Building Strong IT Governance

Key Components of IT Governance

Three critical governance components frequently overlooked by early-stage startups are:

1. Access Management

"Access management is by far one of the most important components to take into account and to make sure that those are done right from the very beginning"

— Martin Prado, Chief Information Security Officer at Ava Labs

Access management determines who can access what resources within your organization. Many security incidents result from unauthorized access or overly lax permissions.

Implementation tips:

• Create a clear role-based access matrix for onboarding and offboarding
• Conduct regular access reviews
• Pay special attention to privileged accounts and credentials
• Implement the principle of least privilege

2. Change Management

Change management covers the entire process from writing code to deploying it in production. Without proper security integration, this process can introduce vulnerabilities.

Implementation tips:

• Map your entire development pipeline from code writing to production
• Ask yourself: "If this component is compromised, could it put the production environment at risk?"
• Implement approval processes for code changes on GitHub or GitLab
• Include security testing in your deployment pipelines

3. Vendor Management

With the rise of supply chain attacks, understanding and managing the security of your third-party dependencies has become crucial.

Implementation tips:

• Identify all third parties your system depends on
• Request security documentation like SOC2 reports or ISO 27001 certifications
• Evaluate the security posture of critical vendors
• Monitor for security incidents affecting your dependencies