Vanta report: AI-powered trust management will help close security compliance gaps

Most businesses are flying blind regarding security and compliance, putting their company’s infrastructure, customers and future at stake. 

Despite their best efforts, 67% say their level of visibility and compliance need help. Only 4 in 10 rate their visibility as strong. Widening security gaps leaves more attack surfaces unprotected, making the lack of security compliance a liability that slows down everything from sales cycles to attracting investors.  

These stark findings are from Vanta’s State of Trust Report 2023, released today. The report provides an in-depth analysis uncovering global trends in security, compliance and the future of trust. Vanta interviewed 2,500 security, risk and trust management professionals across five continents. 

Glaring security compliance gaps jeopardize future business

Most troubling is how glaring — and growing — security compliance gaps can lead to slower sales and loss of clients over time. These gaps are in the most vulnerable areas of a business, starting with how identities are managed and protected. That’s the goldmine that attackers are after because once they control identities, they control the company.

“The data exposes fundamental gaps, leaving companies vulnerable,” said Jeremy Epling chief product officer overseeing Vanta’s engineering, product and design.

Notably, 39% called out identity and access management (IAM) as a particular blind spot.

Vanta’s survey results reflect a staggering number of compliance blind spots across organizations globally, compounded by short-staffed security teams forced to burn valuable time on manual security compliance workflows. 

The findings also reveal limited risk visibility and too heavy reliance on manual compliance processes, reducing security teams’ ability to do their work efficiently. Enterprises need new methods to automate and improve their security. Compounding the urgency is ever-evolving global regulation and the growing time-suck of complying with increasing standards.

Closing compliance gaps manually isn’t working 

Manually-based compliance tasks take valuable time away from security teams, who should focus on higher-priority and more urgent tasks to ensure the security posture of their organizations. 

Vanta’s survey found that security teams spend 7.5 hours per week on compliance. It’s understandable that many organizations are deprioritizing compliance efforts due to the substantial time required. But while this temporary relief is appealing, delayed adherence stifles market expansion.

“Static compliance processes slow companies down tremendously,” said Diego Susa, head of engineering at feature management software company Unleash (a Vanta customer). “Automation is essential with today’s threats.”

More than three-quarters (83%) of respondents say they are increasing their use of automation (or plan to). They report that automating tasks could save two hours per week — more than 130 hours annually.

Vanta told VentureBeat that its goal is to help every business centralize and automate security management by relying on the scale of their AI-powered platform. However, the company argues that transparency remains critical as AI risks persist. Over half of leaders worry AI may erode trust without sufficient explainability. Ethical implementation is mandatory, even when chasing efficiency gains.

“Organizations urgently need more efficient methods to improve security as risks multiply,” said Vanta CEO Christina Cacioppo. “Automation through trust management platforms can help overcome these hurdles.”

In a world short on trust, security compliance is king 

Vanta’s launched of its new Vanta Trust Center today shows they’re reading the market well. The platform serves as a single destination for customers to showcase their security and compliance posture, build trust and streamline security reviews.

Contracts, purchase orders, partnerships, company mergers, acquisitions and financing rounds depend on a proven security posture. Vanta designed and launched the center to support customers’ need to communicate in real-time, further strengthening their security postures.

VentureBeat has found that financial services, insurance and banking firms are using security compliance data during quarterly reviews with their biggest clients to gain a greater share of wallet. Security compliance data provides immediate legitimacy to a business and is used to protect the most lucrative client relationships financial services companies have. 

“Our goal is to build trust with our customers and partners by demonstrating our commitment to data protection measures,” said Adam Rebhuhn, security compliance manager at payments company Modern Treasury. “Vanta’s Trust Center lets us communicate our real-time security status transparently, reducing the need for lengthy questionnaires and differentiating us in a competitive market.” 

Vanta claims the Trust Center reduces deal cycles by 30%, enabling organizations of all sizes to grow their business faster. The Trust Center combines the unique strengths of Trustpage and Vanta, making it easier than ever for customers to unify their security program management and accelerate the security review process, all from within Vanta.

“With one in eight companies falling at the very first hurdle of proving trust to customers and prospects, organizations need a simple yet powerful solution to showcase their security posture,” said Epling. 

He continued: “Vanta Trust Center is made for this moment, coupling Trustpage Trust Centers’ superior workflows and customization features with Vanta’s real-time security monitoring and intuitive interface. Trust Center helps all companies — from scale-ups to leading enterprises — maintain customer trust with an advanced combination of functionality, customization, integrations and workflows to proactively demonstrate security posture and manage security reviews.”  

Protect security compliance like the asset it is 

Vanda’s successful track record of reading the market and customers need can be attributed to its focus on protecting security compliance like the asset that it is. 

Cybersecurity and compliance have never been more of a business imperative than they are today. They are essential to managing and containing risks while persuading the largest clients to stay with them and trust their security posture.