How to Complete a PCI Audit in 7 Steps

by Hannah Grace Holladay / February 23, 2024

To protect the security of cardholder data, the PCI Security Standards Council requires organizations that work with payment cards to maintain compliance with the PCI DSS. If you’re an entity that stores, processes, or transmits cardholder data, it’s imperative to regularly conduct a PCI audit to ensure compliance. Below, we will define common PCI requirements and discuss the seven steps of conducting a PCI audit. What Is a PCI Audit?…

Notes from the Field: CIS Control 14 – Security Awareness and Skills Training 

by Greg Halpin / March 7, 2024

Security awareness training is something I see companies doing either very well or not at all. It's unfortunate for the companies that don't do much, as a little training goes a very long way. Security awareness training is an investment that more than pays for itself. The more your employees are trained against potential threats and attacks, the safer your company and customer data. The less trained they are, the…

15 Information Security Policies Every Business Should Have

by Tori Thurmond / February 6, 2024

When a business suffers a data breach or any other information security failure, it’s best practice to launch a root-cause investigation. We want to know what happened, how it happened, and how it could have been prevented. Whatever the ultimate conclusion of the investigation, among the causes, you will usually find either: Inadequate information security policies A failure to properly implement existing information security policies Information security policies are how…

Understanding the 3 FISMA Compliance Levels: Low, Moderate, and High

by Tori Thurmond / January 31, 2024

What is FISMA? The Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) is a piece of United States legislation, enacted as part of the Electronic Government Act of 2002. FISMA’s intent is to protect government information and assets from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction of information and information systems. FISMA is the law; NIST Special Publication 800-53, Security Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations, is the standard that…

Why Should Your Employees Sign a Policy Acknowledgment Form?

by Tori Thurmond / January 17, 2024

What does it mean for your employees to acknowledge your employee policies and procedures? To comply with information security standards, it’s required that all employees have expressed acknowledgment of the policies in place within your organization, specifically through a policy acknowledgment form for things like your information security policies and employee handbook. Having policy acknowledgment forms is an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to policy development and…