Governance.
In the IT and cybersecurity world,
governance plays a huge role in everyday operations.
It is the backbone that supports
an organization's information security framework,
shaping its guidelines, policies,
standards, and procedures.
As technology evolves, regulations change
and cultural shifts occur within the industry.
The need for monitoring and revising governance
becomes increasingly important.
So, first of all, what is governance?
Governance is the first component of the GRC triad,
or governance, risk, and compliance.
It refers to the strategic leadership,
structures, and processes
that ensure an organization's IT infrastructures
aligns with its business objectives.
It involves making key decisions
about risk management, resource allocation,
and performance measurement.
Simply put,
governance is about establishing a strategic framework
that aligns with the organization's objectives
and regulatory requirements.
This framework includes the rules, responsibilities,
and practices that guide an organization
in achieving its goals and managing its IT resources.
Governance directly influences the creation
and implementation of an organization's guidelines,
policies, standards, and procedures.
Governance plays a crucial role
in shaping the path an organization should follow.
Particularly in situations involving risk,
it helps establish guidelines,
which, while not mandatory,
provide a recommended approach
to handling various situations.
Furthermore, governance is instrumental
in policy development,
creating high-level guidelines
that outline the organization's commitment
and intentions towards certain actions,
such as data protection or ethical conduct.
It also influences the creation of standards,
which are more specific, often mandatory rules
that must be followed to adhere to a policy,
typically defined by industry or regulatory bodies.
Lastly, governance ensures that alignment of procedures,
the detailed steps to be followed
to accomplish specific tasks,
with the organization's strategic objectives,
and so ensures the consistency and compliance
with both policies and standards.
As technology advances, regulatory landscapes shift
and cultural changes occur within an industry.
The governance framework must adapt.
This is where monitoring and revision come into play.
Monitoring involves regularly reviewing
and assessing the effectiveness of the governance framework.
It helps identify any gaps or weaknesses
that might have arisen due to changes in technology,
regulations, or industry culture.
Revisions, on the other hand,
involves updating the governance framework
to address these gaps or weaknesses.
This could involve updating the policies,
standards and procedures,
or making changes
to the organization's IT infrastructure or operations.
Let's consider an example.
TechFirm is a hypothetical software development company
with a governance framework in place
to ensure secure coding practices.
In 2015, TechFirm started using cloud-based services
for some of its operations.
This technological advancement
required a review of their governance framework.
They had to update their policies and procedures
to include secure use of cloud services.
In 2018, new data protection regulations were introduced,
requiring more stringent protection of customer data.
TechFirm had to monitor these regulatory changes
and revise their governance framework accordingly.
They updated their data protection policies
and adopted new security standards.
Recently there's been a cultural shift towards remote work.
In response,
TechFirm revised their governance framework once again.
They updated their policies on remote work,
adopted new procedures for secure remote access,
and implemented new IT systems to support remote workers.
In each case, TechFirm monitored changes
in technology, regulations, and industry culture,
and revised their governance framework
to address these changes.
This ensured that their governance framework
remained effective,
and that they continued to maintain secure operations.
So remember, governance refers to the overall management
of the organization's IT infrastructure,
policies, procedures, and operations,
and involves the establishment of a strategic framework
that aligns with the organization's objectives
and regulatory requirements.
Governance affects the creation of guidelines,
policies, standards, and procedures directly.
Finally, by adapting to changes in technology,
regulations, and industry culture,
governance helps ensure
that an organization's IT systems and processes
are secure, efficient, and compliant
with all relevant laws and regulations.