Compliance

Meeting the requirements of laws, regulations, and industry standards that apply to your business's data and security practices. Depending on what kind of data you handle and where you operate, there may be rules you must follow.

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For example, if you process credit card payments, you need to comply with PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) which has specific security controls (like regular vulnerability scans, strong access control, etc.). If you handle personal data of EU citizens, GDPR imposes requirements on data protection and breach notification. If you're a healthcare provider in the US, HIPAA dictates how you secure patient information.

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Compliance is about doing security in a way that satisfies these external mandates - and being able to prove it via documentation or audits.

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For SMBs, compliance can seem daunting, but usually the requirements boil down to best practices that you should want to do anyway (like have access controls, keep logs, train employees on security, use encryption for sensitive data). The key steps are: identify which regulations or standards apply to you (e.g., privacy laws, financial regulations, or contractual obligations from enterprise clients), then implement the necessary controls, and maintain evidence (policies, logs, reports) that you're doing so.

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There are also simplified frameworks tailored for small businesses - for instance, many use the NIST Cybersecurity Framework as a guide (it's voluntary, but widely respected). Compliance isn't one-size-fits-all; it's very specific to what you do. However, even if an SMB isn't mandated to comply with a standard, aligning with one can improve security posture and trust.

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The takeaway: compliance is the intersection of security and legal/ethical responsibility - it's not just protecting data, but doing it in a way that meets or exceeds the expected standards.