IT, InfoSec, and compliance: What's the difference?

View profile for Jamie Card

Industry Leader, Financial Services at The Bonadio Group

IT, security, and compliance are all interchangeable cybersecurity terms, right? Wrong! Understanding the differences between these functions is crucial to protecting your organization. Here’s a quick overview: Information technology (IT) is responsible for the infrastructure and systems that power the organization, including networks, servers, endpoints, etc. Information security (InfoSec) protects data, systems, and users from threats, ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. Compliance ensures an organization adheres to regulatory and contractual requirements (think HIPAA, SOX, SEC rules). Although at times these disciplines intersect, separation of duties is paramount to a strong cybersecurity program. My colleague, Nick Cozzolino, dissects these overlaps and distinctions here: https://ow.ly/gbRY30sOW9O

Farbod F.

Helping companies navigate security and compliance

4w

Agreed! I like to say: - IT keeps the lights on. - Security keeps the doors locked. - Compliance makes sure you’re following the rules of the building. But in smaller companies, these functions usually fall under the same umbrella — sometimes even the same person. That overlap is often out of necessity, which is why people tend to group them together.

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