Compliance monitoring - definition & overview

Compliance monitoring refers to the systematic process of observing and assessing whether an individual, organization, or entity adheres to relevant laws, regulations, policies, standards and ethical guidelines that govern their operations. Organizations subject to regulatory and industry compliance standards must conduct compliance monitoring in preparation for an audit.

Compliance monitoring helps organizations avoid legal penalties, reputational damage and financial losses from non-compliance. It is especially crucial for risk assessment and preparing a company for a compliance audit. Here’s a summary of why compliance monitoring matters:

• It identifies and addresses non-compliance issues so organizations can mitigate potential security risks and liabilities.

• It helps organizations maintain a culture of integrity and a positive reputation crucial for building trust among customers, clients, investors and stakeholders.

• It helps prevent the financial setbacks of non-compliance––fines, penalties and legal fees.

• It reveals operational inefficiencies, inconsistencies and gaps in processes.

• It upholds data protection and security standards, reducing the risk of data breaches.

• It helps organizations demonstrate a commitment to compliance through monitoring and reporting.

• It surfaces data and insights to inform strategic decisions that align business goals with regulatory requirements.

• It positions organizations for long-term sustainability and growth.

Is compliance monitoring required?

Companies must research and understand the regulatory landscape relevant to their industry and operations. Consulting legal experts, industry associations and relevant government agencies can guide whether compliance monitoring is required or recommended. While compliance monitoring might be optional for some companies, its benefits make it worthwhile for most organizations.

Compliance monitoring frameworks are structured approaches or methodologies that organizations use to design, implement and manage their compliance monitoring activities. These frameworks provide a systematic and organized way to ensure that the organization's operations align with regulatory requirements, policies and standards. Compliance monitoring frameworks also offer a set of guidelines, processes, and best practices to enhance the effectiveness of compliance monitoring efforts.

What are examples of compliance monitoring frameworks?

Organizations may adopt an existing compliance monitoring framework or customize one to suit their needs and industry requirements. A well-designed framework helps streamline compliance monitoring activities, ensures consistency, and strengthens the organization's overall compliance posture. Here are examples of different types of frameworks:

HIPAA Security Rule

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule sets standards for protecting electronic protected health information (ePHI) in the healthcare industry.

PCI DSS

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI) DSS applies to organizations that handle payment card data. It provides guidelines to secure payment card transactions and protect cardholder data.

FISMA
The Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) outlines cybersecurity requirements for federal agencies in the United States and applies to the public sector.

GDPR
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets guidelines for protecting personal data and privacy for individuals within the European Union (EU).

CMMC
The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is a framework developed by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to ensure that defense contractors have adequate cybersecurity measures in place to protect sensitive information.

SOC 2
The Service Organization Control 2 (SOC 2) framework, though voluntary, provides guidelines for assessing the security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of systems at service organizations.

Compliance monitoring solutions come in various forms, from manual processes to sophisticated software and tools. These solutions help organizations monitor, track and ensure adherence to regulations, policies and standards. Here are key factors to consider when evaluating and choosing a compliance monitoring solution:

• Comprehensive compliance coverage that centralizes all compliance-related activities

• Customization and flexibility to suit your organization's unique compliance needs, processes and workflows

• Automation for tasks like notifications, reminders, data collection and reporting

• A user-friendly interface to accelerate adoption and minimize the learning curve

• Scalability to handle growing compliance requirements and increasing data volumes

• Integration with existing systems, like ERP systems or risk management platforms

• Reporting and analytics that provide clear insights into compliance status, trends and potential issues

• Notification and alerting to ensure staff and teams complete tasks and meet deadlines

• Audit and inspection support that facilitates planning, execution and reporting

• Data security and privacy regulation adherence to protect sensitive information

• Mobile access for remote teams or on-the-go compliance monitoring

• Regulatory change management that helps organizations stay updated and adapt compliance processes as needed

• Data backup and recovery to prevent data loss

• User permissions and role-based access controls to ensure data security

A combination of roles and departments within an organization typically manages compliance monitoring. The specific individuals or teams responsible for compliance monitoring can vary based on the organization's size, industry, structure and the complexity of its compliance requirements. Key stakeholders who often play a role in managing compliance monitoring include a compliance officer, risk management team, governance, risk, and compliance analysts, compliance program managers, internal audit department, quality assurance and control teams, information security and IT teams and external consultants and auditors to conduct independent compliance assessments and audits.

Legacy compliance monitoring solutions require a custom one-off approach for developing relevant dashboards and queries. Sumo Logic provides out-of-the-box monitors with a real-time dashboard for enhanced visibility of your entire IT infrastructure. With Sumo Logic, enterprises can align their internal policies and compliance processes to compliance regulations and standards. By storing and managing all log data related to regulatory compliance, Sumo Logic enables more targeted and customizable analysis and reporting required by today’s auditors

When it’s time for a compliance audit, the Sumo Logic platform helps you quickly demonstrate compliance and maintain security best practices at a cloud-native scale. Streamline your risk management program with data monitoring and security and configuration analyses. Power compliance readiness with a cloud-native SaaS platform that collects, stores and analyzes exabytes of log and event data with user activity insights.

Learn more about continuous compliance monitoring with Sumo Logic.