Beyond Compliance: Building a Risk-Based Security Culture

Belgrade, Serbia - September 25, 2025

From checklists to meaningful risk reduction in everyday operations

Regulatory compliance is often treated as the ultimate goal of security programs, but compliance is only a baseline. True resilience comes from a culture where security is integrated into daily decisions, not just audit reports. Meeting the requirements of PCI DSS or ISO 27001 may satisfy regulators, but it does not guarantee that employees are making risk-aware choices in practice.

Compliance frameworks are essential. They establish minimum controls and provide external accountability. However, attackers do not limit themselves to compliance boundaries. They exploit gaps between policy and behavior, targeting the blind spots that formal audits rarely expose. A risk-based security culture ensures that these blind spots are continuously identified and mitigated.

Infosec Assessors Group (IAG) has observed across multiple industries that compliance-driven organizations often fail to prioritize emerging risks. For example, they may encrypt stored data as required, but fail to secure API endpoints that expose the same information. Compliance is met, but risk remains unaddressed.

CypSec addresses this by embedding risk management directly into operational workflows. Its policy-as-code framework dynamically adapts controls based on contextual risk signals. This ensures that security enforcement is not static but evolves alongside threats and business processes. Employees are guided by real-time feedback rather than rigid policies alone.

"Compliance shows regulators you can follow the rules. A risk-based culture shows attackers you are ready for them," said Frederick Roth, Chief Information Security Officer at CypSec.

Building a risk-based culture requires mindset shifts. Employees must see how their actions connect to organizational risk. Through targeted awareness programs, scenario-based testing, and continuous feedback, organizations can move security out of the compliance department and into the day-to-day decisions of every staff member.

For leadership, this culture creates transparency. Security metrics become risk-driven rather than compliance-driven, showing which assets, roles, or processes introduce the highest exposure. Executives gain a clearer view of where investments deliver the greatest reduction in real-world risk, not just audit findings.

Industries handling sensitive data, finance, healthcare and government, benefit especially from this shift. Regulators are increasingly recognizing the limits of checklist compliance, expecting organizations to demonstrate proactive risk management. Those who embrace a risk-based culture not only stay compliant but gain a competitive advantage in trust and resilience.

Together, Infosec Assessors Group and CypSec help organizations move beyond compliance by uniting audits, risk management, and cultural change. The result is a security program that not only passes inspections but also adapts to evolving threats, empowering staff at all levels to make secure choices every day.

About Infosec Assessors Group: Infosec Assessors Group (IAG) is a Serbian cybersecurity consultancy specializing in PCI DSS, ISO standards, penetration testing, and risk management. For more information, visit infosecassessors.com.

About CypSec: CypSec delivers enterprise-grade risk management, policy-as-code, and human risk solutions. Together with IAG, it helps organizations build lasting security cultures that adapt to evolving threats. For more information, visit cypsec.de.

Media Contact: Daria Fediay, Chief Executive Officer at CypSec - daria.fediay@cypsec.de.