliance should be a result of an IT security strategy. Engaging with expert partners like FNTS can facilitate this. Their Business Resiliency and Continuity services ensure that your organization is not only compliant but also resilient against disruptions, reinforcing the idea that true security encompasses much more than just meeting regulatory standards.
While compliance isn’t security, it still is required, and a skilled IT team will seek out ways to effectively meet both of these significant challenges efficiently—to achieve compliance while driving toward the bigger goal of security. By leveraging the comprehensive, forward-thinking services offered by FNTS, organizations can create a supportive team that offers compliance certifications along with auditing tools, ensuring they have the right IT security strategy in place to encompass not just regulatory demands but also the broader needs of a security roadmap.
