The dual challenge: Security and compliance

Security leaders must address both internal and external risks, ranging from sophisticated cyberattacks to insider threats. At the same time, they must also adhere to an ever-growing list of regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the EU Cyber Resilience Acts (CRA) and industry-specific mandates like Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). Balancing these concerns requires a strategic approach that integrates security and compliance without compromising operational efficiency.

External threats

Cybercriminals change up their tactics continuously, leveraging ransomware, phishing and software supply chain attacks to exploit known or emerging vulnerabilities. High-profile security breaches, such as those impacting financial institutions and healthcare organizations, highlight the need for robust cybersecurity measures. Security leaders must implement strong access controls, real-time threat detection and incident response strategies to mitigate risks.

Internal threats

Not all threats originate from external actors. Insider threats, whether malicious or accidental, also pose a significant risk. Employees may mishandle sensitive data, click on phishing links or abuse their access privileges. Organizations must deploy user behavior analytics (UBA) and data loss prevention (DLP) tools to monitor and help prevent these and other internal risks.

Here are some ways you can use technology to better address some security and compliance challenges:

Artificial intelligence (AI)

AI-driven security tools enhance threat detection by analyzing patterns in real time, identifying anomalies and predicting potential cyberattacks before they occur. Machine learning (ML) models can also help organizations comply with regulations by automating data classification and enforcing data protection measures.

While AI can help protect against attacks, it is also being used by cybercriminals, including novice threat actors, to execute sophisticated attacks with minimal expertise. AI-powered phishing campaigns and chatbots can craft highly convincing emails that evade traditional detection systems. It’s also feasible for AI-generated deepfakes  to be used for identity fraud attempts, as they can enable  attackers to potentially bypass authentication systems relying on various physical characteristics

Zero trust security model

A zero trust security framework is one in which no user or device is inherently trusted (“never trust, always verify”). By implementing strict access controls, continuous authentication and network segmentation, organizations can reduce both external and internal threats while simplifying compliance maintenance.

Automated compliance management

Regulatory compliance is a continuous process that requires consistent monitoring and reporting. Compliance automation platforms streamline policy enforcement, audit readiness and risk assessments, reducing the burden on security teams and minimizing the risk of non-compliance penalties.

Why CISOs are deprioritizing generative AI

Despite the rapid advancements in AI technology, many Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) are deprioritizing generative AI (gen AI) due to a lack of proven value in security operations.Additionally, CISOs are wary of the risks associated with AI-generated content, including misinformation, adversarial attacks and compliance errors. Without clear regulatory frameworks and proven security use cases, many security leaders prefer to focus on more established technologies.

What you can do

Here are some ideas about how you can mitigate some of these issues.

Invest in automation

Organizations should explore automated security solutions such as Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and Event-Driven Ansible that can streamline compliance reporting, detect threats in real time, and reduce human error in security operations.

Adopt Kubernetes for security and scalability

Containerized applications running on Kubernetes platforms, such as Red Hat OpenShift, provide greater operational resilience and security capabilities, enabling organizations to deploy scalable security controls and isolate workloads more effectively.

Utilize AI for threat detection, not just compliance

AI-driven security tools are increasingly critical for real-time anomaly detection, predictive threat intelligence and automated incident response.

Implement a zero trust architecture

Organizations should move towards a zero trust framework to enforce strict access controls and continuously validate the security posture of users and devices. Your operating system is the foundation for your IT environment and zero trust architecture, providing essential security features, controlling user and application access, encrypting sensitive information and protecting secrets to establish and maintain a security-focused computing environment.

To implement a zero trust architecture, your operating system must be able to isolate and control access to resources on an individual basis. Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) includes built-in mandatory access controls (MAC) with Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux), a technology that manages access using centralized security policies.

Continuously monitor and improve

Cyber threats and compliance requirements are constantly evolving. Businesses should regularly audit security postures, refine security automation workflows, and stay updated on regulatory changes to maintain compliance and protect critical data assets.

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes helps you build, deploy and run cloud-native applications with an enhanced security posture. It helps protect containerized Kubernetes workloads in all major clouds, on premises and across hybrid platforms, including Red Hat OpenShift, Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).

Final thoughts

Security, risk and privacy leaders must strike a delicate balance between mitigating technical risks and adhering to regulatory compliance requirements. By using advanced technologies such as AI, zero trust, cloud security and compliance automation, organizations can enhance their security posture while maintaining regulatory compliance.