In today’s digital economy, Australian organisations face a growing list of frameworks and laws. These include ISO 27001, the ACSC Essential Eight, APRA CPS 234, the Privacy Act’s Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, and, most recently, the Cyber Security Act 2024. Compliance in IT security has become essential. 

The requirements in all these regulations and compliances can hurt business owners financially, reputation-wise, and investigations by the regulatory bodies when disregarded. 

In this guide, we will dig deeper into the meaning of compliance in IT security and its importance to Australian businesses, and how you can make it a systemic process with an updated checklist & best practices.

What is Compliance in IT Security?

Compliance in IT Security or IT security compliance is the alignment between the technology, policies, and processes of your organisation against specific standards, regulations, and frameworks that regulate the way information should be secured. This can, in the Australian context, simply be the mapping of your internal controls against not only international standards but also local requirements. 

Key elements of IT security compliance typically include:

• Governance and policies – established and signed by the executive regularly.
• Risk management – defining threats, risk vulnerability, and documentation of treatment plans.
• Technical controls – access controls, encryption, logging, monitoring, and patch control.
• Incident response – reports and records of testing exercises.
• Third-party oversight – ensuring vendors follow security clauses and undergo assessment.
• Audit and reporting – the ability to produce evidence of compliance on demand.

Source: https://qualysec.com/compliance-in-it-security/