With more colleges and universities incorporating Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms to support registrars, admissions, and financial aid offices, schools are collecting more electronic student information than ever before. Combine that with weak networks and systems, however, and the state of cybersecurity in higher education earns an F. Higher education needs to focus more efforts on protecting this information from cybercriminals.

When the subject is cybersecurity compliance, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is often the first reference that comes to mind. NIST has been around for decades, and its standards for the development of cybersecurity risk management programs are considered the gold standard. There is, however, another standard that applies to service providers that handle customer data, as well as to those firms’ business partners: the SOC 2 audit.

Hybrid clouds are an elegant and adaptable technology solution for combining public and private cloud storage with more traditional IT infrastructure. While the hybrid cloud model provides a number of benefits, it requires a different security approach than private data storage options. Keep reading to learn more about the pros and cons of hybrid cloud computing, as well as the best security measures for protecting the data stored there.

Since the Colonial Pipeline incident in May 2021, the word “ransomware” has been circulating in public opinion and even in recent remarks from President Biden and law enforcement, along with warnings about how this type of advanced cyberattack on companies and individuals should be avoided.  But what exactly is ransomware? Why are we suddenly talking so much about it now?

The risks that threaten your vendors and contractors threaten your company as well. Every additional party added to your supply chain expands the scope of your risk and creates more opportunities for your compliance program to fail.  Some new suppliers may be reluctant to be fully transparent with you about their own risks and security measures. Nevertheless, it’s crucial that you work with your vendors to keep all potential threats at bay.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are how organizations measure success. Supplier management KPIs assure that value is received for the money spent with suppliers and vendors while keeping one eye on cost savings. When evaluating your organization’s supply chain, you can review several areas, such as: Supplier management across the entire lifecycle can be difficult because of the sheer number of vendors and suppliers a corporate organization typically uses.

New IT Distribution Partner to Enable Simplified Support for VARs SAN FRANCISCO – July 12, 2021 – Reciprocity, a leader in information security risk and compliance, today announced it has expanded the Reciprocity® Partner Program to now enable InfoSec solution providers and Value Added Resellers (VARs) to develop and deliver innovative products and services supported by the award-winning ZenGRC® platform.

Financial institutions lost $16.9 billion to account takeover and identity fraud in 2019 alone, and the shift to online financial services during the pandemic only exacerbated the problem. At the same time, the 60 percent jump in compliance costs and risk management spending since the 2008 financial crisis has left retail and corporate banks with little discretionary funding.

A quality management system (QMS) is a system that documents the policies, business processes, and procedures necessary for an organization to create and deliver its products or services to its customers, and therefore increase customer satisfaction through high product quality. In short, a QMS helps a company meet its regulatory requirements and customer requirements, and make continuous improvements to its operations.

Audit procedures are the processes and methods auditors use to obtain sufficient, appropriate audit evidence to give their professional judgment about the effectiveness of an organization’s internal controls. Internal controls are the mechanisms and standards that businesses use to protect their sensitive data and IT systems; or as a means of providing accountability on financial statements and accounting records.