Although it may seem boring and boring and commonplace now, the technology we use was once stuff of science fiction. Nowadays, everything is interconnected whether it’s the internet of things, the cloud, or the high-speed networks we use for smart devices everyday. For businesses and Enterprises operating in these spaces, the threat of insider threats, phishing, social engineering, and other cyber attacks is only growing. In 2022, cyber attacks grew over 38% throughout different business sectors. To prevent costly cybersecurity risks, intrusions, and breeches, every organization must have proactive plans and measures to keep their businesses secure. In this article, we’ll take you through the steps of creating your own cyber security strategy and give you a few tips on how to implement it the right way.
Take A Holistic Approach To Cybersecurity
Although you might not see the word holistic used in reference to cybersecurity frequently, it can be a powerful connecting phrase for understanding how everything is somehow interconnected with one another. Through that understanding, it’s easier and more efficient to address cyber security threats within an organization. As an established organization, taking a consistent and holistic approach is pretty effective. Doing so considers all aspects of cybersecurity, the people involved, attack services, processes used to monitor/assess, and any technology used at the organization. Any comprehensive cyber security strategy must align with business objectives. The goal here is to develop the strategy in a way that creates an environment of control and real time monitoring. That way, your security teams can keep your business/enterprise secure at every level of the organization.
Identifying Cybersecurity Risks and Concerns
Identifying security risks at an organization is fraught with challenges. But doing it the right way can save a lot of time, money, and a company’s reputation. It starts with conducting a risk assessment. That means understanding potential risks, possible attack vectors/surfaces, and educating employees to follow proper security protocols. It also means monitoring the network and keeping all devices up to date. In the unfortunate event of a breach, your team must be equipped to identify its impact. Anyone from a disgruntled employee carrying out an inside attack to an outside hacker attempting to use ransomware in order to compromise a business can be a threat. Ransomware in particular is becoming more prevalent every year, affecting businesses of all sizes and across most industrial sectors.
Creating A Risk Management Plan
To assist with identifying threats and protecting your company from them, you need a risk management plan. Risk management plans identify the potential risks that might affect your business, similar to steps taken above. This plan should be a relatively comprehensive document that can help you not only identify these problems but also create and implement solutions for them. Remember, though, creating the plan isn’t a deterrent. It’s merely a proactive solution to help equip your team with the tools needed to be more proactive without preventing/mitigating threats. Risk management plans are perfect for identifying critical threats quickly, analyzing them, and understanding how to prevent or recover from them should the need arise.
Implementing Effective Measures
Establishing your wrist management plan and educating your teams is only part of the battle. You must implement effective security measures to ensure your organization’s protection. Incorporating comprehensive cyber risk management software into your risk management plan is both pragmatic and essential. Software is useful because it can be integrated into other security protocols, used by your existing SOC, and help you glean valuable insights into threat activity. It can also aid with devising strategies to defend attack surfaces and help your organization create strategies for both risk assessment and response. The most useful benefit is being able to continuously identify risks, discover cyber assets, and get rid of possible security blind spots (in any cloud-based or internet facing area). Many organizations don’t have a great track record when it comes fully securing their IT infrastructure and guarding against breaches, so having a thorough risk management plan—and an implementation strategy—in place makes a significant difference in the long run.
Why Proactivity Is Essential
Proactivity is vital to keeping any business running smoothly and securely. Being proactive means you can protect yourself in the event of something unexpected happening. If you’ve already taken action and installed the safeguards to ensure cyber security at your organization, you can rest easy knowing your SOC and other IT professionals can help keep things running smoothly in the event of an attack. Proactive measures are also cost-effective. Instead of waiting for something to happen to invest money and security, doing so proactively allows you to save money from the nasty fallout (monetary, reputation, and otherwise) it might occur after the successful attack/breach. A little proactivity goes a long way, especially when your business’s reputation and bottom line are at stake. And with the rise of cyber risks growing every year, it’s more critical than ever to create procedures to keep your business safe.
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