Compliance Framework Overview

Implementing compliance controls requires a systematic approach that addresses people, processes, and technology to meet regulatory requirements.

Key Components

• Risk Assessment: Identify and evaluate compliance risks
• Control Implementation: Deploy technical and administrative controls
• Monitoring: Continuous compliance verification
• Documentation: Maintain evidence for audits
• Improvement: Regular updates and enhancements

Technical Controls Implementation

Access Control Implementation

# RBAC implementation with AWS IAM
# Create compliance-specific roles
aws iam create-role --role-name ComplianceAuditor \
  --assume-role-policy-document '{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [{
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {"Service": "ec2.amazonaws.com"},
      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
    }]
  }'

# Attach read-only policies for audit access
aws iam attach-role-policy --role-name ComplianceAuditor \
  --policy-arn arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/SecurityAudit

# Create custom policy for compliance tools
aws iam create-policy --policy-name ComplianceMonitoring \
  --policy-document '{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [{
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "logs:Describe*",
        "logs:Get*",
        "logs:List*",
        "cloudtrail:LookupEvents",
        "config:Describe*"
      ],
      "Resource": "*"
    }]
  }'

Encryption Controls

# Implement encryption at rest
# PostgreSQL transparent data encryption
ALTER SYSTEM SET ssl = on;
ALTER SYSTEM SET ssl_cert_file = '/etc/postgresql/server.crt';
ALTER SYSTEM SET ssl_key_file = '/etc/postgresql/server.key';

# Application-level encryption
from cryptography.fernet import Fernet
import os

class ComplianceEncryption:
    def __init__(self):
        self.key = os.environ.get('ENCRYPTION_KEY', Fernet.generate_key())
        self.cipher = Fernet(self.key)
    
    def encrypt_pii(self, data):
        """Encrypt personally identifiable information"""
        return self.cipher.encrypt(data.encode()).decode()
    
    def decrypt_pii(self, encrypted_data):
        """Decrypt PII for authorized access"""
        return self.cipher.decrypt(encrypted_data.encode()).decode()

Audit Logging Implementation

# Comprehensive audit logging setup
# Application audit logger
import logging
import json
from datetime import datetime

class ComplianceLogger:
    def __init__(self, log_file='/var/log/compliance/audit.log'):
        self.logger = logging.getLogger('compliance')
        handler = logging.FileHandler(log_file)
        formatter = logging.Formatter(
            '%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s'
        )
        handler.setFormatter(formatter)
        self.logger.addHandler(handler)
        self.logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)
    
    def log_access(self, user, resource, action, result):
        """Log all access attempts for compliance"""
        log_entry = {
            'timestamp': datetime.utcnow().isoformat(),
            'user': user,
            'resource': resource,
            'action': action,
            'result': result,
            'ip_address': self.get_client_ip(),
            'session_id': self.get_session_id()
        }
        self.logger.info(json.dumps(log_entry))

Data Protection Controls

Data Classification

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

# DLP policy implementation
class DLPEngine:
    def __init__(self):
        self.patterns = {
            'ssn': r'\b\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}\b',
            'credit_card': r'\b\d{4}[\s-]?\d{4}[\s-]?\d{4}[\s-]?\d{4}\b',
            'email': r'\b[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z|a-z]{2,}\b'
        }
    
    def scan_content(self, content):
        """Scan content for sensitive data patterns"""
        findings = []
        for data_type, pattern in self.patterns.items():
            if re.search(pattern, content):
                findings.append({
                    'type': data_type,
                    'severity': 'high',
                    'action': 'block'
                })
        return findings
    
    def enforce_policy(self, content, destination):
        """Enforce DLP policies on data movement"""
        findings = self.scan_content(content)
        if findings:
            self.alert_security_team(findings)
            if destination.is_external():
                raise DLPViolation("Sensitive data transfer blocked")

Compliance Monitoring

Continuous Compliance Monitoring

# AWS Config Rules for continuous compliance
# PCI DSS compliance rule
aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule '{
  "ConfigRuleName": "encrypted-volumes",
  "Description": "Checks whether EBS volumes are encrypted",
  "Source": {
    "Owner": "AWS",
    "SourceIdentifier": "ENCRYPTED_VOLUMES"
  },
  "Scope": {
    "ComplianceResourceTypes": [
      "AWS::EC2::Volume"
    ]
  }
}'

# Custom compliance rule
aws configservice put-config-rule --config-rule '{
  "ConfigRuleName": "approved-amis-by-tag",
  "Description": "Checks whether instances are launched from approved AMIs",
  "Source": {
    "Owner": "AWS",
    "SourceIdentifier": "APPROVED_AMIS_BY_TAG"
  },
  "InputParameters": "{\"tag1Key\":\"Approved\",\"tag1Value\":\"true\"}"
}'

Compliance Dashboard

# Compliance metrics collection
class ComplianceDashboard:
    def __init__(self):
        self.metrics = {
            'patch_compliance': 0,
            'encryption_compliance': 0,
            'access_review_completion': 0,
            'training_completion': 0
        }
    
    def calculate_patch_compliance(self):
        """Calculate percentage of systems with current patches"""
        total_systems = self.get_total_systems()
        patched_systems = self.get_patched_systems()
        return (patched_systems / total_systems) * 100
    
    def generate_compliance_report(self):
        """Generate executive compliance report"""
        report = {
            'generated_at': datetime.utcnow().isoformat(),
            'overall_compliance': self.calculate_overall_score(),
            'metrics': self.metrics,
            'findings': self.get_findings(),
            'recommendations': self.get_recommendations()
        }
        return report

Vulnerability Management

Automated Vulnerability Scanning

#!/bin/bash
# Automated vulnerability scanning script

# Install and configure OpenVAS
apt-get update && apt-get install -y openvas
gvm-setup
gvm-feed-update

# Create scan configuration
cat > /etc/gvm/compliance-scan.xml << EOF

  Compliance Scan
  PCI DSS quarterly scan
  daba56c8-73ec-11df-a475-002264764cea

EOF

# Schedule weekly scans
crontab -l > mycron
echo "0 2 * * 0 /usr/bin/gvm-cli --gmp-username admin --gmp-password $GVM_PASS socket --xml ''" >> mycron
crontab mycron

Patch Management

# Automated patch management
class PatchManagement:
    def __init__(self):
        self.critical_patch_sla = 30  # days
        self.standard_patch_sla = 90  # days
    
    def assess_patches(self):
        """Assess available patches by criticality"""
        patches = self.get_available_patches()
        
        categorized = {
            'critical': [],
            'high': [],
            'medium': [],
            'low': []
        }
        
        for patch in patches:
            severity = self.get_patch_severity(patch)
            categorized[severity].append(patch)
        
        return categorized
    
    def schedule_patching(self, patches):
        """Schedule patches based on criticality and maintenance windows"""
        for severity, patch_list in patches.items():
            if severity == 'critical':
                self.schedule_emergency_patching(patch_list)
            else:
                self.schedule_maintenance_window(patch_list, severity)

Identity and Access Management

Access Review Process

# Automated access review system
class AccessReview:
    def __init__(self):
        self.review_frequency = 90  # days
        
    def generate_access_report(self):
        """Generate access report for review"""
        users = self.get_all_users()
        report = []
        
        for user in users:
            user_access = {
                'username': user.username,
                'full_name': user.full_name,
                'department': user.department,
                'manager': user.manager,
                'last_login': user.last_login,
                'permissions': self.get_user_permissions(user),
                'privileged_access': self.has_privileged_access(user),
                'review_required': self.needs_review(user)
            }
            report.append(user_access)
        
        return report
    
    def process_review_decisions(self, decisions):
        """Process manager decisions on access reviews"""
        for decision in decisions:
            if decision['action'] == 'revoke':
                self.revoke_access(decision['user'], decision['permission'])
            elif decision['action'] == 'modify':
                self.modify_access(decision['user'], decision['changes'])
            
            self.log_review_decision(decision)

Privileged Access Management

# Just-in-time privileged access
class PrivilegedAccessManager:
    def __init__(self):
        self.max_elevation_time = 4  # hours
        
    def request_elevation(self, user, role, justification):
        """Handle privileged access requests"""
        request = {
            'id': self.generate_request_id(),
            'user': user,
            'requested_role': role,
            'justification': justification,
            'requested_at': datetime.utcnow(),
            'expires_at': datetime.utcnow() + timedelta(hours=self.max_elevation_time)
        }
        
        # Auto-approve based on policy or queue for approval
        if self.auto_approve_eligible(user, role):
            return self.grant_temporary_access(request)
        else:
            return self.queue_for_approval(request)
    
    def grant_temporary_access(self, request):
        """Grant time-limited privileged access"""
        # Create temporary role binding
        self.create_temp_role(request['user'], request['requested_role'])
        
        # Schedule automatic revocation
        self.schedule_revocation(request['id'], request['expires_at'])
        
        # Log for audit
        self.audit_log.record_privilege_grant(request)
        
        return request['id']

Incident Response

Automated Incident Response

# Security incident response automation
class IncidentResponse:
    def __init__(self):
        self.severity_levels = ['critical', 'high', 'medium', 'low']
        self.response_teams = self.load_response_teams()
    
    def detect_incident(self, event):
        """Analyze event for security incidents"""
        incident_indicators = [
            self.check_failed_logins(event),
            self.check_data_exfiltration(event),
            self.check_privilege_escalation(event),
            self.check_malware_indicators(event)
        ]
        
        if any(incident_indicators):
            return self.create_incident(event, incident_indicators)
    
    def respond_to_incident(self, incident):
        """Execute incident response playbook"""
        severity = self.assess_severity(incident)
        
        # Immediate containment
        if severity in ['critical', 'high']:
            self.contain_threat(incident)
        
        # Notify response team
        self.notify_team(incident, severity)
        
        # Collect forensics
        self.collect_evidence(incident)
        
        # Create incident ticket
        ticket_id = self.create_incident_ticket(incident)
        
        return ticket_id

Compliance Reporting

Automated Compliance Reports

# Compliance report generator
class ComplianceReporter:
    def __init__(self):
        self.report_templates = {
            'pci_dss': 'templates/pci_dss_report.html',
            'hipaa': 'templates/hipaa_report.html',
            'gdpr': 'templates/gdpr_report.html',
            'soc2': 'templates/soc2_report.html'
        }
    
    def generate_report(self, framework, period):
        """Generate compliance report for specific framework"""
        # Collect metrics
        metrics = {
            'control_effectiveness': self.measure_control_effectiveness(framework),
            'vulnerabilities': self.get_vulnerability_metrics(period),
            'incidents': self.get_incident_metrics(period),
            'access_reviews': self.get_access_review_status(),
            'training': self.get_training_completion(),
            'patches': self.get_patch_compliance()
        }
        
        # Generate evidence
        evidence = self.collect_evidence(framework, period)
        
        # Create report
        report = self.render_report(framework, metrics, evidence)
        
        return report

Third-Party Risk Management

Vendor Assessment

• Security questionnaires
• SOC 2 report review
• Penetration test results
• Insurance verification
• Compliance certifications

Ongoing Monitoring

• Continuous security ratings
• Breach notification requirements
• Annual reassessment
• Contract compliance verification

Implementation Timeline

Best Practices

• Automate: Use tools to enforce and monitor compliance
• Document: Maintain comprehensive evidence
• Train: Regular compliance awareness training
• Test: Regular control effectiveness testing
• Improve: Continuous enhancement based on findings

Related Resources

• Compliance Checklists
• Security Best Practices
• Incident Response Plan