GRC FrameworkLecture for Students First Exposure

A lecture for Students on GRC FRamework

1. GRC Framework Prof. C. P. Gupta Dean, School of Computing MITS, Madanapalle , AP [email protected]

2. What GRC Framework Refers to? In General, a GRC framework is a structured system for managing Governance , Risk , and Compliance to align operations with strategic goals , mitigate threats , and adhere to laws. A GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) framework in cybersecurity is a structured, integrated approach that aligns an organization's IT strategy and security efforts with its business goals while managing risks and adhering to regulatory requirements .

3. Why GRC in Cybersecurity is Important? In today’s digital landscape, organizations face a myriad of cyber threats that can disrupt operations, compromise sensitive data, and damage reputations. Companies of all sizes face challenges that can endanger revenue, reputation, and customer and stakeholder interest. Some of these challenges include the following: Internet connectivity introducing cyber risks that might compromise data storage security Businesses needing to comply with new or updated regulatory requirements Companies needing data privacy and protection Companies facing more uncertainties in the modern business landscape Risk management costs increasing at an unprecedented rate Complex third-party business relationships increasing risk

4. Why GRC in Cybersecurity is Important?(2) Therefore, through the implementation of robust GRC practices, businesses can mitigate these risks, ensure compliance with legal and regulatory standards, and maintain a strong security posture. By implementing GRC programs, businesses can make better decisions in a risk-aware environment. An effective GRC program helps key stakeholders set policies from a shared perspective and comply with regulatory requirements. With GRC, the entire company comes together in its policies, decisions, and actions. 

5. Advantages of GRC Framework The following are some benefits of implementing a GRC strategy at your organization. A GRC framework defines how an organization implements and manages governance, risk, and compliance in a structured and aligned manner. It connects rules, controls, and policies to business goals. Without a GRC framework, teams struggle with manual overheads, disconnected tools, and unclear accountability, which results in oversights and delays. A solid GRC framework improves audit readiness, decision-making speed, and client and partner trust, without slowing down your business growth.

6. Advantages of GRC Framework(2) Data-driven decision-making Enables making data-driven decisions within a shorter time frame by monitoring your resources, setting up rules or frameworks, and using GRC software and tools. Responsible operations GRC streamlines operations around a common culture that promotes ethical values and creates a healthy environment for growth. It guides strong organizational culture development and ethical decision-making in the organization. Improved cybersecurity With an integrated GRC approach, businesses can employ data security measures to protect customer data and private information. Implementing a GRC strategy is essential for your organization due to increasing cyber risk that threatens users' data and privacy. It helps organizations comply with data privacy regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). With a GRC IT strategy, you build customer trust and protect your business from penalties.

7. How does GRC work? GRC in any organization works on the following principles: Key stakeholders GRC requires cross-functional collaboration across different departments that practices governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance. Some examples include the following: Senior executives who assess risks when making strategic decisions Legal teams who help businesses mitigate legal exposures Finance managers who support compliance with regulatory requirements HR executives who deal with confidential recruitment information IT departments that protect data from cyber threats

8. How does GRC work?(2) GRC framework A GRC framework is a model for managing governance and compliance risk in a company. It involves identifying the key policies that can drive the company toward its goals. By adopting a GRC framework, you can take a proactive approach to mitigating risks, making well-informed decisions, and ensuring business continuity.  Companies implement GRC by adopting GRC frameworks that contain key policies that align with the organization's strategic objectives. Key stakeholders base their work on a shared understanding from the GRC framework as they devise policies, structure workflows, and govern the company. Companies might use software and tools to coordinate and monitor the success of the GRC framework. GRC maturity GRC maturity is the level of integration of governance, risk assessment, and compliance within an organization. A high level of GRC maturity is achieved when a well-planned GRC strategy results in cost efficiency, productivity, and effectiveness in risk mitigation. Meanwhile, a low level of GRC maturity is unproductive and keeps business units working in silos. 

9. What are common GRC tools? GRC tools are software applications that businesses can use to manage policies, assess risk, control user access, and streamline compliance. You might use some of the following GRC tools to integrate business processes, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.  GRC software GRC software helps automate GRC frameworks by using computer systems. Businesses use GRC software to perform these tasks: Oversee policies, manage risk, and ensure compliance Stay updated about various regulatory changes that affect the business Empower multiple business units to work together on a single platform Simplify and increase the accuracy of internal auditing You can also combine GRC frameworks on one platform.

10. What are common GRC tools?(2) User management: You can give various stakeholders the right to access company resources with user management software. This software supports granular authorization, so you can precisely control who has access to what information. User management ensures that everyone can securely access the resources they need to get their work done. Security information and event management: You can use security information and event management (SIEM) software to detect potential cybersecurity threats. Auditing: Evaluate the results of integrated GRC activities in your company. By running internal audits, you can compare actual performance with GRC goals. You can then decide if the GRC framework is effective and make necessary improvements.

11. What is the GRC Capability Model? The GRC Capability Model contains guidelines that help companies implement GRC and achieve principled performance. It ensures a common understanding of communication, policies, and training. You can take a cohesive and structured approach to incorporate GRC operations across your organization.  Learn You learn about the context, values, and culture of your company so you can define strategies and actions that reliably achieve objectives. Align Ensure that your strategy, actions, and objectives are in alignment. You do so by considering opportunities, threats, values, and requirements when making decisions. Perform GRC encourages you to take actions that bring results, avoid those that hinder goals, and monitor your operations to detect sudden changes. Review You revisit your strategy and actions to ensure they align with the business goals. For example, regulatory changes could require a change of approach. https://www.legitsecurity.com/aspm-knowledge-base/grc-platforms-software#:~:text=IBM%20OpenPages%20offers%20a%20wide,into%20the%20broader%20IBM%20ecosystem.

12. Governance Governance is the collection of rules, responsibilities, policies, and processes that align corporate activities and efforts with business goals. It defines how decisions are made, how resources are allocated, and how communications with stakeholders occur (Hierarchies) It defines the responsibilities of key stakeholders , such as the board of directors and senior management . In the context of cyber security, governance ensures that there are clear guidelines and responsibilities for safeguarding information assets. Effective governance creates an environment where employees feel empowered, and behaviors and resources are controlled and well-coordinated.

13. Contd … The governance process within an organization includes elements such as definition and communication of key business objectives, corporate control, key policies, enterprise risk management, regulatory and corporate compliance management and oversight (e.g., compliance with ethics and corporate policies as well as overall oversight of regulatory issues) Evaluating business performance through balanced scorecards, risk scorecards, and operational dashboards. A governance process integrates all these elements into a coherent process to drive corporate governance.

14. Governance in GRC Desirable Attributes of Good Governance Ethics and accountability Transparent information sharing Conflict resolution policies Resource management Expected Outcomes of Good governance:  Clear understanding of roles and responsibilities, i.e., who owns what Checks and balances to prevent the concentration of power  Balance between the needs and interests of stakeholders, from leadership to employees, and external partners Supervision over infrastructure, like the tech stack that supports your business goals

15. What are the challenges of GRC implementation? Change management : GRC reports provide insights that guide businesses to make accurate decisions, which helps in a fast-changing business environment. However, companies need to invest in a change management program to act quickly based on GRC insights.  Data management: Companies have long been operating by keeping departmental functions separated. Each department generates and stores its own data. GRC works by combining all the data within an organization. This results in duplicate data and introduces challenges in managing information.  Lack of a total GRC framework: A complete GRC framework integrates business activities with GRC components. It serves the changing business environment, particularly when you are dealing with new regulations. Without a seamless integration, your GRC implementation is likely to be fragmented and ineffective.  Ethical culture development: It takes great effort to get every employee to share an ethically compliant culture. Senior executives must set the tone of transformation and ensure that information is passed through all layers of the organization.  Clarity in communication: The success of GRC implementation depends on seamless communication. Information sharing must be transparent between GRC compliance teams, stakeholders, and employees. This makes activities like creating policies, planning, and decision-making easier. 

16. How do organizations implement an effective GRC strategy? Bring different parts of business into a unified framework to implement GRC. Building an effective GRC requires continuous evaluation and improvement. The following tips make GRC implementation easier.  Define clear goals: Start by determining what goals you want to accomplish with the GRC model. For example, you might want to address the risk of noncompliance to data privacy laws.  Assess existing procedures: Evaluate current processes and technologies in your company that you use to handle governance, risk, and compliance. You can then plan and choose the right GRC frameworks and tools. Start from the top: Senior executives play a leading role in the GRC program. They must understand the benefits of implementing GRC for policies and how it helps them make decisions and build a risk-aware culture. Top leaders set clear GRC-driven policies and encourage acceptance within the organization.

17. Contd … Use GRC solutions: You can use GRC solutions to manage and monitor an enterprise GRC program. These GRC solutions give you a holistic view of the underlying processes, resources, and records. Use the tools to monitor and meet regulatory compliance requirements. For example,  Netflix  uses  AWS Config  to make sure its AWS resources meet security requirements.  Symetra  uses  AWS Control Tower  to quickly provision new accounts that fully adhere to their corporate policy. Test the GRC framework: Test the GRC framework on one business unit or process, and then evaluate whether the chosen framework aligns with your goals. By conducting small-scale testing, you can make helpful changes to the GRC system before you implement it in the entire organization. Set clear roles and responsibilities: GRC is a collective team effort. Although senior executives are responsible for setting key policies, legal, finance, and IT personnel are equally accountable for GRC success. Defining the roles and responsibilities of each employee promotes accountability. It allows employees to report and address GRC issues promptly. 

18. Risk Management Secondly, risk management involves identifying, assessing, and prioritizing risks to an organization’s information assets. By implementing effective risk management practices, businesses can proactively address potential threats and vulnerabilities. A comprehensive risk management program helps to minimize, monitor, and control the impact of negative events while maximizing positive outcomes.

19. Compliance Lastly, compliance requires adherence to laws, regulations, and standards relevant to the industry. Ensuring compliance helps organizations avoid legal penalties, financial losses, and reputational damage. Both regulatory compliance and internal compliance are crucial, and organizations must stay updated with changing regulations.

20. Cyber Risk: GRC Framework Cyber risk can be understood as the potential (chance) of exposing a business’s information and communications systems to dangerous actors, elements, or circumstances capable of causing loss or damage. Risk implies a degree of probability or the chance of an event occurring. Cyber risk is based on the probability of a bad event happening to your business’s information systems, leading to the loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information.

21. Understanding Cyber Risks

22. Contd..

23. Example Incidents Ransomware Attack- Attack on Availability Defacing of Website- Attack on Availability Leaked Data like Internal Mails, User Passwords etc- Confidentiality Risk

24. Cyber risk examples

25. How to perform a cybersecurity risk assessment

26. Cybersecurity Risk Mitigation Measures Cybersecurity training programs  Updating software  Privileged access management (PAM) solutions Multi-factor access authentication Dynamic data backup

27. Compliance Compliance refers to an organization’s adherence to government regulations, industry standards, and internal policies. Failure to comply with these obligations can impact business operations and result in legal and financial penalties. Successful compliance management integrates external and internal compliance requirements. External compliance refers to industry standards and laws (such as DPDP act) that apply to an organization, while internal compliance refers to the organization’s corporate policies and internal controls. Organizations should regularly update and track compliance policies and provide adequate training for employees.

28. Types of Internal Controls Preventive vs. Detective Controls Preventive controls  are a proactive approach designed to stop irregularities and errors before occurring in the first place, includes segregation of duties such as authorization, record keeping and custody, require approvals for transactions, password protection to prevent unauthorized system access, encryption of data etc. Detective control s are a reactive approach designed to identify irregularities and errors after they have occurred, such as cybersecurity incidents, comparison of bank statements to internal accounting records, reviewing financial and operational information, reviewing system access attempts logs, audits, system alerts and performance reviews.

29. Types of Internal Controls(2) Hard vs. Soft Controls Hard controls  are tangible controls such as policies and procedures, typically documented and enforced. Examples are security cameras, access badges and locks such as physical security, computer passwords, formal approval processes, written policies and procedures. Soft controls  are intangible or less easily measured controls, often related to the culture and ethics of an organization, such as management’s tone at the top and employee’s behavior. Integrity and ethical values, the operating style of management, open communication channels or competence and the morale of employees are the prime examples.

30. Types of Internal Controls(3) Manual vs. Automated Controls Manual controls are mostly performed by people, such as handwritten approvals, manual reviews of invoices or physical inventory counts. Automated controls on the other hand are performed by computer systems or applications without human interaction, such as automated data validation, automated transactions and approvals based on predefined rules, or system generated reports. They provide benefits of reduced human error, enhanced accuracy, improved efficiency and consistency. Key vs. Secondary Controls Key controls are the critical ones which directly address the significant risks, which are important to achieve control objectives, if these controls fail, they can result in compliance violations and issuance of material misstatements. Secondary controls on the other hand supportive controls and are not as critical as the key controls. These controls can help resolve the issues but are not important in control objectives achievement. They provide an extra layer of validation and security.

31. Examples of Internal Controls Segregation of duties: Division of responsibilities between different individuals, such as keeping the financial records and its custody to authorized personnel, to prevent errors and fraud, for example, separate role for a person ordering supplies from the person who approves the invoices Transaction authorization: Authorization of a transaction based on criteria or limit, such as an approval is requirement from the department head for a purchase order exceeding a specific amount. Record review and reconciliation: Regular review of financial statements, such as comparison of bank statements with accounting records, or review of inventory records for accuracy.

32. Industry-Wise GRC Framework List: Indian Companies

33. How do organizations implement an effective GRC strategy? You must bring different parts of your business into a unified framework to implement GRC. Building an effective GRC requires continuous evaluation and improvement. The following tips make GRC implementation easier. Define clear goals Start by determining what goals you want to accomplish with the GRC model. For example, you might want to address the risk of noncompliance to data privacy laws.  Assess existing procedures Evaluate current processes and technologies in your company that you use to handle governance, risk, and compliance. You can then plan and choose the right GRC frameworks and tools. Start from the top Senior executives play a leading role in the GRC program. They must understand the benefits of implementing GRC for policies and how it helps them make decisions and build a risk-aware culture. Top leaders set clear GRC-driven policies and encourage acceptance within the organization.

34. How do organizations implement an effective GRC strategy?(2) Use GRC solutions You can use GRC solutions to manage and monitor an enterprise GRC program. These GRC solutions give you a holistic view of the underlying processes, resources, and records. Use the tools to monitor and meet regulatory compliance requirements. For example, Netflix uses AWS Config to make sure its AWS resources meet security requirements. Symetra uses AWS Control Tower to quickly provision new accounts that fully adhere to their corporate policy. Test the GRC framework Test the GRC framework on one business unit or process, and then evaluate whether the chosen framework aligns with your goals. By conducting small-scale testing, you can make helpful changes to the GRC system before you implement it in the entire organization. Set clear roles and responsibilities GRC is a collective team effort. Although senior executives are responsible for setting key policies, legal, finance, and IT personnel are equally accountable for GRC success. Defining the roles and responsibilities of each employee promotes accountability. It allows employees to report and address GRC issues promptly. 

35. What Features Should Governance, Risk, and Compliance Software Include? The top GRC platforms actively support collaboration, reduce friction, and scale with your organization. Here are some of the most essential features to look for- Automation- Automated workflows are at the core of modern GRC platforms. They streamline repetitive, time-consuming tasks like evidence collection, risk scoring, and control monitoring Easy to Use- Intuitive design, logical navigation, and role-based access. The best GRC tools offer secure, centralized access to controls and compliance data Reporting and Dashboards- Transparent reporting is one of the most valuable features a GRC tool can offer Integrations- GRC software shouldn’t operate in a silo. Look for tools that directly connect with systems like Jira, Okta, AWS, customer relationship management (CRM), or enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms

36. Scenario – Recruitment Firm Organization: ABC Recruitment Services (India-based staffing firm) Challenge: Candidate data such as resumes, addresses, and IDs were stored on recruiters’ desktops without encryption. A lost laptop incident exposed this vulnerability. Governance Measures: Data Protection Policy created Recruitment Data Handling SOP established Role-based access implemented Risk Management Steps: Risk: Unauthorized access to sensitive data Impact: Legal action, client trust loss Treatment: Encrypted cloud storage, centralized access control Compliance Action: Implemented clauses of the DPDP Act: Outcome: 60% reduction in data handling complaints Positive client audit feedback

37. Scenario – Educational Institute Organization: EduBright Academy Challenge: Teachers were using WhatsApp to send student data (marks, phone numbers) to parents without consent. Governance Measures: Developed a formal Communication and Data Sharing Policy Mandated usage of school ERP portal Risk Management Steps: Risk: Violation of student privacy Treatment: Awareness sessions for staff, blocked WhatsApp file sharing on school WiFi Compliance Actions: DPDP Act applied: Outcome: 100% adoption of the ERP portal Zero incidents of data leakage in next 6 months

38. Bibliography https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/grc/ https://www.cybersaint.io/blog/grc-in-cyber-security https://wizardcyber.com/what-is-grc-in-cyber-security/#:~:text=In%20the%20realm%20of%20cyber,assets%20and%20maintain%20operational%20integrity . https://sprinto.com/blog/grc-framework/ https://pkcindia.com/blogs/grc-framework-for-indian-companies/ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/case-study-understanding-grc-governance-risk-compliance-pintu-raj-bgewc/ https://hyperproof.io/resource/what-is-cyber-risk/ https://pathlock.com/learn/internal-controls-definition-structure-types-examples/