Regulatory Mapping

5 automated security scanners

Emerging Regulation Preparation

Purpose: The Emerging Regulation Preparation Scanner is designed to help organizations stay ahead of upcoming regulatory requirements by analyzing their internal security documentation, public policy pages, trust center information, and compliance certifications. This tool aids in implementing proactive measures to address any compliance gaps, ensuring that companies are well-prepared for future regulations.

What It Detects:

Security Policy Indicators: The scanner identifies the presence of “security policy” documents, checks for “incident response” procedures, looks for “data protection” measures, and verifies “access control” mechanisms across the company’s website.
Maturity Indicators: This includes detecting mentions of SOC 2 compliance, searching for ISO 27001 certifications, identifying references to penetration tests or vulnerability scans/assessments.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): The primary domain of the company you wish to analyze, such as “acme.com.”
company_name (string): The name of the company for which you are searching statements, e.g., “Acme Corporation.”

Business Impact: This scanner is crucial for maintaining a robust security posture and ensuring compliance with evolving regulatory standards, thereby mitigating potential risks associated with non-compliance and protecting sensitive information.

Risk Levels:

Critical: Conditions that directly lead to severe consequences such as significant fines or legal issues due to non-compliance.
High: Conditions that could result in high financial penalties or substantial operational disruptions if not addressed promptly.
Medium: Conditions that may lead to moderate risks, potentially requiring remediation efforts but with manageable impacts on business operations.
Low: Informal observations that do not pose immediate threats but are still relevant for continuous improvement and strategic planning.
Info: Non-critical findings providing supplementary information useful for knowledge management but not necessarily actionable in terms of risk mitigation.

Example Findings:

The scanner might flag a company’s trust center page as lacking explicit mention of data protection policies, which could be considered a medium-severity issue due to potential regulatory non-compliance.
Another example could involve the absence of any documentation regarding SOC 2 compliance, indicating a critical need for immediate attention and remediation efforts.

Cross Regulation Synthesis

Purpose: The Cross-Regulation Synthesis Scanner is designed to enhance the detection of control overlaps, identify gaps in regulatory compliance, and highlight efficiency opportunities by analyzing company security documentation, public policy pages, trust center information, and compliance certifications.

What It Detects:

Control Overlap Detection: Identifies repeated or overlapping controls across different regulations. Examples include patterns such as “security policy” and “incident response.”
Gap Analysis: Uncovers missing controls required by relevant regulations. Key phrases like “data protection” and “access control” are monitored for gaps in compliance.
Maturity Indicator Assessment: Evaluates the maturity of compliance efforts based on recognized standards and certifications, such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001.
Efficiency Opportunities Identification: Detects inefficiencies in compliance processes, including redundant assessments or outdated controls, particularly those related to penetration tests and vulnerability scans.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): The primary domain of the company being analyzed, such as “acme.com.”
company_name (string): The name of the company for which statements are being searched, e.g., “Acme Corporation.”

Business Impact: This scanner is crucial for organizations aiming to maintain a robust security posture by ensuring that all regulatory requirements are met and gaps in compliance are minimized. It helps in proactive risk management and enhances overall organizational resilience against potential threats.

Risk Levels:

Critical: Conditions where there is a direct violation of critical regulations or significant risks to data integrity and business operations.
High: Situations where substantial non-compliance with important regulations could lead to severe consequences, such as legal penalties or significant financial losses.
Medium: Compliance issues that may not immediately impact operations but are indicative of potential future problems if left unaddressed.
Low: Minor compliance discrepancies that do not significantly affect security posture but can be improved for better regulatory adherence.
Info: Informal findings that provide general insights into the company’s approach to compliance without posing immediate risks.

Example Findings:

“The company lacks a comprehensive incident response plan outlined in its security policy, which is crucial during cyber incidents.”
“Acme Corporation does not explicitly mention data encryption standards in their trust center, indicating potential gaps in handling sensitive information securely.”

Compliance Documentation

Purpose: The Compliance Documentation Scanner is designed to assess the completeness and quality of compliance documentation within organizations. It aims to ensure that entities adhere strictly to regulatory requirements by identifying gaps in security policies, incident response plans, data protection measures, and access controls. Additionally, it verifies the maturity level of compliance certifications such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001.

What It Detects:

Policy Indicators: The scanner checks for the presence of comprehensive security policy documents, detailed incident response plans, adequate documentation of data protection policies, and well-documented access control measures.
Maturity Indicators: It detects references to SOC 2 compliance or certifications, mentions of ISO 27001 standards or certifications, evidence of regular penetration testing activities, and documentation of vulnerability scanning and assessment processes.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): The primary domain to analyze, such as acme.com.
company_name (string): The company name for statement searching, e.g., “Acme Corporation”.

Business Impact: This scanner is crucial as it directly impacts the security posture of organizations by ensuring that all compliance documentation is up-to-date and robust, thereby mitigating potential risks associated with regulatory non-compliance or inadequate security measures.

Risk Levels:

Critical: Findings that indicate a complete absence of necessary policies or plans which are legally required or critical for operational stability.
High: Deficiencies in policy documentation or implementation gaps that could lead to significant security breaches or compliance violations.
Medium: Inconsistencies or minor deficiencies in documentation that may require immediate attention but do not pose an imminent threat.
Low: Minor issues such as grammatical errors or incomplete information within the documentation, which does not significantly impact compliance or security posture.
Info: Informal mentions of practices or certifications without concrete evidence of their implementation or effectiveness.

Example Findings:

The company lacks a comprehensive security policy document that covers all aspects of data protection and access controls.
There are no details provided regarding the incident response plan, posing significant risks during potential cyber-attacks.

Control Implementation Assessment

Purpose: The Control Implementation Assessment Scanner evaluates the effectiveness of security controls and the quality of supporting evidence to ensure compliance with regulatory standards. It identifies gaps in control implementation and assesses the maturity of compliance certifications.

What It Detects:

Identifies the presence or absence of key security policies such as “security policy,” “incident response,” “data protection,” and “access control.”
Detects references to compliance certifications and maturity models like SOC 2, ISO 27001, penetration testing, and vulnerability scanning.
Checks for the availability of company security documentation on the website or linked from public policy pages.
Evaluates the content of trust center information to ensure it includes relevant compliance details and security measures.
Searches for explicit mentions of compliance certifications in publicly accessible documents and web pages.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): Primary domain to analyze (e.g., acme.com)
company_name (string): Company name for statement searching (e.g., “Acme Corporation”)

Business Impact: This scanner is crucial as it helps in assessing the robustness of an organization’s security measures and compliance with industry standards, which directly impacts its overall security posture and credibility.

Risk Levels:

Critical: The scanner identifies significant gaps in security policies or missing critical compliance certifications that could lead to severe risks such as data breaches or non-compliance fines.
High: There are notable deficiencies in the implementation of essential security controls, which may expose sensitive information and lead to high risk scenarios.
Medium: Some security practices are inadequately implemented, posing moderate risk but requiring immediate attention for improvement.
Low: Minor issues with documentation or incomplete compliance measures that do not significantly impact overall security.
Info: Informal findings related to minor deviations from best practices or missing pieces of information that could be considered as informational only.

Example Findings:

The company’s privacy policy lacks explicit mention of data protection policies, posing a medium risk for potential compliance issues with GDPR or similar regulations.
The security section on the website does not reference any recent penetration testing results, indicating a high risk in terms of unverified vulnerabilities and potential exposure to attacks.

Audit Readiness

Purpose: The Audit_Readiness Scanner is designed to identify and assess gaps in regulatory compliance by analyzing company documentation, public policy pages, trust center information, and compliance certifications. Its primary goal is to ensure that organizations are well-prepared for audits and meet necessary security standards.

What It Detects:

Security Policy Indicators: The scanner identifies the presence of a formal security policy, checks for incident response procedures, verifies data protection measures, and ensures access control policies are in place.
Maturity Indicators: This includes detecting SOC 2 compliance certifications, confirming ISO 27001 standards adherence, identifying penetration testing activities, and looking for vulnerability scanning or assessment reports.
Public Policy Pages: The scanner scans public policy pages for security-related content to ensure transparency in security practices and policies.
Trust Center Information: It reviews trust center information for compliance disclosures and validates detailed security assurances provided to stakeholders.
Compliance Certifications: The scanner identifies published compliance certifications on the company website and verifies that the company holds relevant certifications such as SOC 2 or ISO 27001.

Inputs Required:

domain (string): Primary domain to analyze (e.g., acme.com)
company_name (string): Company name for statement searching (e.g., “Acme Corporation”)

Business Impact: This scanner is crucial as it helps organizations proactively address potential gaps in regulatory compliance, which can significantly impact their security posture and reputation. Compliance with standards like SOC 2 or ISO 27001 not only mitigates legal risks but also enhances stakeholder trust by demonstrating a commitment to robust security practices.

Risk Levels:

Critical: The scanner identifies critical conditions where there is a direct violation of mandatory regulations, such as the absence of a formal security policy.
High: Conditions that pose significant risk if not addressed, such as incomplete or outdated compliance certifications.
Medium: Issues that require attention but do not immediately impact regulatory compliance, such as minor inconsistencies in documentation.
Low: Informative findings that provide suggestions for improvement rather than immediate concerns.
Info: General information about the company’s security posture and practices, which does not directly affect risk levels but provides a baseline understanding.

Example Findings:

The scanner might flag an organization without a formal security policy as having a critical risk since it indicates a significant gap in essential regulatory compliance.
A lack of SOC 2 Type II Certification would be considered high risk, as this is a mandatory requirement for certain types of services to demonstrate adherence to specific standards related to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.