The SOX act was passed by the USA government in 2002. SOX Act’s main goal is to provide security to the consumers and corporations from malicious attackers. It will ensure that companies are keeping their financial records transparent. These rules will help companies and consumers in preventing fraud.

If you want to operate your business in a secure and ethical way, then you must always use the SOX requirements. These security controls will help you in protecting your data from data security attacks and threats.

Definition of SOX Compliance:

The SOX act was passed in 2002. It was created by congressmen Michael Oxley and Paul Sarbanes. They worked together to create this compliance. The government wanted to stop financial scandals by introducing this act.

The details of this security regulation are very complex. It refers to the audits that occur every year in public companies. Every company is bound by the country law. They need to shave the evidence of secured and accurate financial reporting.

Every public company needs to follow SOX compliance. Even IT companies need to follow SOX companies. SOX compliance changed the method which was used by companies for storing and handling documents.

The security controls of this compliance require good data security processes and practices. This will ensure that the government has complete visibility over your financial records. If you are not following SOX regulations, then it can lead to large fines.

SOX IT Audits:

The most time-consuming part of SOX is checking the internal security controls of your company. You need to check all your IT assets like hardware, software, and systems. Also, you need to check all the electronic devices that have access to data.

SOX audits will focus on these areas:

IT Change Management: The IT environment will keep changing with time. You might have new employees, software, and computers. It is important to keep a record of all the changes.
Data Backup: You should maintain frequent data backups. In case of a disaster, this will help you in minimizing the data loss. You should try to store your data backups in a remote location.
IT Security: You should know about the sensitive data that you are storing in your devices. Also, you should know where this data is stored. In case of a data breach, you should have a DR plan. This plan will help you in recovering your data from attack. You should implement strict security procedures and policies for protecting your data. It is important to combine these policies with the best monitoring and auditing technology.
Access Controls: Make sure that only important people can access your financial information. You should protect your sensitive data by implementing the right access controls. You should secure your servers by using biometric doors. Also, it is important to implement the best password policies.

The best way to ensure that you are following SOX compliance is by following the checklist.

Every organization will have a different SOX compliance checklist. However, some of the common guidelines are:

Make sure that all your software and systems are updated. Also, you should update your monitoring and logging software.
Make sure that you are resolving all the issues that arise during the SOX audit.
You should ensure that you are classifying your data. Also, you should know where this sensitive data is stored.
You should monitor your user behavior. This will help you in spotting anomalies in their behaviors. These anomalies will help you in preventing data breaches. Make sure that your employees are not copying any sensitive data on their personal devices.
You should regularly check your access controls. Also, make sure that you get alerts on your device whenever someone permission changes.
Make sure that the auditors can access your systems.
Your employees should know about how to handle the financial data.
You should report security breaches to the public.
You should always maintain a compliance status report. This will ensure that you have all the required information for a SOX audit. It will help your SOX auditors as they can quickly check all the security controls.

Advantages of SOX Compliance:

Many companies think that SOX compliance is complex for them. However, it will help you in improving your data security. It is also helping governments in restoring public confidence. The public confidence was down in big businesses due to scams. However, most people now believe in big businesses due to these strict compliances. People know that companies can’t do financial fraud.

Stockholders will also stay happy. They want to ensure that the financial data is predictable and regulated. This will help you in raising capital for your business. If you are maintaining your financial records, then you can find good investors for your company.

If you are following the SOX compliance, then you can easily detect security threats. This will help you in reacting to threats quickly. Thus, it will help you in reducing the possibility of security and data breaches.

It will also help you in improving your company culture. There is a lot of inter-departmental communication involved in SOX compliance. This will ensure that different departments will communicate with each other. Thus, it will help you in driving collaboration and growth.

Conclusion

SOX compliance can help you in improving data protection. It will help you in reducing the possibility of security and data breaches. You need to use good security controls for staying compliant. This model will ensure that you know about your sensitive data. However, it can be difficult to implement these security controls. You should consider working with an experienced MSP like Bleuwire. They will help you in regularly monitoring your network. Bleuwire will help you in implementing the best security controls and procedures. This will ensure that your financial data is protected from attackers. Also, they will ensure that you are following all the other relevant security regulations. Thus, you don’t need to worry about any legal penalties. If you need more information regarding SOX compliance, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™ services and solutions in how we can help your business.