Top 7 Cybersecurity Regulations You Need on Your Radar

The seven essential cybersecurity regulations include HIPAA, GLBA, FISMA, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, CISA, CCPA, and CMMC, each catering to specific sectors such as healthcare, finance, federal agencies, and consumer privacy. These regulations ensure comprehensive security measures, risk-based strategies, and information sharing to protect sensitive data and enhance national cybersecurity efforts.

1. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Ensuring the privacy of patient data in healthcare is of the utmost importance. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), enacted in 1996, establishes federal standards for keeping sensitive patient information safe. This law applies to healthcare providers, health plans, and clearinghouses, as well as to their business associates who handle protected health information.

The HIPAA mandates that entities must put in place security safeguards, covering administrative, physical, and technical measures, to ensure that e-PHI remains confidential, intact, and accessible whenever needed. These measures are not one-size-fits-all; they are tailored to an organization’s structure and the risks it faces to ensure the direct and effective protection of electronic protected health information.

Under HIPAA, it is vitally important to carry out risk analysis. It is not enough for a covered entity to establish a security protocol and then assume that its e-PHI is safe. The risk analysis process is not something that can be done once and considered finished; it must be done regularly, with the recorded electronic health information under constant review to detect any potential security incidents. The purpose of the analysis is twofold: First, to identify possible risks to the e-PHI and anything that it may come into contact with. Second, and just as importantly, to assess how well the security controls in place are working.

The adoption of health information technology is directed by federal policy, which seeks to advance clinical care while protecting the privacy of patients. “The better we engage our patients, the better we communicate with them, and the better we engage them, the better our outcomes are,” source.

2. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) mandates that financial institutions safeguard the confidentiality and the integrity of consumer financial information. This is a most necessary directive for compliance and cybersecurity personnel to manage, but it is especially vital for chief information security officers, or CISOs, to carry out.

The GLBA is directed at financial entities and requires them to implement security safeguards. In our 2021 updates, we emphasized the importance of well-integrated technological and organizational controls—what we at the FTC call a “cybersecurity leadership team.” The key measures we recommend are encrypting your data and appointing a lead for cybersecurity. These are good practices that could help any organization meet the GLBA’s basic requirement to safeguard sensitive personal information. We think they are especially important for financial institutions and their “not-quite-banking” cousins, given the significant risks to reputation and loss of trust that follow from failing to meet the law’s standards and its basic spirit.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) can affect the privacy of individuals’ financial information and the institutions’ information security. Therefore, many financial firms attempt to fully understand the act and work toward incorporating its provisions into their everyday business practices. When it comes to compliance, GLBA has a lot to say. For starters, compliance with the act requires an understanding of its requirements and how they impact financial institutions and their customers.

The GLBA enhances the protection of consumer financial information. It mandates that a risk assessment be part of each institution’s strategy for securing that information. These strategies must be in place to ensure compliance with the law.

3. Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA)

The Federal Information Security Management Act protects government operations and data from hackers and other online threats. It became law in 2002 and was updated in 2014, establishing a strong baseline for federal cybersecurity that protects federal systems and sensitive data.

The Department of Homeland Security has been made responsible by FISMA for security policies across the Executive Branch civilian agencies. This is an important delegation because the Department of Homeland Security oversees the compliance of security policies. And, security policy compliance is very necessary indeed when you consider that the security of systems that handle sensitive but unclassified information is mandatory under FISMA. Those responsible for compliance use the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as their guide.

Information systems must be categorized according to risk, with an emphasis on implementing tight security controls for systems that contain sensitive or high-value assets. Our system of categorization is based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-53 Rev. 5, which provides an excellent template for security control selection and implementation. We use asset value and sensitivity as the two primary factors to determine risk.

Under FISMA (the Federal Information Security Management Act), continuous monitoring is of utmost importance. It allows federal agencies to keep on top of the systems that they’ve certified and to spot and address system vulnerabilities. The most advanced federal agencies help with this mission of spotting and fixing problems quickly by using an approach called Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation. These advanced monitoring systems also aid in cybersecurity incident responses.

4. NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF)

For entities that wish to elevate their cybersecurity postures, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework is of utmost importance. This framework serves as a guide for organizations to apply the principles of risk management in their quest to make themselves more secure and resilient. The framework focuses on the five core functions of cybersecurity: identifying, protecting, detecting, responding, and recovering from threats.

The NIST Framework should not only be embraced outright by organizations but also be given life through the technology and processes that together animate its all-important principles. To be sure, the use of vulnerability assessment tools, for instance, is particularly effective at enabling the first principle: Identifying which assets really need protection (and thus coming close to an effective visual metaphor for a cybersecurity “supply chain“). But these principles cannot be realized without also using a particular set of technologies and processes throughout the organization.

A well-prepared cybersecurity team has foresight and directs its efforts toward incident preparation and the designation of clear, predefined roles, among other essential cybersecurity practices. Such practices promote a “what if” mentality that keeps a cybersecurity team a step ahead of potential threats. Planning for various incident scenarios makes teams more effective when responding to real-life events.

5. Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA)

Since its introduction in 2015, the CISA has improved U.S. cybersecurity through better information sharing. CISA is an acronym for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. While CISA works closely with federal partners, it also focuses on working with the private sector to accomplish its mission of “protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure from physical and cyber threats.”

Under CISA, businesses can share threat data with the government and not worry about being dragged into court or having the data disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act. So, of course, CISA strongly encourages this pro-defense cybersecurity posture.

The legislation requires the elimination of irrelevant personal data prior to sharing. There are still worries, despite precautions, about possible agency abuse. The government insists it will use the information only for cybersecurity purposes. Warranty debates of privacy and civil liberties have been ongoing since at least the summer of 2015.

CISA aids in the sharing of strategic intelligence. It is like a funnel through which intelligence—cyber and otherwise—flows from the government to private-sector organizations. CISA allows these organizations to balance the benefits of sharing against the risks and to incorporate sharing as a component of their overarching cybersecurity strategies.

6. California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)

Residents of California have been endowed by the California Consumer Privacy Act with a semblance of control over their personal details. The law, enforced by the California Attorney General and the recently established California Privacy Protection Agency, requires businesses to adopt certain measures to enhance the demanded security and the protection of consumer data.

The CCPA, first enacted in 2018 and updated by the California Privacy Rights Act in 2023, affects how businesses manage customers’ personal data. It necessitates that businesses inform their customers of the types of personal data collected and the purposes for which that data is used. It also requires that businesses give their customers the option to have their data deleted. Additionally, the CCPA necessitates that businesses inform their customers if their data is sold to third parties and grant their customers the opt-out right to stop the sale of their data.

The requirements for compliance with the CCPA must be met by businesses. These include having an inventory of the data they collect, providing privacy notices, and establishing security measures such as encryption to protect that data. Regular assessments and staff training on data privacy are necessary. It is also vital to maintain the documentation that demonstrates compliance.

To ensure California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) compliance, companies are increasingly relying on technology solutions. These solutions allow for ongoing CCPA compliance and offer kinds of monitoring and assessment that, when taken together, can be thought of as automation of alignment. And what we can expect from these platforms today gives us some insight into what sort of precedents California’s privacy laws might set for similar regulations across the country.

7. Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is a program established by the U.S. Department of Defense to secure sensitive unclassified information in the defense supply chain. Sensitive unclassified data is cyber-hardened by defense contractors who are certified at various levels. CMMC fortifies the supply chain not only through direct implementation by prime contractors but by ensuring all suppliers down to the nuts and bolts level are doing cyber hygiene.

The CMMC was brought forth in 2019; however, it has changed and evolved into CMMC 2.0 in 2021. CMMC 2.0 allows businesses that do business with the federal government to have a better way of self-assessing their ability to comply with the federal government’s information assurance requirements.

The essential modifications to CMMC 2.0 reduce the expensive third-party evaluations needed for some levels, while also clarifying the requirements. This ensures that the compliance system not only operates on three levels but also makes the most sense in terms of dollars and sense.

• Level 1 (Foundational): Basic cybersecurity measures and self-assessment.
• Level 2 (Advanced): Enhanced controls with some self-assessment and third-party verification.
• Level 3 (Expert): Comprehensive approach with government audits.

CMMC compliance for defense contractors means an investment in organizational resilience. This entails self-assessing against NIST 800-171 and evaluating your performance using the NIST SP 800-171A scoring system (the same one used during the in-person assessments when CMMC was piloted). Then it’s time for the fun part: picking your assessors. Will you use a for-profit organization like BAH, a not-for-profit organization like the IEEE, or a government organization? You get to choose.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is not just for prime contractors anymore. The DoD is now rolling out CMMC 2.0 down through the supply chain, and that includes non-traditional contractors and a whole lot of small businesses. CMMC 2.0 now has a cut-down version of the original model that few people could actually understand and even fewer could implement.

Findings Makes Compliance Easy

We simplify compliance with these critical cybersecurity regulations by providing automated tools that continuously monitor and assess your supply chain’s security posture. With our platform, companies can seamlessly track compliance with frameworks like HIPAA, CMMC, and NIST, ensuring that their data protection measures align with the latest regulatory standards. Findings also enables real-time risk management and automated reporting, making it easy for organizations to identify potential vulnerabilities, streamline vendor assessments, and maintain a proactive stance on cybersecurity. Whether you’re in healthcare, finance, or working with government agencies, Findings equips your team with the insights and resources needed to stay compliant and safeguard sensitive information.

FAQ

What is HIPAA and why is it important?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was established in 1996 and serves to protect the privacy of patients’ personal and health-related information. Thus, it requires the healthcare system to implement a series of security measures to assure the system’s confidentiality, integrity, and even availability.

How does the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act affect financial institutions?

GLBA requires that financial organizations protect consumer financial data, stipulating that they must take security measures such as encrypting data and appointing a cybersecurity chief.

What is the purpose of FISMA in government cybersecurity?

The Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) protects government data. It mandates that federal agencies create security programs for their information systems, rank those systems according to risk, and conduct annual security program assessments.

How does the NIST Cybersecurity Framework assist organizations?

The risk management framework put forward by NIST provides direction for improving security and managing risk. It does this by allowing organizations to focus on managing threats. It asks organizations not just to identify and protect against risks but also to detect, respond to, and recover from them.

What role does CISA play in cybersecurity?

CISA promotes the voluntary sharing of cyber threat information and works to improve collaboration among various entities to strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity, all while ensuring privacy protections are in place.

What rights does the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) grant consumers?

The CCPA empowers consumers with personal information control. Under the law, businesses must disclose the types of data they collect, offer consumers the chance to delete their data, and inform them of their right to opt out.

What is the significance of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)?

The defense supply chain requires protection for its data, and the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification—better known as CMMC—mandates the how, who, and what of safeguarding that information. The “who” is the supply chain itself. The “how” is enforced through a set of structured compliance controls that the CMMC requires to be in place. And “what” the CMMC guards largely pertains to the flow of data to and from the supply chain and within it.