6 Ways Continuous Controls Monitoring Simplifies Security & Compliance

Now more than ever, continuously monitoring the effectiveness of your organization’s security controls is essential. Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM) provides a proactive, automated approach to managing these controls, offering real-time visibility into your organization’s risk and compliance posture. 

In this article, we’ll explore what Continuous Controls Monitoring is, how it works with ASCERA, and six ways it can improve your organization’s security and compliance strategy. 

What is Continuous Controls Monitoring? 

Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM) refers to the use of automated tools and processes to monitor and assess the effectiveness of a company’s security controls on a continuous basis. It can drastically reduce security and compliance risks, lower the costs of achieving compliance and developing a cyber-risk program, and aid with maintaining this program long-term. 

ASCERA leverages Continuous Controls Monitoring to provide real-time reporting on the status of an organization’s security controls and the organizations’ state of compliance. Here’s a breakdown of how it works: 

1.  ASCERA automatically collects your system data through existing security investments such as firewalls, EDR solutions, and SIEM platforms. 
2.  ASCERA feeds this data into its Compliance Rules Engine that consists of regulatory requirements, organization-specific security policies, and tailored security control frameworks (ex. NIST SP 800-171, NIST SP 800-53). 
3.  ASCERA’s Rules Engine determines in real-time if your technical environment is meeting the desired state by comparing it to your actual system data.   

As a result, ASCERA’s CCM provides continuous insight into the status of your control effectiveness and alerts your team if controls are drifting out of compliance. This approach shifts your compliance program into a proactive state, rather than reacting to inconsistent point-in-time assessments.   

6 Ways Continuous Controls Monitoring Simplifies Security and Compliance

Gartner recently identified six key use cases for Continuous Controls Monitoring, each addressing critical aspects of cybersecurity and compliance management. ASCERA is designed to encompass all these use cases, providing comprehensive solutions to meet each need. Below, we’ll share our perspective on these use cases and explore how ASCERA aligns with Gartner’s insights and enhances your organization’s control monitoring capabilities.

1. Automatically Tracks and Reports on Control Performance 

Continuous Controls Monitoring allows organizations to seamlessly monitor how each security control is performing, ensuring that any issues are quickly identified and addressed. Through its automated technology, CCM provides rapid reporting and continuously updating overviews of control performance that require no manual checking on the user’s end. This real-time tracking ensures that security teams are always aware of the effectiveness of their controls and can take immediate action when necessary, while significantly reducing manual and tedious information gathering activities.

2. Monitors Cyber Risks 

By continuously analyzing data from various security technologies, CCM helps organizations maintain a real-time understanding of their cyber-risk landscape. This proactive monitoring allows for the early detection of potential threats and vulnerabilities, enabling security teams to respond to and mitigate risks before they can be exploited.

3. Improves Security Operational Efficiency 

CCM automates many of the manual processes involved in monitoring and assessing security controls, freeing up valuable time and resources for security and compliance teams. This increased efficiency not only enhances the overall effectiveness of security operations but also allows teams to focus on more strategic initiatives.

4. Provides Ongoing Regulatory and Industry Compliance Support 

Regulatory requirements and industry standards such as CMMC and NIST 800-171 require continuous monitoring and need ongoing support, making it challenging for organizations to maintain their compliant status. CCM helps ensure that all security controls are consistently meeting these requirements by continuously monitoring compliance status and providing real-time updates. This ongoing compliance monitoring reduces the risk of non-compliance and the associated penalties.

5. Immediately Identifies Control Gaps 

One of the key benefits of CCM is its ability to detect gaps in security controls long before they would be identified through a manual assessment. By continuously comparing the actual state of security controls to the desired state defined by regulatory requirements and organizational policies, CCM can quickly pinpoint areas where controls are lacking or ineffective. This early identification allows organizations to address control gaps promptly, reducing the risk of security breaches.

6. Supports Security Audits 

Preparing for security audits can be a time-consuming and complex process. CCM simplifies this by rapidly providing evidence of an organization’s actual state with system data. This real-time documentation makes it easier to demonstrate compliance during audits using system level data objectivity and drastically reduces the effort required to gather and compile audit evidence. 

Leverage ASCERA’s Continuous Controls Monitoring 

ASCERA’s automated technology allows organizations to achieve continuous, real-time monitoring of their security controls, ensuring they remain effective and compliant with CMMC and DFARS requirements. 

Schedule a demo of ASCERA today to witness how ASCERA can help you proactively manage security posture, reduce risk, and improve operational efficiency.