Applying GRC engineering: Transforming audit practices for the cloud-native era

Traditional Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) practices, often reliant on manual processes, periodic reviews, and extensive documentation, face significant challenges keeping pace with the velocity and dynamism of cloud-native environments. The rapid changes inherent in infrastructure-as-code, CI/CD pipelines, and ephemeral resources demand a fundamental shift in how we approach assurance. Aligned with the conference theme "Transform to Evolve," this presentation introduces GRC Engineering as a necessary evolution, transforming GRC from a periodic check into a continuous, integrated, and automated discipline.

GRC Engineering applies software engineering principles – automation, coding, data-driven insights, and continuous feedback loops – to GRC activities. We will explore how this approach moves beyond manual evidence gathering and checklist audits towards a model where compliance controls are defined, implemented, and validated largely through automated means. This session delves into the core tenets, or 'manifesto principles', that guide GRC Engineering. These include concepts like: implementing 'compliance-as-code' alongside infrastructure-as-code; automating evidence collection directly from cloud platform APIs and configuration data; embedding automated control validation within deployment pipelines; leveraging platform telemetry for continuous monitoring of compliance state; and fostering deep collaboration between development, security, operations, and GRC teams.

A key focus will be the transformation of the audit function itself. In a GRC Engineering model, auditors evolve. Their role shifts from manually collecting and verifying evidence point-in-time towards validating the effectiveness of the automated control systems, reviewing the code that defines policies and controls, interpreting the outputs of continuous monitoring tools, and focusing expertise on complex edge cases and exceptions. This transforms audit into a more strategic, analytical function, reducing manual toil and increasing assurance confidence.

We will discuss the tangible benefits of this transformation, including reduced audit friction enabling faster delivery cycles, improved real-time risk visibility, demonstrably continuous compliance, and more efficient use of GRC and audit resources. Equally important, we will address the practical challenges, such as the need for new skill sets within GRC teams (including basic coding and cloud platform knowledge), navigating tooling choices, and fostering the necessary cultural shifts towards shared responsibility.

This presentation will provide attendees with a vendor-agnostic understanding of GRC Engineering principles and a practical vision for how to evolve their GRC and audit practices to be effective enablers, not inhibitors, in the fast-paced cloud-native world, thereby fostering a more resilient and dynamic cyber security ecosystem.