The most effective way of establishing good data security is to follow one of the industry standard frameworks. This ensures that all the right controls are in place and provides a standard approach that can be audited. Selecting the right one for your business can be challenging, but we are here to help.
There are currently over thirteen different data security frameworks ranging from Cyber Essentials that covers five main cyber risks, to ISO27001 that provides 134 controls to cover information security across a whole enterprise.
We can help you select and implement the most appropriate framework to help you be more competitive, show your customers you take their data protection seriously and to demonstrate compliance.
Any business process that needs to be repeatable and effectively managed, requires documentation,and Information Security is no different. Many organisations struggle to maintain effective controls because their ad hoc procedures are not documented, are constantly changing, and those changes are not appropriately managed.
Once you have selected an Information Security framework to certify with or align to, we can ensure you have the right level of documentation in place. This may be a single policy that covers all areas, or a full framework of complementary policies.
Whichever is the best fit for you, we will ensure you have documentation that meets the requirements of your workplace, that is easy to understand and manage.
Information Security is a constantly changing environment. What works in terms of security controls today, may not be effective in a year’s time as threats evolve and systems change. That's why many of the security certifications require annual renewal or a regular audit programme.
Heimdall360 Ltd’s audit services can provide the independent assurance you need to confirm everything is working the way you expect, and to highlight any improvements you need to make. Independent audits are also a great way of demonstrating your security compliance to your customers, clients and to the regulators.
A key element of any Information Security framework is the ability to identify and understand the threats to your organisation and how those risks manifest.
Heimdall360 Ltd provides the expertise you need to ensure your risk assessments meet your business needs, balancing the risk and identifying those steps you should take to protect yourself and your data.
Getting cyber security right in the early stages of development is not only going to save money but will also ensure your system or product is compliant with Data Protection legislation.
Trying to add security after products have gone live:
· Increases cost.
· Puts data at risk.
· Can have reputational impact if customers become aware of the risks.
This should not just cover the development of systems and software, but also how new services may be applied within your organisations.
How is data input, moved around, shared, extracted and disposed of? All this should be considered along with the various risks and controls that can be put in place to protect data.
We can provide independent advice as part of your project or delivery team to guide them along the right path and ask the right questions. Ultimately this will help you deliver a product or a service that not only meets your operational requirements but is secure and legally compliant.
GDPR requires that risk assessments are carried out for all data processors, and you should conduct them for any supplier you’re sharing data with. Sharing personal data with suppliers however, is one of the riskiest actions organisations have to carry out. It can mean you start to lose control of the data as you place it in the care of others, both in terms of the processing actions and the security of the data.
How do you know what level of security is appropriate for your supplier when GDPR leaves it open for interpretation? It’s a difficult question that many organisations struggle with. We can assist you in establishing a flexible yet repeatable supplier assessment process, or we can carry out the assessment for you producing a risk-based report and recommendations to help you decide how to proceed.
A good supplier risk assessment will enable you:
· to understand the risks to your data.
· to know what to do to reduce that risk.
· to provide a documented record in case you are investigated by the regulator.
