GPG13 is often treated as a compliance checklist, but its intent is operational: ensuring organisations can detect, respond to and learn from cyber attacks. Too many public‑sector and regulated organisations focus on policy documentation while under‑investing in real‑world monitoring and response capabilities.

At its core, GPG13 expects organisations to demonstrate that security controls are actively monitored, incidents are handled consistently, and lessons learned are fed back into defensive improvement. This places Security Operations — logging, detection, triage and incident response — at the heart of compliance.

Modern SOC capabilities, supported by SIEM platforms and threat‑led detection engineering, are increasingly the mechanism through which organisations can evidence GPG13 outcomes. Mapping detections to frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK not only improves security maturity but provides clear, auditable proof that controls are operating as intended.

Key takeaway:

If your GPG13 evidence relies solely on policies and screenshots, you are exposed. Compliance today is demonstrated through operational security, not paperwork.