Validating security controls

Validating that controls are in place is a significant task in the security program and one that should not be neglected. Building a validation program to ensure the documented controls are enforced will help provide additional certainty and peace of mind. Having a second set of eyes to review anything you implement in the IT and security fields is always a good idea. This doesn't necessarily mean an incident will never happen, but it does show that you are executing due diligence and doing what is right.

In addition, it's important to validate that the vendors you partner with also maintain the same level of detail in protecting their environments. The more we move data to vendor-managed cloud and SaaS services, the more due diligence is needed to audit access and validate controls in the vendor's environment. This is changing the dynamics of how we work in security compared to the standard model of hosting data internally on-premises...