About
Department leadership and managers are responsible for establishing a “tone from the top” and assigning appropriate staff to ensure that cybersecurity internal controls are developed, tested, updated and that all staff are routinely trained to prevent operational disruption and data or financial losses due to a cyber incident.
Government financial and operational audits now evaluate data reliability and cybersecurity internal controls as a standard part of normal government operations.
Enterprise Security Standards are now included as part of a department’s Internal Controls and have compliance responsibilities at all levels of the organization.
Tone from the Top – Cybersecurity is a top priority
Cybersecurity compliance in not solely an “IT” or technology function, but is a series of controls, operations, procedures and training that apply to all employees at all levels in a department.
Leadership and managers are responsible to establishing a strong tone from the top that identifies that cybersecurity internal controls are part of the foundation of all operations and are a top organization priority.
Assign Key Staff to Ensure Cybersecurity Compliance
As part of cybersecurity preparedness, leadership and managers must assign appropriate staff at all levels of the organization to ensure compliance with required cybersecurity and data protection internal Controls.
Cybersecurity internal controls require collaboration across the organization including IT, HR, Legal, Policy, Fiscal, Budget, Payroll, Program and Operations staff and extend to any contractor or 3rd party supporting operations.