GRC Risk and Compliance Consulting

What Is GRC Risk and Compliance Consulting?

GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance) consulting allows organisations to manage governance, enterprise risk management, information security and regulatory compliance within a single integrated structure.

Technical security measures alone are no longer enough. Information assets have to be protected, risks assessed regularly, policies and procedures established, responsibilities assigned, legal obligations tracked and the controls in place made measurable.

Under GRC risk and compliance consulting, SecureSys analyses the organisation's existing governance and security structure, identifies risks, gaps and compliance requirements, and builds a workable GRC roadmap.

The purpose of the work is not simply to prepare for an audit; it is to establish a GRC structure in which risks are monitored continuously, controls are measurable and compliance requirements are managed sustainably.

What Is GRC?

GRC stands for Governance, Risk and Compliance.

It consists of three core components:

Governance

Ensures that the organisation's IT and information security activities are managed in line with business objectives.

Policies, procedures, roles and responsibilities, decision-making mechanisms, performance indicators and management reporting are all assessed here.

Risk

Covers the identification, analysis and management of information security, cyber security, operational, technology, third-party and business continuity risks that could affect the organisation.

Compliance

Establishes the legislation, regulations, standards, contracts and sector obligations to which the organisation is subject, and tracks the level of compliance against those requirements.

Managing these three areas together allows organisations not merely to be “compliant”, but to reach a position where they understand their risks and can prioritise security investment correctly.

Why Is GRC Consulting Necessary?

The legal regulations, security standards and sector obligations that organisations are subject to increase year on year.

Managing each standard independently leads to the same controls being implemented repeatedly, to unnecessary workload, and to an inability to see the organisation's overall compliance position.

GRC consulting assesses the organisation's obligations from a single, central perspective.

This makes it possible to:

• Identify enterprise risks
• Analyse information security risks
• Establish regulatory and standard requirements
• Assess the adequacy of existing controls
• Identify missing controls
• Standardise policies and procedures
• Assign risk owners and control owners
• Track compliance requirements centrally
• Simplify audit processes
• Produce measurable GRC indicators for management
• Track corrective actions
• Establish a mechanism for continual improvement

GRC and Compliance Management in Türkiye

The GRC approach is becoming increasingly important in Türkiye in line with the national legislation, sector regulations, information security standards and enterprise risk management requirements to which organisations are subject.

For organisations in finance, the public sector, defence, energy, telecommunications, healthcare, technology and critical infrastructure in particular, information security and compliance are no longer a matter of periodic audits alone.

The principal regulations and standards shaping GRC work in Türkiye include:

• KVKK (Turkish Personal Data Protection Law)
• The Presidential Digital Transformation Office Information and Communication Security Guide
• ISO/IEC 27001
• ISO 22301
• ISO/IEC 42001
• BDDK (banking regulator) requirements
• SPK (capital markets) requirements
• TCMB (central bank) requirements
• SEDDK (insurance regulator) requirements
• BTK (ICT authority) requirements
• Sector-specific information security and business continuity obligations

In large organisations subject to several regulations at once, managing each regime separately creates a significant operational burden.

This is where the GRC approach comes in, allowing similar requirements across different regulations and standards to be managed under a common control structure.

Controls such as access control, log management, asset management, risk analysis, backup, business continuity and incident response appear in common across many different standards and regulations.

With a properly designed GRC model, the organisation can map a single control to all the obligations it satisfies, rather than managing the same control repeatedly for separate audits.

How Is the GRC Approach Changing in Türkiye?

The traditional compliance approach in Türkiye has largely been built around audit preparation, documentation and completing checklists.

The modern GRC approach is broader than that.

The new-generation GRC model establishes the chain:

Regulation → Asset → Risk → Control → Technical Verification → Evidence → Action → Continuous Monitoring

This allows the organisation to manage centrally not only the question “are we compliant?” but also:

Which risks are we carrying? Which controls reduce those risks? Are the controls actually working? Which regulatory clauses do they satisfy? Which actions are overdue?

This shift is what takes GRC in Türkiye beyond a compliance or audit activity and makes it a significant component of enterprise risk and cyber security management.

The Global GRC Approach

Globally, GRC has long ceased to be a method used purely to satisfy regulators; it has become a corporate management model bringing together enterprise risk management, cyber security risk management, third-party risk management, privacy, business continuity and IT governance.

As the number of countries and sectors in which international companies operate grows, so do the regulatory requirements they face.

Frameworks and regulations that feature prominently in the global GRC ecosystem include:

ISO/IEC 27001 – Information security management NIST Cybersecurity Framework – Cyber security risk management NIST Risk Management Framework – Risk management COBIT – IT governance ISO 31000 – Risk management ISO 22301 – Business continuity ISO/IEC 42001 – Artificial intelligence management GDPR – Personal data protection DORA – Digital operational resilience NIS2 – Cyber security PCI DSS – Payment card security SOC 2 – Trust services criteria

Where Is the Global GRC Approach Heading?

Globally, GRC is moving towards integrated GRC (iGRC) and towards more continuous, data-driven risk management models.

Where the classical approach managed risk and compliance controls through spreadsheets, periodic audits and manual evidence collection, modern structures aim to feed data from security and IT systems directly into GRC processes.

For example:

SIEM can supply security events and log status,

EDR/XDR the endpoint security posture,

Vulnerability management systems the current vulnerabilities,

IAM/PAM user and privileged access,

DLP data security events, and

Cloud security tooling the cloud configuration state,

all becoming data sources for risk and control assessment within GRC processes.

This approach underpins the development of continuous compliance and continuous control monitoring.

The Difference Between the Turkish and Global GRC Approach

Managing Turkish regulatory and sector requirements within the same control architecture as global GRC standards and risk management approaches.

Area	GRC in Türkiye	Global GRC
Primary focus	National legislation and standards	Managing multiple countries and regulations
Risk management	Enterprise and information security risk	Enterprise & cyber risk
Privacy	KVKK	GDPR and local privacy regimes
Cyber security	ISO 27001, DDO guide and sector regulations	NIST CSF, ISO 27001, NIS2 and similar
Operational resilience	Business continuity and sector requirements	DORA, NIS2, ISO 22301 and similar
Third-party risk	Growing in importance	TPRM is a core GRC component
Control management	Regulation and standard based	Unified control framework
Monitoring	Periodic checks are common	Continuous control monitoring
Technology	Use of GRC platforms is developing	Integrated, automation-led GRC

Local Requirements, Global GRC Approach

SecureSys GRC risk and compliance consulting assesses Turkish regulatory requirements alongside international information security, risk management and governance standards.

The KVKK, the DDO Information and Communication Security Guide and sector regulations to which the organisation is subject can, where appropriate, be mapped against ISO 27001, NIST CSF, ISO 22301, ISO 31000, DORA, NIS2 and other international requirements within a common control architecture.

Rather than running separate compliance projects for each regime, risk, control, evidence, action and compliance can then be managed through a single GRC model.

GRC Current-State and Gap Analysis

One of the first stages of GRC work is establishing the organisation's current position.

A GRC gap analysis reviews existing policies, procedures, risk records, technical controls, organisational structure, roles and responsibilities, and the requirements to which the organisation is subject.

For each requirement, the difference between the current and target state is established.

The assessment can follow the approach:

Requirement → Current State → Gap → Risk → Recommended Control → Owner → Priority → Target Date

This turns the GRC exercise from an audit report listing shortcomings into a workable GRC action plan.

Enterprise Risk Management

Enterprise risk management is one of the core components of a GRC structure.

Threats to the organisation's IT and information security assets are identified, and the likelihood and potential impact of each risk assessed.

Risks can then be handled through one of the following approaches, in line with the organisation's chosen methodology:

Avoid – Reduce – Transfer – Accept

A central risk register is built, recording the risk owner, existing controls, risk level, improvement actions and target dates for each risk.

Information Security Risk Analysis

Information security risk analysis assesses the organisation's critical information assets and the threats to them.

The assessment considers the

confidentiality integrity availability

requirements of the information concerned.

Scenarios such as credential compromise, unauthorised access, ransomware, data leakage, outages of business-critical systems, misconfiguration, abuse of privileged accounts and third-party threats can all be included.

GRC Technical Work

SecureSys GRC risk and compliance consulting is not limited to reviewing policies and documentation. Within scope, technical checks can be carried out to verify whether compliance requirements are genuinely implemented in the live environment.

Technical work can include:

• Review of Active Directory security configuration
• Assessment of user, group and permission structures
• Verification of privileged accounts
• Review of MFA adoption
• Assessment of password policies
• Review of firewall security policies
• Assessment of network segmentation
• Review of VPN and remote access controls
• Assessment of EDR/XDR usage and coverage
• Review of SIEM and log management design
• Verification that business-critical systems generate logs
• Assessment of log retention periods
• Review of vulnerability and patch management processes
• Comparison of the asset inventory against the live environment
• Assessment of DLP and data security controls
• Review of PAM and privileged access management
• Assessment of NAC and network access controls
• Technical verification of backup policies
• Assessment of immutable/offline backup controls
• Review of the disaster recovery infrastructure
• Assessment of cloud security configuration
• Review of email security controls
• Assessment of endpoint security policies
• Identification of EOL/EOS systems
• Review of security monitoring and incident response mechanisms

Technical findings are reported against the relevant GRC requirements and risks.

This approach answers not only “does a policy exist?” but also “is the policy actually applied in the live environment?”

Policy and Procedure Management

Under GRC, the information security and IT policies the organisation needs are assessed, updated or created.

These can include:

information security policy, access control policy, password policy, asset management policy, backup policy, log management policy, incident response procedure, change management, supplier security, business continuity, remote working, data classification and acceptable use policies.

The work covers not only producing the documents but also defining ownership, versioning, approval, publication, periodic review and update processes.

Control Management

Different regulations and standards often contain similar security requirements.

Requirements for access control, log management, risk analysis, backup or incident management appear across several standards.

The GRC approach allows these requirements to be mapped to common control sets.

A single control can then be tracked centrally in terms of

which risk it reduces, which standard it satisfies, who manages it and what evidence verifies it.

Third-Party and Supplier Risk Management

An organisation's security posture is not determined by its own systems alone. Service providers, cloud services, software vendors and other suppliers all form part of its attack surface.

Under third-party risk management (TPRM):

• Critical suppliers are identified
• Suppliers are classified by risk
• Security requirements are defined
• Supplier assessment questionnaires are prepared
• Security obligations in contracts are reviewed
• The compliance position of critical suppliers is tracked
• Supplier-related risks are added to the risk register

Standards That Can Be Covered Under GRC and Compliance

Depending on the organisation's field of activity and obligations, the GRC structure can be mapped to different standards and regulations.

For example:

ISO/IEC 27001 – Information security management system ISO/IEC 27017 – Cloud security ISO/IEC 27018 – Personal data protection in the cloud ISO 22301 – Business continuity management system ISO/IEC 42001 – Artificial intelligence management system NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF) CIS Controls KVKK GDPR DDO Information and Communication Security Guide PCI DSS DORA IEC 62443 – OT/ICS cyber security

Rather than pulling in standards the organisation is not subject to, an appropriate control framework is built around actual needs and risks.

GRC Maturity Assessment

The current maturity level of GRC processes is established so that the actions needed to reach the target level can be defined.

Level 1 – Initial: Processes are reactive and depend on individuals.

Level 2 – Developing: Basic policies and controls exist, but standard practice is limited.

Level 3 – Defined: Risk, control and compliance processes are documented and applied.

Level 4 – Managed: Risk and compliance performance is tracked through KPIs and KRIs.

Level 5 – Optimised: GRC processes are measured continuously, with automation and continual improvement in place.

How Does GRC Risk and Compliance Consulting Work?

1. Defining scope and obligations

The organisation's field of activity, critical processes, standards and legal obligations are established.

2. Current-state analysis

Existing policies, processes, organisational structure and technical controls are reviewed.

3. GRC gap analysis

The gaps between the current position and the target control structure are identified.

4. Risk analysis

Enterprise, technology and information security risks are assessed.

5. Control design

The controls needed to reduce risk and satisfy compliance requirements are defined.

6. Producing policies and procedures

Missing or outdated GRC documentation is put in order.

7. Technical verification

The extent to which the defined security controls are implemented in the live environment is assessed.

8. Prioritising actions

Findings are classified as critical, high, medium or low by risk and business impact.

9. GRC roadmap

A short, medium and long-term compliance and improvement plan is produced.

10. Monitoring and continual improvement

A structure is established for tracking risks, controls and actions periodically.

GRC Risk and Compliance Consulting Deliverables

Depending on scope, the engagement can produce:

• GRC current-state analysis
• GRC gap analysis report
• Enterprise risk register
• Information security risk analysis
• Risk assessment methodology
• Control inventory
• Compliance matrix
• Policy and procedure set
• Asset-to-risk mapping
• Third-party risk assessment
• Corrective action plan
• Risk and control ownership matrix
• GRC maturity assessment
• KPI / KRI recommendations
• GRC roadmap
• Executive summary report

Who Is GRC Risk and Compliance Consulting For?

GRC consulting can be applied in any organisation that depends on information technology, from public sector bodies to financial institutions, from defence to energy, and from manufacturing to technology companies.

GRC risk and compliance management matters in particular to organisations subject to several regulations at once, preparing for ISO 27001 or similar standards, facing customer and supplier security audits, looking to develop enterprise risk management, or wanting to manage security investment on a risk basis.

What Are GRC Software and GRC Platforms?

GRC software allows organisations to manage risk, compliance, policy, control, audit and action processes through a central platform. Processes traditionally tracked through spreadsheets, email threads and scattered documents can be brought together in a single structure.

Through a GRC platform, an organisation can:

• Build a risk register
• Map controls to their owners
• Track regulatory requirements
• Manage audit findings
• Monitor corrective actions
• Manage the policy and procedure lifecycle
• Store evidence centrally
• Track KPI and KRI indicators
• Produce management reports

When selecting GRC software, the question is not simply how many features it has, but how well it fits the organisation's risk methodology, regulatory landscape, integration needs and existing IT estate.

What Is GRC Compliance Management?

Compliance management covers tracking the legal regulations, standards, contracts and sector requirements to which the organisation is subject.

The GRC approach allows similar requirements across different regimes to be mapped to a single control.

An organisation might, for example, be subject to

ISO 27001 + KVKK + the DDO guide + PCI DSS + ISO 22301

at the same time.

Rather than running each standard as an independent project, a central compliance matrix can be built on shared controls.

This reduces the audit burden while making control ownership and evidence management more effective.

GRC Audit Management

GRC audit management covers planning internal and external audits, recording findings and tracking corrective actions.

During an audit:

• The audit scope is defined
• Control requirements are established
• Evidence is collected
• Findings are classified
• Corrective actions are defined
• Owners are assigned
• Deadlines are set
• Closed actions are verified

This structure allows findings from different audits to be managed centrally, which matters particularly in organisations subject to many audits.

GRC and Cyber Security

GRC and cyber security are not independent domains.

Cyber security technologies form the organisation's technical protection layer, while GRC manages which risks those controls reduce, which regulations they satisfy and how effectively they operate.

For example:

EDR/XDR → reduces endpoint risk. SIEM → supports logging and security monitoring requirements. PAM → manages privileged access risk. DLP → reduces data loss risk. NAC → strengthens network access control. Backup/DR → increases resilience against business continuity and ransomware risk.

In a modern GRC approach these technologies are treated not merely as security products but as technical components of the GRC control architecture.

The Relationship Between GRC and ISO 27001

ISO 27001 is an international standard for establishing an information security management system. GRC is a broader governance approach capable of managing many different standards, regulations and risk management processes together, ISO 27001 among them.

The relationship can be summarised as:

ISO 27001 = a single management system / standard

GRC = the overarching structure managing multiple risks, controls, standards and regulations

The risk analysis, policy management, control management, internal audit, management review and corrective action processes carried out under ISO 27001 can all form important components of a GRC structure.

The Difference Between GRC and ERM

ERM (enterprise risk management) focuses on managing all of an organisation's enterprise risks, whereas GRC covers governance and compliance processes in addition to risk management.

ERM deals largely with

financial risk, operational risk, strategic risk and enterprise risk,

while GRC brings together the perspective of

risk + compliance + control + policy + audit + governance.

In organisations at higher maturity levels, ERM and GRC structures can operate in an integrated way.

GRC and Third-Party Risk Management

The suppliers, SaaS platforms, cloud services, outsourcing firms and technology providers an organisation uses can all represent significant cyber security risk.

Third-party risk management (TPRM) is therefore an important component of modern GRC structures.

Supplier risk management can cover identifying critical suppliers, assessing their risk levels, applying security questionnaires, verifying certifications, reviewing security clauses in contracts and monitoring supplier risk periodically.

What Is Continuous Compliance?

In traditional compliance work, controls are checked largely during audit periods.

Under a continuous compliance approach, critical controls are monitored as continuously as possible.

Indicators such as

MFA adoption rate,

the number of critical vulnerabilities,

the proportion of devices covered by EDR,

systems not sending logs,

critical backup failures and

the number of privileged accounts

can be fed into GRC processes.

The organisation's compliance position can then be measured continuously rather than only at annual audit.

What Is Continuous Control Monitoring?

Continuous control monitoring (CCM) is the continuous, automated or semi-automated monitoring of the effectiveness of security and compliance controls.

A GRC system can, for example, take data from

SIEM, EDR/XDR, vulnerability management, IAM, PAM, DLP, CMDB and cloud security

platforms.

This approach can reduce the need for manual evidence collection during audits and allow control failures to be detected more quickly.

GRC Automation

GRC processes can generate a considerable operational workload. Parts of risk assessment, control testing, evidence collection, action tracking and reporting can be automated.

With GRC automation,

control reminders, periodic assessments, evidence requests, risk scoring, action notifications and management reports can all be produced automatically.

GRC teams can then spend more time on risk analysis and decision support rather than operational work.

GRC Maturity Model

Organisations do not all have the same GRC capability.

A GRC maturity assessment measures the organisation's current level across

risk management, policy management, control management, compliance management, audit management, third-party risk, use of technology and management reporting.

The assessment establishes the relationship between current level → target level → required actions.

This is particularly useful for organisations planning GRC investment, as it shows which areas should take priority.

What Are GRC KPIs and KRIs?

Measurable indicators are needed if GRC processes are to be managed effectively.

A KPI (key performance indicator) measures process performance, while

a KRI (key risk indicator) helps track changes in the organisation's risk level.

Indicators that can be tracked on GRC dashboards include

time taken to close critical vulnerabilities, the number of overdue actions, MFA adoption rate, critical supplier risks, backup failure rate and the number of open high risks.

GRC Dashboards and Management Reporting

GRC should not be a technical structure used only by information security teams.

For senior management to understand the organisation's risk position quickly, GRC data has to be turned into clear, measurable indicators.

A GRC dashboard can show:

Total number of risks Critical risks Open audit findings Overdue actions Compliance rate Control success rate Supplier risks Risk trends

Why SecureSys for GRC Risk and Compliance Consulting?

SecureSys does not treat GRC work as document preparation and the completion of audit checklists.

The governance + risk + compliance + technical security layers are addressed together.

Whether a control defined on paper is genuinely applied in Active Directory, the firewall, SIEM, EDR/XDR, PAM, DLP, backup or the cloud environment is assessed from a technical perspective.

The aim is a sustainable GRC management model in which risks and controls are tracked continuously, rather than a structure that only comes to life during audit season.

Manage Your Risks, Strengthen Your Compliance Processes

To establish your organisation's current GRC maturity, assess your information security risks, manage your compliance requirements centrally and build a workable GRC roadmap, get in touch with the SecureSys team.

Request a quote for GRC risk and compliance consulting: get in touch.