Healthcare practices, financial services firms and other regulated businesses face a persistent compliance challenge: modern regulatory frameworks demand documented proof that security controls work as intended, not just evidence that they exist. Installing firewalls and adopting multi-factor authentication (MFA) represents a good start, but regulators expect your business to demonstrate these measures actually protect sensitive data against current threats.
For these and many other reasons besides, a third-party threat assessment helps tremendously for validating your IT security practices and ensuring that you are up-to-date with compliance for the latest cybersecurity regulations. Many sectors are subject to regulations that even specifically require engaging an external firm to certify existing controls are in place with ironclad certainty, and ancillary services like cyber insurance are adopting similar stipulations to mitigate their risk.
Cyber Risk and Compliance by Industry
Different industries face distinct regulatory requirements for data security, as well as their own threat profiles affected by unique factors like the type of information they handle. Understanding these sector-specific compliance obligations will help you prioritize where your enforcement needs the most work:
Healthcare
The most critical cybersecurity issue for healthcare organizations is the handling of protected health information (PHI) subject to HIPAA regulations. The Security Rule requires regular risk assessments to identify threats to electronically stored PHI, including data that is recorded, collected, etc. by third parties like outsourced administrative contractors or IT firms. Covered entities must also document these assessments and show how they have addressed identified vulnerabilities.
Cyber insurance providers also increasingly require medical facilities to complete professional security assessments before issuing policies. Many carriers mandate specific controls including endpoint detection and response, security operations center (SOC) monitoring and incident response planning.
Ecommerce
PCI DSS standards regulate the collection and storage of credit card payment information by ecommerce retailers through online channels. These requirements mandate regular reviews of your network security to ensure data is protected, which can include quarterly vulnerability scans and annual penetration tests conducted by approved vendors. You must also document remediation of high-risk vulnerabilities that are discovered if you are still processing transactions online.
Customer data breaches may trigger state notification laws with varying requirements. Having documented security assessments helps demonstrate reasonable security measures if breaches occur. Some state laws provide safe harbor protections for businesses that maintain documented security programs.
Financial Services
Different business in the finance industry face various levels of oversight from both public and private agencies, from the SEC to FINRA, with multiple regulations in-between obligating cybersecurity implementation. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires financial institutions to protect customer information through written security plans, which auditors will review and test to determine whether implemented controls work as documented.
Investment advisers registered with the SEC face cybersecurity recommendations including various risk assessments, vendor security management and incident response testing. Recent enforcement actions show regulators expect documented evidence of program effectiveness as well as plans in place to notify affected parties promptly.
What Auditors and Regulators Expect for Threat Assessments
Overall, most regulatory examinations focus on whether your security program protects sensitive data from realistic threats in your sector and presents a clear methodology for addressing incidents, from prevention to customer notification and remediation. Here is a breakdown of what most regulators want to see from you when it comes to performing a threat assessment.
Cyber Risk Evaluation
Auditors expect businesses to identify assets containing sensitive data, evaluate threats to those assets, and assess the likelihood and impact of successful attacks. Risk assessments should consider both external threats like hacking and internal risks from access within your network, whether from potential human error or a targeted insider attack.
Documented reviews must show current analysis, not outdated evaluations. Threat landscapes change as new vulnerabilities emerge and attack techniques evolve. Regulators look for evidence that businesses regularly update risk assessments to reflect current conditions.
Security Control Validation
Validating your existing security controls is one of the most persistent requirements for data privacy regulations, but unfortunately also one of the easiest to overlook potential gaps. Auditors will look for verification that your controls function as intended and that you have taken steps to prove so, distinguishing between planning, execution and testing explicitly. Validation applies equally to cybersecurity tools as well as data storage and network endpoints, ensuring that implementation and management is handled correctly to prevent a lapse in security.
Incident Response and Remediation
Documented incident response plans should outline steps for detecting, containing and recovering from an actual breach or leak. Planning should also specify team members’ roles, communication procedures and decision-making authority the event of an incident. Post-incident reviews should identify root causes and specify corrective actions in addition to logging the entire timeline of said incident, after affected parties are notified.
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR)
Business continuity plans identify critical business functions and specify alternative procedures if primary systems become unavailable. Plans should account for various disruption scenarios including facility loss, system outages and personnel unavailability.
Backup procedures require regular testing to verify that data can actually be restored when needed, with documented recovery time and recovery point objectives established. Testing should confirm that backup frequency and restoration procedures meet these objectives.
Why Independent Threat Assessments are Necessary for Compliance
Independent assessments will often provide advantages that internal reviews cannot match, in addition to being required in some cases. Here are a few examples where a third-party evaluation is beneficial:
When Third-Party Threat Assessments are Required
Many compliance frameworks explicitly mandate independent security assessments, particularly those where the public at large could become affected in the event of a breach, such as defense contractors or financial institutions. For other industries, such as healthcare with HIPAA, this is an implied rule where the best guarantee of compliance is through external validation by a certified vendor.
Often, various contractual obligations will require businesses to provide security assessment results to partners, customers or insurance providers. Cloud service agreements may specify minimum security standards verified through independent testing. Business Associate Agreements (BAA) in healthcare require documented security measures.
When Third-Party Threat Assessments are Useful
Even when not explicitly required, independent assessments provide benefits for compliance demonstration. External security professionals bring specialized expertise in current attack techniques that internal teams may not possess. They test systems from an attacker’s perspective rather than a defender’s viewpoint.
Independent assessment reports carry weight with auditors, board members and business partners. External validation of security controls demonstrates commitment to protection beyond minimum compliance requirements. This credibility matters when stakeholders evaluate security program effectiveness.
Why Work with SWK Technologies for Your Threat Assessment
SWK Technologies conducts threat assessments that meet regulatory requirements and provide actionable findings for security improvement. Your comprehensive assessment will include vulnerability scanning, penetration testing and security control validation across networks, applications and physical security measures.
SWK’s assessment reporting documents findings in formats suitable for regulatory review, audit response and board presentation. These include granular-level details to help IT teams understand vulnerabilities and implement critical fixes, while executive summaries communicate risk implications to business leadership.
SWK’s assessment methodology follows NIST Cybersecurity Framework principles, identifying risks across the full security lifecycle. Testing evaluates not only technical controls but also policy implementation, employee cybersecurity awareness, remediation protocols and IT governance as it relates to your data security. This comprehensive approach addresses the range of factors that regulators examine.
Contact SWK for Your Third-Party Cyber Threat Assessment
Businesses struggling with evolving threats while hoping nothing goes wrong risk becoming organizational scapegoats when a cyber incident does occur, turning into an example of what NOT to do. Rather than waiting for auditors to discover gaps for you, get in touch with SWK and let our team of experts conduct a thorough review of your system controls, ensuring that you meet compliance with the latest cybersecurity regulations.
Schedule your assessment here and learn more about how SWK Technologies will help you validate your security controls, document compliance posture and identify remediation priorities before auditors review your cybersecurity program.