In this lesson,
we will learn about industry compliance.
Industry compliance requires
that organizations meet established laws, regulations,
guidelines, and specifications to protect sensitive data,
maintain customer trust, and avoid regulatory penalties.
Specific industries
that have notable compliance requirements include
government, healthcare, financial, and utilities.
When looking at compliance requirements across industries
like government, healthcare, financial, and utilities,
it is clear that each has its own focus,
but they all aim to protect sensitive data and systems.
In government,
regulations like the Federal Information Security
Management Act, or FISMA,
the National Institute of Standards and Technology
Risk Management Framework, or NIST RMF,
and the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, or CMMC,
emphasize securing federal information and systems
to meet national security needs.
This level of security is especially critical
for contractors handling government-classified data.
Next, in healthcare,
laws like the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA,
and the Health Information Technology
for Economic Clinical Health Act, or HITECH,
focus on safeguarding patient information
such as Electronic Protected Health Information, or EPHI.
Healthcare regulations are designed
to ensure privacy and include strict rules
around how medical data is stored and shared.
Next, the financial industry.
Through regulations like the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act,
or GLBA,
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or SOX,
and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard,
or PCI-DSS,
is centered on protecting customer financial information,
maintaining data integrity,
and securing payment card data to prevent fraud.
Finally, for utilities,
the North American Electric Reliability Corporation
Critical Infrastructure Protection, or NERC-CIP,
and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC,
focus on protecting critical infrastructure
like power grids and water systems.
While all these industries prioritize cybersecurity,
the nature of what they protect,
ranging from patient data to financial transactions,
to national security
drive their unique compliance requirements.
Now let's take a quick look
at the compliance drivers in each industry.
First, we have government.
Government compliance involves several key frameworks
to ensure the security of sensitive data and systems.
The Federal Information Security Management Act, or FISMA,
requires federal agencies to develop
and implement robust security programs
to protect their information.
To support FISMA,
the National Institute of Standards and Technology
Risk Management Framework, or NIST RMF,
provides a method of managing risk,
which includes categorizing information systems,
selecting the appropriate security controls,
and continuously monitoring their effectiveness.
Next, for government contractors,
particularly those in the defense sector,
the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, or CMMC,
is used for safeguarding
Controlled Unclassified Information, or CUI.
CUI is sensitive information
that is not government-classified,
but still requires protection as it is regulated by laws
and regulations to safeguard national security.
Contractors who fail to comply with a CMMC requirement
may be barred from participating
in future government projects.
The CMMC is divided into five levels of certification.
Level 1 focuses on basic cybersecurity hygiene,
like password protection, backups, and logging.
Level 2 introduces immediate practices
such as access control, configuration management,
and incident response.
Level 3 fully implements the NIST SP
or special publication 800-171 guidelines
to protect CUI information
and includes advanced threat detection and response.
Level 4 emphasizes proactive security by measuring
and refining security practices such as threat hunting
and proactive risk management to counter advanced threats.
And level 5 represents the highest level of maturity
where organizations optimize their defenses
through adaptive security controls, supply chain security,
and cyber threat intelligence
to combat the most sophisticated threat actors.
Now, let's take a look at healthcare compliance.
Healthcare organizations must maintain privacy, security,
and ethical practices in handling patient data
and delivering care.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act,
or HIPAA,
focuses on protecting patient
sensitive health information and privacy.
HIPAA sets strict rules on how hospitals, doctors,
and insurance companies store,
share and access medical data
to prevent unauthorized access or breaches.
Failure to comply with HIPAA can result
in heavy fines, civil or criminal charges,
and significant reputational damage due to breaches
of patient privacy or data leaks.
Next, we have the Health Information Technology
for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH,
which builds on HIPAA
by encouraging healthcare providers
to adopt electronic health records.
HITECH not only pushes for the digitization
of health records,
but also strengthens security
and privacy measures for electronic data.
It even enforces tougher penalties for healthcare providers
that fail to properly safeguard patient information.
Next, let's consider financial compliance.
Financial industry standards are designed to prevent fraud,
protect customer data, and ensure transparency,
security and ethical conduct,
in financial transactions and reporting.
First, there's the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, or GLBA.
GLBA ensures that banks and financial institutions protect
customer's personal financial information.
GLBA also requires these institutions
to ensure their third-party service providers maintain
adequate security measures to protect customer data.
Then we have the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or SOX.
SOX focuses on making sure public companies maintain
accurate financial records
and implement controls to prevent fraud.
In short, GLBA targets data privacy
and protection in the financial sector,
while SOX ensures the integrity
of financial reporting in public companies.
Last,
we have the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard,
or PCI-DSS.
PCI-DSS applies to any business
handling credit card transactions.
Compliance with PCI-DSS protects cardholder data
and avoids serious consequences such as data breaches,
hefty fines, legal liabilities, and loss of customer trust.
PCI-DSS enforces six key security goals,
including maintaining a secure network,
encrypting cardholder data, managing vulnerabilities,
enforcing strict access controls,
continuously monitoring systems,
and having a robust information security policy.
Finally, we have utility compliance.
Utility regulations and standards ensure the security,
reliability and safety of critical infrastructure
such as powered grids and water systems.
For example,
the North American Electric Reliability Corporation
Critical Infrastructure Protection, or NERC-CIP standards,
focus on securing the systems that keep the lights on.
The NERC-CIP ensures power companies
have strong security practices in place
to prevent hackers from shutting down
parts of the power grid.
Failure to comply with the NERC-CIP can result in fines
of up to $1 million per day per violation.
Next, there's the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
or FERC.
The FERC oversees
and enforces compliance in the energy industry.
FERC makes sure that utility companies
are conducting regular risk assessments
and implementing cybersecurity measures
to safeguard against physical and cyber threats.
So remember,
industry compliance involves adhering
to specific laws, regulations,
and standards that protect sensitive data
and maintain trust.
Each sector, from government to healthcare,
financial and utilities has its own regulations
focused on data protection and security.
Government compliance emphasizes securing
sensitive federal information
through frameworks like FISMA and CMMC.
Healthcare regulations such as HIPAA and HITECH
ensure the privacy and security of patient data.
Financial regulations like GLBA, SOX,
and PCI-DSS prevent fraud and protect financial information.
And finally,
utility compliance secures critical infrastructure
such as power grids
through standards like NERC-CIP and oversight by the FERC.