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What's New in Vanta 7.12.22
This month we’re showcasing new features designed to make your experience managing and customizing work in Vanta easier than ever. We’re also excited to announce support for CCPA compliance and the launch of Vanta’s new look.
Read on to learn about Vanta’s latest features including custom control management, test assignments, and your new compliance page.
Trust tools
Now supporting CCPA compliance

In 2020, California enacted the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA), a state law that grants residents the right to know about, delete, and opt-out of the usage and sale of their personal data.
With the highest population and largest economy in the US, California is an important state for nearly every technology company to do business in. It’s critical that tech companies fully understand their legal obligations when doing business with California consumers.
To help you understand and meet these requirements, Vanta now supports CCPA compliance. Protect your business in the Golden State, build trust with prospects, and lead the conversation on consumer privacy with Vanta’s CCPA solution. To add CCPA to your account, reach out to your Customer Success Manager.
Learn more about Vanta’s CCPA compliance product.
Easier management
Vanta’s new look: Home page and navigation

At Vanta, what and how we build is driven by the needs of our customers. One popular piece of feedback we heard is the desire for clearer direction on what to do within Vanta on a day-by-day basis. Another request is the ability to quickly visualize how your organization is tracking towards its compliance goals.
Simply put, you asked for an at-a-glance view of what actions are needed today to remain compliant and an easy way to understand your organization’s progress towards its security goals.
With your feedback, we launched Vanta’s new look in the form of a new Home page and navigation bar. The Home page is a high-level view of your compliance action items and an easy way to see how your organization is tracking toward its security goals. The new side navigation is a more intuitive, faster way to get around Vanta.
Vanta’s new Home page and navigation is a direct result of your feedback. We’re grateful for the opportunity to put your ideas to work and to the many customers who helped us launch our new look.
Read the full story on Vanta’s new look.
Visit your new navigation and Home page.
Assign tests to anyone at your company

Often, the person responsible for a failing test or required document is not a Vanta admin. This separation between admins and employees makes sense from a security perspective, but it can make resolving tests a challenge for employees without access to Vanta.
To expand your delegation options, and to make it easier for employees to understand their tasks, we’ve introduced test assignments. Assignments allow Vanta admins to delegate specific tests to anyone in the company, regardless if they’re a Vanta admin or not.
Upon assignment, employees will be notified via Slack and/or email of their required task. Employees can click-thru on notifications to view a stripped-down version of Vanta displaying their assigned test with details on how to remediate the issue. Assigned employees can create tickets within Vanta to further track the issue, deactivate the test if it’s deemed non-pertinent, and manage their own notification settings. Employees cannot access other parts of Vanta beyond their assigned tests.
Watch our short demo video of the assignment feature.
Get started with assignments on the Tests page.
Faster path to audit
Your new Compliance page

The Standards page is now the Compliance page. We’ve revamped this page to provide quick insight into how your organization is progressing towards its compliance requirements.
View your overall control completion rate as well as a breakdown on remaining technical and non-technical evidence. To help you know exactly when your audit window begins, we’ve added the audit timeline. For additional ease of management and reporting, you can access previous audits, view controls by their status, add custom controls, and export evidence—all from one page.
Visit your new Compliance page.
Greater configurability
Control management and custom controls

For organizations that maintain additional controls not reflected in Vanta’s default list, you now have the flexibility to add and track custom controls using control management.
With control management, your ability to create and manage custom controls is vast. Associate newly created controls with specific compliance standards, such as SOC 2 or ISO 27001. Define the evidence requirements for custom controls by using Vanta’s library of automated and non-technical tests, or create a new evidence requirement to support your custom control.
Best of all, your custom controls and their associated tests work seamlessly with the rest of Vanta. Custom controls are displayed, monitored, and reported alongside Vanta’s default set of controls. Tests for custom controls can be assigned owners, set for recurrence, and are tracked for audit reporting just like any other test.
We’re also making it easy to opt-out of Vanta controls that may be non-pertinent to your organization’s security environment. With the option to opt-out from default controls and the ability to create your own custom controls, Vanta’s control management feature gives you the flexibility to design the security program that best suits the needs of your growing business.
Get started with control management by visiting your Compliance page.
Tell us what you think
As always, we welcome your feedback on these changes! Please let us know what you think by reaching out to your Customer Success Manager. Let’s keep in touch on LinkedIn.
Determine whether the GDPR applies to you and if so, if you are a processor or controller (or both)
Do you sell goods or service in the EU or UK?
Do you sell goods or services to EU businesses, consumers, or both?
Do you have employees in the EU or UK?
Do persons from the EU or UK visit your website?
Do you monitor the behavior of persons within the EU?
Create a Data Map by taking the following actions
Identify and document every system (i.e. database, application, or vendor) which stores or processes EU or UK based personally identifiable information (PII)
Document the retention periods for PII in each system
Determine whether you collect, store, or process “special categories” of data
Determine whether your Data Map meets the requirements for Records of Processing Activities (Art. 30)
Determine whether your Data Map includes the following information about processing activities carried out by vendors on your behalf
Determine your grounds for processing data
For each category of data and system/application have you determined the lawful basis for processing based on one of the following conditions?
Take inventory of current customer and vendor contracts to confirm new GDPR-required flow-down provisions are included
Review all customer contracts to determine that they have appropriate contract language (i.e. Data Protection Addendums with Standard Contractual Clauses)
Review all in-scope vendor contracts to determine that they have appropriate contract language (i.e. Data Protection Addendums with Standard Contractual Clauses)
Have you performed a risk assessment on vendors who are processing your PII?
Determine if you need to do a Data Protection Impact Assessment
Is your data processing taking into account the nature, scope, context, and purposes of the processing, likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons?
Review product and service design (including your website or app) to ensure privacy notice links, marketing consents, and other requirements are integrated
Do you have a public-facing Privacy Policy which covers the use of all your products, services and websites?
Does the notice to the data subject include the following items?
Does the notice also include the following items?
Do you have a mechanism for persons to change or withdraw consent?
Update internal privacy policies to comply with notification obligations
Update internal privacy notices for EU employees
Do you have an Employee Privacy Policy governing the collection and use of EU and UK employee data?
Determine if you need to appoint a Data Protection Officer, and appoint one if needed
Have you determined whether or not you must designate a Data Protection Officer (DPO) based on one of the following conditions (Art. 37)?
If you export data from the EU, consider if you need a compliance mechanism to cover the data transfer, such as model clauses
If you transfer, store, or process data outside the EU or UK, have you identified your legal basis for the data transfer (note: most likely covered by the Standard Contractual Clauses)
Have you performed and documented a Transfer Impact Assessment (TIA)?
Confirm you are complying with other data subject rights (i.e. aside from notification)
Do you have a defined process for timely response to Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR) (i.e. requests for information, modification or deletion of PII)?
Are you able to provide the subject information in a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form, using clear and plain language?
Do you have a process for correcting or deleting data when requested?
Do you have an internal policy regarding a Compelled Disclosure from Law Enforcement?
Determine if you need to appoint an EU-based representative, and appoint one if needed
Have you appointed an EU Representative or determined that an EU Representative is not needed based on one of the following conditions?
If operating in more than one EU state, identify a lead Data Protection Authority (DPA)
Do you operate in more than one EU state?
If so, have you designated the Supervisory Authority of the main establishment to act as your Lead Supervisory Authority?
Implement Employee Trainings to Demonstrate Compliance with GDPR Principles and Data Subject Rights
Have you provided appropriate Security Awareness and Privacy training to your staff?
Update internal procedures and policies to ensure you can comply with data breach response requirements
Have you created and implemented an Incident Response Plan which included procedures for reporting a breach to EU and UK Data Subjects as well as appropriate Data Authorities?
Do breach reporting policies comply with all prescribed timelines and include all recipients i.e. authorities, controllers, and data subjects?
Implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk
Have you implemented encryption of PII at rest and in transit?
Have you implemented pseudonymization?
Have you implemented appropriate physical security controls?
Have you implemented information security policies and procedures?
Can you access EU or UK PII data in the clear?
Do your technical and organizational measure ensure that, by default, only personal data which are necessary for each specific purpose of the processing are processed?
Consider streamlining GDPR compliance with automation
Transform manual data collection and observation processes into continuous monitoring
Download this checklist for easy reference
Develop a roadmap for successful implementation of an ISMS and ISO 27001 certification
Implement Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) process to recognize challenges and identify gaps for remediation
Consider ISO 27001 certification costs relative to org size and number of employees
Clearly define scope of work to plan certification time to completion
Select an ISO 27001 auditor
Set the scope of your organization’s ISMS
Decide which business areas are covered by the ISMS and which are out of scope
Consider additional security controls for business processes that are required to pass ISMS-protected information across the trust boundary
Inform stakeholders regarding scope of the ISMS
Establish an ISMS governing body
Build a governance team with management oversight
Incorporate key members of top management, e.g. senior leadership and executive management with responsibility for strategy and resource allocation
Conduct an inventory of information assets
Consider all assets where information is stored, processed, and accessible
- Record information assets: data and people
- Record physical assets: laptops, servers, and physical building locations
- Record intangible assets: intellectual property, brand, and reputation
Assign to each asset a classification and owner responsible for ensuring the asset is appropriately inventoried, classified, protected, and handled
Execute a risk assessment
Establish and document a risk-management framework to ensure consistency
Identify scenarios in which information, systems, or services could be compromised
Determine likelihood or frequency with which these scenarios could occur
Evaluate potential impact of each scenario on confidentiality, integrity, or availability of information, systems, and services
Rank risk scenarios based on overall risk to the organization’s objectives
Develop a risk register
Record and manage your organization’s risks
Summarize each identified risk
Indicate the impact and likelihood of each risk
Document a risk treatment plan
Design a response for each risk (Risk Treatment)
Assign an accountable owner to each identified risk
Assign risk mitigation activity owners
Establish target dates for completion of risk treatment activities
Complete the Statement of Applicability worksheet
Review 114 controls of Annex A of ISO 27001 standard
Select controls to address identified risks
Complete the Statement of Applicability listing all Annex A controls, justifying inclusion or exclusion of each control in the ISMS implementation
Continuously assess and manage risk
Build a framework for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving the ISMS
Include information or references to supporting documentation regarding:
- Information Security Objectives
- Leadership and Commitment
- Roles, Responsibilities, and Authorities
- Approach to Assessing and Treating Risk
- Control of Documented Information
- Communication
- Internal Audit
- Management Review
- Corrective Action and Continual Improvement
- Policy Violations
Assemble required documents and records
Review ISO 27001 Required Documents and Records list
Customize policy templates with organization-specific policies, process, and language
Establish employee training and awareness programs
Conduct regular trainings to ensure awareness of new policies and procedures
Define expectations for personnel regarding their role in ISMS maintenance
Train personnel on common threats facing your organization and how to respond
Establish disciplinary or sanctions policies or processes for personnel found out of compliance with information security requirements
Perform an internal audit
Allocate internal resources with necessary competencies who are independent of ISMS development and maintenance, or engage an independent third party
Verify conformance with requirements from Annex A deemed applicable in your ISMS's Statement of Applicability
Share internal audit results, including nonconformities, with the ISMS governing body and senior management
Address identified issues before proceeding with the external audit
Undergo external audit of ISMS to obtain ISO 27001 certification
Engage an independent ISO 27001 auditor
Conduct Stage 1 Audit consisting of an extensive documentation review; obtain feedback regarding readiness to move to Stage 2 Audit
Conduct Stage 2 Audit consisting of tests performed on the ISMS to ensure proper design, implementation, and ongoing functionality; evaluate fairness, suitability, and effective implementation and operation of controls
Address any nonconformities
Ensure that all requirements of the ISO 27001 standard are being addressed
Ensure org is following processes that it has specified and documented
Ensure org is upholding contractual requirements with third parties
Address specific nonconformities identified by the ISO 27001 auditor
Receive auditor’s formal validation following resolution of nonconformities
Conduct regular management reviews
Plan reviews at least once per year; consider a quarterly review cycle
Ensure the ISMS and its objectives continue to remain appropriate and effective
Ensure that senior management remains informed
Ensure adjustments to address risks or deficiencies can be promptly implemented
Calendar ISO 27001 audit schedule and surveillance audit schedules
Perform a full ISO 27001 audit once every three years
Prepare to perform surveillance audits in the second and third years of the Certification Cycle
Consider streamlining ISO 27001 certification with automation
Transform manual data collection and observation processes into automated and continuous system monitoring
Identify and close any gaps in ISMS implementation in a timely manner
Learn more about achieving ISO 27001 certification with Vanta
Book an ISO 27001 demo with Vanta
Download this checklist for easy reference
Download NowDetermine which annual audits and assessments are required for your company
Perform a readiness assessment and evaluate your security against HIPAA requirements
Review the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights Audit Protocol
Conduct required HIPAA compliance audits and assessments
Perform and document ongoing technical and non-technical evaluations, internally or in partnership with a third-party security and compliance team like Vanta
Document your plans and put them into action
Document every step of building, implementing, and assessing your compliance program
Vanta’s automated compliance reporting can streamline planning and documentation
Appoint a security and compliance point person in your company
Designate an employee as your HIPAA Compliance Officer
Schedule annual HIPAA training for all employees
Distribute HIPAA policies and procedures and ensure staff read and attest to their review
Document employee trainings and other compliance activities
Thoroughly document employee training processes, activities, and attestations
Establish and communicate clear breach report processes
to all employees
Ensure that staff understand what constitutes a HIPAA breach, and how to report a breach
Implement systems to track security incidents, and to document and report all breaches
Institute an annual review process
Annually assess compliance activities against theHIPAA Rules and updates to HIPAA
Continuously assess and manage risk
Build a year-round risk management program and integrate continuous monitoring
Understand the ins and outs of HIPAA compliance— and the costs of noncompliance
Download this checklist for easy reference
Download Now
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