Regulatory compliance used to be a once-a-year audit. Today it is an ongoing responsibility that touches your technology, your policies, your staff, and your vendors. FD Consulting keeps you continuously compliant, audit-ready, and positioned to qualify for better cyber insurance terms.
of organizations said compliance complexity has negatively affected their ability to grow.
Many businesses handle compliance the same way: scramble before an audit, fix what the auditor finds, file the paperwork, and move on. Twelve months later, regulations have changed, your technology has changed, and you are starting from scratch again.
That model has two problems. First, you may only be compliant for a window around the audit, which means you are non-compliant most of the time. Second, the consequences of being caught out of compliance between audits can be fines, lost contracts, lost customers, and even personal liability.
Compliance has shifted from a periodic project to a continuous process.
Every business operates under at least one regulatory framework. Many operate under two or three without knowing it. If you are not sure which ones apply to you, that is the first question we answer.
What it is: The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard establishes security requirements for any business that accepts, processes, stores, or transmits credit card data.
Who it applies to: Any business that takes credit card payments.
What it is: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act establishes national standards to protect the privacy and security of protected health information (PHI).
Who it applies to: Healthcare providers, dental practices, medical billing companies, and any business associate that handles PHI on behalf of a covered entity.
What it is: The FTC's Standards for Safeguarding Customer Information require covered financial institutions to implement a written information security program with specific requirements.
Who it applies to: The FTC defines "financial institution" broadly: auto dealers, mortgage brokers, tax preparers, accountants, payday lenders, and any company that provides financial products or services.
What it is: Not a regulatory framework, but the controls carriers require before issuing or renewing a policy: documented policies, evidence of training, tested backups, MFA, incident response planning, and regular risk assessments.
Who it applies to: Any business carrying or seeking cyber liability insurance.
FD Consulting's compliance as a service keeps your business continuously compliant as regulations and your environment continue to evolve.
Our team stays current on the frameworks that apply to you, tracks changes, and updates your program. Expert guidance without the cost of a dedicated compliance officer.
We assess where you stand, identify gaps against your frameworks, and implement the controls, policies, and procedures needed to close them, scoped to your business.
Your posture is monitored continuously, not reviewed once a year. When something changes, we address it before it becomes a violation or an audit finding.
Policies, procedures, risk assessments, training records, incident logs, and evidence of controls, created and maintained so you are ready when an audit comes.
Many frameworks explicitly require documented workforce training. We include the security awareness training your frameworks require, and the records that prove completion.
When gaps or violations are identified, we lead the remediation. We do not hand you a list of problems and walk away. We help fix them.
Fred Denison has been helping businesses navigate technology and compliance challenges for over 20 years. FD Consulting has served clients since 2009.
Compliance as a service (CaaS) is a managed model in which an outside provider takes ongoing responsibility for your regulatory compliance program: gap assessments, policy development, technical controls, continuous monitoring, documentation, employee training, and audit preparation.
It depends on your industry, the type of data you handle, and whether you work with government or regulated industries. A few guidelines: if you accept credit cards, PCI-DSS applies. If you handle health information as a provider or vendor, HIPAA applies. If you provide financial products or services, the FTC Safeguards Rule may apply.
Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting your systems, data, and operations from attack. Compliance is the practice of meeting specific requirements established by a regulatory framework. They overlap significantly, but they are not the same thing.
Continuously, not annually. FD Consulting's continuous monitoring model keeps your program current year-round.
Yes, often it does. Carriers increasingly require documented evidence of specific security and compliance controls before issuing or renewing a policy.
The first step is a compliance assessment. We will identify which frameworks apply to you, where your gaps are, and what it takes to become and stay compliant. The conversation is free, takes about 30 minutes, and requires no commitment.