You know you need to address security. Maybe you know which framework is most appropriate for your industry or even already have that certification. But do you know how to get from where you are to a fully mature TrustOps program? 

Understanding the maturity level of your organization’s security program allows you to develop a roadmap for improving your security program so you can build the trust that’s essential for growing your business.

In this post, we’ll take a look at exactly what the TrustOps maturity model is, the different levels of maturity, as well as how to move up the TrustOps maturity scale. And, don’t miss the quiz — it’s a great way to start understanding where you are in the process! 

What is the TrustOps maturity model?

The TrustOps maturity model measures how advanced an organization is in its ability to manage security and trust within its operations. TrustOps involves the integration of security and trust considerations into all aspects of an organization's operations, including its development, deployment, and maintenance of products and services.

A TrustOps team ensures a business fulfills its data protection and information security promises to both customers and stakeholders and may encompass activities like information security, IT compliance, risk management, data privacy practices, security incident response, and customer research — all with a trust-centric lens. Ultimately, this holistic approach enables more efficient and measurable ways to build and maintain trust, which in turn increases revenue.

So how do you know where your organization stands and how to move to a higher level of TrustOps maturity? Let’s first review what those levels are.

TrustOps maturity levels

The TrustOps maturity model is organized into five different levels: compliance awareness, checklist security program, IT compliance adoption, GRC activity adoption, and TrustOps adoption.

Level 1: Compliance awareness

Management recognizes that IT security and compliance may be a requirement for their business success, either due to laws and regulations or requests from customers or prospects, but there is little or no formalization of security policies, procedures, or controls. Security is often treated as an afterthought, and incidents are usually handled in a reactive manner.

Level 2: Checklist security program 

The organization adopts a reactive, check-the-box security program. Compliance initiatives are focused on security certifications and motivated by buyers’ expectations, and while security and privacy awareness programs exist, they’re not integrated into business processes.

Level 3: IT compliance adoption 

The organization takes a simple, risk-centric approach to identifying information security and data protection objectives. Workflow and automation tools are employed to ensure that security and compliance programs operate efficiently, and security (and privacy) by design concepts are integrated into development activities and are operating as intended. The organization now uses automations and integrations to increase execution, monitoring, and reporting efficiency, and reviews controls annually against compliance initiatives.

Level 4: GRC activity adoption

The organization’s security posture is continuously monitored, and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) activities have been adopted, but may remain siloed. Certifications or compliance attestations are achieved and maintained as proof of information security and compliance, and software is used to monitor adherence to frameworks, ensuring there is no lapse in coverage. Last but not least, an integrated, robust, and entity-wide risk management program informs company objectives.

Level 5: TrustOps adoption

Risk management, incident response, IT compliance, and trust-based decision making are fully operationalized into a holistic, revenue-generating activity. Trust by design permeates the activities and decisions of all departments, trust metrics are defined and measured, and the success of compliance initiatives is measured against revenue goals. TrustOps is now overseen by a C-suite executive, and TrustOps concepts are embedded throughout every layer of the organization. Furthermore, the organization produces and shares trust assets with customers, prospects, and stakeholders to demonstrate their trustworthiness.

Want to know which level you're at? Take our quiz below.

How do you move up the TrustOps maturity scale?

Moving up the TrustOps maturity scale requires a concerted effort to implement best practices, establish processes and procedures, and continually improve the organization's security posture.

You can start by conducting an assessment of where your organization currently stands in order to identify gaps and areas for improvement. From there, you’ll want to establish a formal information security program to ensure consistency and alignment across the organization. For example, you’ll want to implement security controls and best practices to protect against threats and vulnerabilities, and you’ll want to conduct regular security assessments, including both internal and external audits as well as penetration testing.

But wait, you’re not done yet! In order to move to Level 5 on the maturity scale, you’ll want to develop trust measurement metrics through the use of surveys, and/or make purchasing decisions based on the impact on customer trust.

How does Strike Graph help with that process?

Overall, moving up the TrustOps maturity scale requires a commitment to continuous improvement, a willingness to invest in the right technologies and processes, and a culture of security that is embedded throughout the organization. Strike Graph helps you do all three.

Strike Graph’s TrustOps platform empowers you to create a robust security program that inspires trust from your customers and stakeholders alike. That’s because we help you design, operate, and measure your security program, allowing you to mitigate risk, center trust, and meet regulatory requirements with our comprehensive dashboards, distributed responsibility, and strategic automation. 

Ultimately, this means you’ll be able to strengthen relationships, create opportunities, increase your efficiency, and boost your revenue returns.