IT Governance & Compliance
The use of ICT is intrinsic to business operations and vital to the prosperity of organisations. Ensuring your organisation is compliant with various industry and federal regulations (PCI, Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, NDB) in order to keep sensitive customer data safe is becoming increasingly difficult as we work in a decentralised, mobile, app-filled world and failure to meet obligations set by compliance standards could mean penalties, fines and loss of trust.
People play an important role in keeping corporate information safe. Snooping, phishing and social-engineering are common ways hackers gain unauthorised access to a company's sensitive data. Mercury IT can assist in educating staff and implementing security policies for laptops, mobile devices and third party apps all of which are crucial to protecting data and the business as a whole.
The Notifiable Data Breaches scheme is an amendment to the Privacy Act 1998 and came into effect on the 22nd February 2018. It sets out mandatory requirements for entities in responding to data breaches. Entities have data breach notification obligations when a data breach is likely to result in serious harm to any individuals whose personal information is involved in the breach, more information can be found at https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy-law/privacy-act/notifiable-data-breaches-scheme
FAQs
Governance is the high-level strategy, policies, and management framework that aligns your security program with business objectives—it defines who is responsible for security decisions and how they are made. Compliance is the tactical, evidence-based process of proving you adhere to specific external rules and regulations such as the Privacy Act, Essential Eight, or industry standards. Effective security requires both: governance ensures you are doing the right things, compliance proves you are doing them correctly.
Good governance is the foundation of a mature security program. It ensures security decisions are proactive business decisions rather than reactive IT problems. Governance establishes clear accountability (who is responsible when something goes wrong), aligns security spending with business priorities, and creates a security-conscious culture from the board level down. For regulated industries, governance frameworks like AI steering committees and documented decision-making processes are increasingly required to demonstrate due diligence.
GRC represents three interconnected disciplines. Governance is the overall strategy, rules, and policies—the 'what' and 'why' of security. Risk is the process of identifying and assessing threats to your business objectives—the 'what could go wrong.' Compliance is adhering to and proving you follow the rules—the 'proof' that you are doing what you say. An effective GRC strategy integrates all three: you are compliant because you are managing risk according to your governance framework. Mercury IT helps businesses build integrated GRC programs.
Mercury IT acts as your expert compliance partner. We begin with a gap analysis to identify where you fall short of your target standard—whether Essential Eight, ISO 27001, Privacy Act requirements, or industry-specific regulations. We then help you develop necessary policies, implement required technical controls, and establish the documentation and evidence collection processes needed to pass audits. Our ongoing compliance management services ensure you maintain your compliance status as requirements evolve.
Yes, and this is a risky position. You might have effective security tools, but without documentation, policies, and audit logs to prove it, you cannot demonstrate compliance to regulators, insurers, or clients. Conversely, you can be technically compliant with checkbox requirements while still being vulnerable to attacks not covered by the standard. The goal is to be both secure and compliant—with controls that actually protect you and documentation that proves it. Mercury IT helps businesses achieve genuine security that also satisfies compliance requirements.
Mercury IT provides board-level cybersecurity reporting that translates technical security metrics into business terms directors and executives can act on. Our reporting covers your current security posture, progress against frameworks like Essential Eight, incident trends, emerging risks, and recommendations for security investment. This reporting can be delivered as part of a virtual CISO engagement, as a standalone assurance service, or as oversight of your existing MSP or MSSP's security activities. Clear board reporting demonstrates governance maturity and supports directors' due diligence obligations.
