What are the essential elements of a cybersecurity compliance program?

Program objectives

Protect customer data, reduce incidents, and satisfy buyer/auditor expectations.

Policies & roles

• Security policy, access control, vendor risk, incident response, change management.

• Named owners; a quarterly review cadence.

Controls & processes

• MFA/SSO, least privilege, logging/monitoring, backups, secure SDLC, vulnerability management.

• Third‑party risk reviews at onboarding and annually.

Evidence & metrics

• Access reviews, backup test logs, incident drills, vulnerability scans, change tickets.

• KPIs: time to patch, access review closure, training completion.

Audits & reviews

• Light internal audits or readiness checks (SOC 2/ISO).

• Executive review of risks and exceptions.

Tooling & automation

Centralize identity, logs, and secrets; automate evidence capture where possible.

Common mistakes

• “Paper program” with no evidence.

• Unowned exceptions that never expire.

Next steps

Start with controls you already use; formalize them with certifications, such as SOC 2 and ISO.