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Your Vanta journey: What to expect from the customer experience
At the heart of compliance is trust. To earn the trust of your prospective partners and customers, at some point you’ll probably need a compliance standard, such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, or GDPR. That’s where Vanta comes in.
Vanta’s mission and core purpose is to secure the internet and protect consumer data. The way we do that is by helping our customers achieve their compliance goals as efficiently as possible. For Vanta, that means putting the specific needs of our customers front and center in everything we do.
In this article, we’ll show you what it’s like to prove, and improve, your security as a Vanta customer. Keep in mind that no two compliance journeys are alike. Your experience will be greatly influenced by the standard you’re looking to acquire and the auditor you select. Let’s jump in.
Meet your Implementation Manager and Success Manager
During your fist touchpoint, you’ll work with an Implementation Manager (IM) to install Vanta so you can hit the ground running. Your IM will help you connect Vanta’s automated platform to your company’s internal cloud environment.
Vanta interfaces with tools such as AWS and your identity provider (Office 365, Okta, or Google) so it can scan your system and report your current security posture. If this sounds intimidating, don’t worry, you’re in good hands. Vanta is an extremely secure platform, and if you need help with configuration, you’ll be well supported.
Next, you’ll meet your dedicated Success Manager. The best part? They’ll be by your side throughout your entire compliance journey with Vanta. After implementation, you’ll meet your Success Manager. This is where you’ll discuss timelines, confirm priorities, and learn how to use Vanta’s platform. Now is a good time to loop in any stakeholders and control owners from within your company. These will be the folks that perform compliance responsibilities, such as uploading documents and editing policies.
Depending on the standard you purchased, this is a great opportunity to talk to your Success Manager about auditor preferences and introductions. Choosing an auditor as soon as possible can save you a lot of time down the road. Our in-house audit experts can work with you to determine your custom needs and align your priorities with the right auditor.
Establish security controls and choose an auditor
In this stage of your Vanta journey, your control owners should begin to write policies, resolve tests in Vanta, and upload documents. These documents serve as pieces of evidence that prove your security posture so you can earn your compliance certificate.
Once you choose your auditor, you’ll work with them and your Success Manager to determine the correct documents you’ll need to provide. Documents are not the same for every standard. Eventually your auditor will also need to see evidence of a vulnerability scan. The scan will locate any potential data security gaps or opportunities for hackers to exploit your system. In some cases you’ll need to run a penetration test instead of a vulnerability scan.
Additionally, your employees will need to review and accept any new security policies you’ve established. They’ll also need to complete any other necessary security tasks such as watching training videos or downloading Vanta’s mobile device management agent. This is an optional layer of protection designed to protect employees and their devices. It’s a great way to secure your company’s data privacy and internal security.
Prepare for your audit
Once you’ve established controls, you’re ready to conduct a risk assessment. A risk assessment helps you identify, analyze, and evaluate weaknesses in your information security processes and procedures. This is different from a vulnerability scan which you completed in the previous stage.
A vulnerability scan assesses systems to find gaps that leave the door open for hackers—a risk assessment evaluates the likelihood and severity of possible threats.
Once you have an idea of “risk scenarios,” you can create tasks and procedures to prevent them.
At this point, you’ll also work with your auditor to make sure everything is in place before your audit is underway. This is known as an auditor scoping call. You’ll schedule audit dates, confirm standard requirements, and finalize any other details your auditor needs to know about your business.
Finally, you’ll review your audit readiness with your Success Manager to ensure all tests are resolved or scheduled to be completed so you can walk into your audit with confidence. Vanta’s platform automatically alerts you about incomplete compliance tasks and will inform you about any potential tests that need attention. The standards page in Vanta is a great way to see your overall progress toward your compliance standard. It encompasses automated tests and manual evidence into one dashboard.
Finalize your audit and get officially certified
Congratulations! This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. After your auditor completes their report, you’re officially certified. Post about your certification to social media, inform your prospects, and start building out your pipeline.
For standards that don’t require a third-party audit, such as GDPR and HIPAA, this is when you’ll utilize Vanta’s security report feature to prove your compliance to interested parties. Your Success Manager will reconnect with you to collect feedback on the process, the Vanta platform, and your auditor.
Let Vanta’s automated system monitor your compliance
Once you’re able to prove security with compliance, Vanta helps keep you continuously secure. The Vanta platform will monitor your environment to ensure that you can maintain the security posture that you just built in the process listed above. All you need to do is manage any recurring tasks that are required by your standard, such as annual policy reviews or uploading new documents.
If you need to expand your security posture by complying with an additional standard, work with your Success Manager to determine next steps. You can use the standards page to see the progress you’ve already made across each standard supported by Vanta. Many standards have overlapping requirements which means that if you completed one standard, you may be well on your way to earning the next.
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PCI Compliance Selection Guide
Determine Your PCI Compliance Level
If your organization processes, stores, or transmits cardholder data, you must comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), a global mandate created by major credit card companies. Compliance is mandatory for any business that accepts credit card payments.
When establishing strategies for implementing and maintaining PCI compliance, your organization needs to understand what constitutes a Merchant or Service Provider, and whether a Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) or Report on Compliance (ROC) is most applicable to your business.
Answer a few short questions and we’ll help identify your compliance level.
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Does your business offer services to customers who are interested in your level of PCI compliance?
Identify your PCI SAQ or ROC level
The PCI Security Standards Council has established the below criteria for Merchant and Service Provider validation. Use these descriptions to help determine the SAQ or ROC that best applies to your organization.
Good news! Vanta supports all of the following compliance levels:
SAQ A
A SAQ A is required for Merchants that do not require the physical presence of a credit card (like an eCommerce, mail, or telephone purchase). This means that the Merchant’s business has fully outsourced all cardholder data processing to PCI DSS compliant third party Service Providers, with no electronic storage, processing, or transmission of any cardholder data on the Merchant’s system or premises.
Get PCI DSS certified
SAQ A-EP
A SAQ A-EP is similar to a SAQ A, but is a requirement for Merchants that don't receive cardholder data, but control how cardholder data is redirected to a PCI DSS validated third-party payment processor.
Learn more about eCommerce PCI
SAQ D
for service providers
A SAQ D includes over 200 requirements and covers the entirety of PCI DSS compliance. If you are a Service Provider, a SAQ D is the only SAQ you’re eligible to complete.
Use our PCI checklist
ROC
Level 1 for service providers
A Report on Compliance (ROC) is an annual assessment that determines your organization’s ability to protect cardholder data. If you’re a Merchant that processes over six million transactions annually or a Service Provider that processes more than 300,000 transactions annually, your organization is responsible for both a ROC and an Attestation of Compliance (AOC).
Automate your ROC and AOC
Download this checklist for easy reference
Questions?
Learn more about how Vanta can help. You can also find information on PCI compliance levels at the PCI Security Standards Council website or by contacting your payment processing partner.
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