Governance, Risk & Compliance — Clear Rules, Real Controls, Audit-Grade Evidence
GRC is how you decide what “good” looks like, reduce risk to appetite, and prove you’re doing it.
SolveForce turns GRC into an operating system: frameworks → policies → controls → owners → evidence pipelines → continuous monitoring—so leadership gets clarity, teams get traction, and auditors get receipts.
Connective tissue:
🛡️ Security Ops → /cybersecurity • 📊 ConMon/Evidence → /siem-soar
☁️ Cloud & Private → /cloud • /private-cloud • 🔧 Delivery → /infrastructure-as-code
👤 Identity/Privileged → /iam • /pam • 🚪 Access → /ztna / /nac / /sase
🔑 Custody → /key-management • /secrets-management • /encryption
📚 Data & Privacy → /data-governance • /dlp
💳 PCI → /pci-dss • 🏛️ NIST/FedRAMP → /nist • /fedramp
💾 Continuity → /cloud-backup • /backup-immutability • /draas
🧪 Exercises & IR → /tabletop • /incident-response • 💸 Spend → /finops
🎯 Outcomes (Why SolveForce GRC)
- Clarity — a single control map across SOC 2/ISO 27001/NIST/PCI/HIPAA/CMMC/FedRAMP.
- Consistency — policies as code; the build matches the binder.
- Risk reduction — prioritized POA&M and KRIs that drive action.
- Audit readiness — evidence auto-collected, organized, and exportable on demand.
- Continuous monitoring — monthly control health without swivel-chair spreadsheets.
🧭 Scope (What We Build & Operate)
- Governance — policy library, standards/baselines, exceptions & approvals, control ownership/attestation.
- Risk management — enterprise risk register, scoring & appetite, KRIs, POA&M tracking.
- Compliance mapping — SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST 800-53/171, CSF 2.0, PCI, HIPAA, GDPR/CCPA, FedRAMP overlays.
- Third-party risk — questionnaires, evidence intake, continuous monitoring, contract clauses & AOCs.
- Privacy & data — classification/labels, DLP/tokens, residency & retention, subject-rights workflows. → /data-governance • /dlp
- ConMon — vuln/config scans, findings/POA&M, change records, incidents, metrics → SIEM/SOAR. → /siem-soar
- Training & awareness — role-based content, phishing simulation, secure SDLC training.
- BCP/DR — immutable backups & DR drills linked to control evidence. → /backup-immutability • /draas
🧱 Building Blocks (Spelled Out)
- Framework harmonization — pick a “spine” (e.g., NIST CSF + 800-53) and map other regimes to it. → /nist
- Policy-as-Code — encryption/tags/deny-public, region controls, image baselines, and access rules enforced in CI. → /infrastructure-as-code
- Zero-Trust controls — ZTNA for apps, SASE for web, NAC at ports, device posture, JIT/PAM for admins. → /ztna • /nac • /pam
- Key & secret custody — CMKs in HSM/KMS, envelope encryption, vault-issued tokens, rotation/quorum. → /key-management • /secrets-management • /encryption
- Evidence pipeline — logs/config diffs/approvals, control tests, scans, TTX/DR artifacts → SIEM/SOAR dashboards & export packs. → /siem-soar
- Exception & SoD — documented exceptions with compensating controls & expiry; separation-of-duties matrices.
🧰 Reference Packages (Choose Your Fit)
1) SOC 2 / ISO 27001 Readiness — control map, policy set, ConMon pipeline, internal audit, external assessor hand-off.
2) PCI Program — scope reduction, CDE segmentation, tokenization, WAF/Bot, key ceremonies, AOC/ROC support. → /pci-dss
3) HIPAA Security/Privacy — PHI labels, minimum-necessary, IR & breach workflows, BAAs, audit evidence.
4) NIST 800-171 / CMMC — CUI enclave, ZTNA/PAM, HSM keys, immutable logs; SSP/POA&M readiness.
5) FedRAMP Readiness — boundary design, inherited controls, RAR/SSP/SAP/SAR/POA&M, ConMon automation. → /fedramp
6) Privacy (GDPR/CCPA) — consent & purpose, residency, DSR workflows, DLP/tokens, records of processing.
📐 SLO Guardrails (Run GRC like a product)
| Domain | KPI / SLO | Target (Recommended) |
|---|---|---|
| Evidence | Evidence completeness (audits/incidents) | = 100% |
| Risk | P1/P2 remediation lead time | ≤ 30 / ≤ 90 days |
| ConMon | Monthly package on time | 100% |
| Identity | Joiner→access / Leaver revoke | ≤ 15–60 min / ≤ 5–15 min |
| Access Gov. | Quarterly certifications on time | ≥ 95–100% |
| Policy | Policy recertification schedule hit rate | ≥ 95% |
| Vendor | Critical third-party assessments completed | ≤ 30–60 days |
| Backups/DR | Immutability (Tier-1) / DR drill cadence | = 100% / On schedule |
SLO breaches auto-open tickets and trigger SOAR (rollback, revoke, rekey, resegment) with approvals. → /siem-soar
📊 Observability & Evidence
- Dashboards — risk register heatmap, control coverage, scan posture, access reviews, DR readiness.
- Binders on demand — SSP/control narratives, diagrams, inventories, change & approval logs, test results, POA&M exports.
- Automation — SOAR collects artifacts, closes POA&M items, files AARs, and compiles ConMon. → /siem-soar
🛠️ Implementation Blueprint (No-Surprise Delivery)
1) Discover & gap — frameworks in scope, systems/data inventory, control gaps & quick wins.
2) Align & govern — select backbone framework; set policy library, control owners, exception workflow.
3) Instrument — evidence pipeline to SIEM/SOAR; ConMon scanners; metrics/KRIs.
4) Build controls — Zero-Trust (ZTNA/NAC/PAM), keys/secrets, WAF/DLP, backup immutability, DR runbooks.
5) Exercise — TTX & DR drills; capture artifacts; fix gaps; update POA&M. → /tabletop • /draas
6) Assess — internal audit; external assessor support (SOC2/ISO/NIST/PCI/HIPAA/FedRAMP).
7) Operate — monthly ConMon & dashboards; quarterly certifications; annual audit rehearsal; continuous improvement.
✅ Pre-Engagement Checklist
- Frameworks & audit calendar (SOC2/ISO/NIST/PCI/HIPAA/CMMC/FedRAMP).
- Risk appetite & top 10 risks; current POA&M.
- System & data inventory; boundaries & dataflows; crown-jewel map.
- Identity/PAM posture; ZTNA/NAC/SASE status.
- KMS/HSM & vault usage; encryption standards.
- WAF/DDoS/DLP coverage; SIEM/SOAR destination.
- Scan/pen history; open findings; exception log.
- DR posture (Object-Lock scope); TTX/DR drill plan.
- Budget guardrails; success metrics & reporting cadence.
🔄 Where GRC Fits (Recursive View)
1) Grammar — controls ride /connectivity & /networks-and-data-centers.
2) Syntax — implemented on /cloud / /private-cloud with /infrastructure-as-code.
3) Semantics — /cybersecurity preserves truth; /siem-soar proves it.
4) Pragmatics — /solveforce-ai summarizes posture, citations, and safe next steps.