For many organizations, compliance is a stressful checkbox exercise—scrambling to prove security controls only when an audit looms. But Patrick Sullivan, CTO of Security Strategy at Akamai, thinks there’s a better way. And it starts with posture management built for continuous alignment with compliance frameworks.

“In the perfect world, [security and compliance] are perfectly aligned,” Sullivan says. “But I know sometimes they diverge.”

Akamai’s DNS Posture Management platform closes that gap. It continuously scans DNS configurations, email protocols, and digital certificates—flagging potential risks and offering step-by-step remediation.

“If you’re leaking information, maybe you’ve got a TXT record that has API keys—we give you instructions on how to remediate that,” says Sullivan. The system doesn’t just detect issues like dangling CNAMEs or exposed records—it guides users in how to fix them.

Beyond fixing tactical risks, the platform provides a high-level compliance overview. “We look at the DNS configuration and how that stacks up against HIPAA, PCI, and others,” Sullivan explains. That includes email protocol checks like DMARC and DKIM, now increasingly required under PCI DSS to prove email integrity and prevent spoofing.

Certificate hygiene is also a major focus. The system checks for expired, weak, or unauthorized certs. “Do we see a cert issued that’s not from your preferred CA? That could be a risk,” says Sullivan. And it doesn’t stop there—Akamai evaluates whether organizations are prepared for post-quantum cryptographic standards. “Are the algorithms in place resilient to quantum attacks or not?”

This posture is maintained continuously, giving teams ongoing visibility—not just audit snapshots. It’s a move toward operationalized compliance, where passing an audit becomes a side effect of good posture, not a separate effort.

Whether you’re governed by HIPAA, PCI DSS, CIS, or NIST, this approach brings proactive security and compliance into alignment—by default.