“Any War Cannot be Won Without Strategy”
Over the last few decades, Cyber-attacks have become more and more prominent. Mal practitioners have also upgraded themselves with skills, sophistication, and technology. This factor makes cybercrime a nightmare for organizations holding their information on cyberspace.
In a war against cybercrime, we need to prepare ourselves and focus on prevention rather than reaction. It is estimated that by 2025 cybercrime will cost the whole world about $10.5 trillion.
Cybercriminals have started using more sophisticated methods to infiltrate and compromise a business’s systems and networks. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has recorded a 15 percent increase in ransomware during the 2020-2021 financial year.
The increase in ransomware, phishing, and other types of cyber-attacks has emphasized the need of cyber security strategy for every business. In this blog, we will discuss why cybersecurity is important and how it helps in the growth of your business. Let's start with a brief about cyber security strategy.
A cyber security strategy is a set of protocols designed to enhance the security and sturdiness of an organization. It uses a top-down approach and establishes a set of objectives and protocols to help you maintain safety.
It structures the duties of individuals within your organization and defines the roles of different employees. The strategy includes the steps to be taken in the event of a security breach or leak. It helps organizations figure out the best response according to the threat.
A good cyber strategy recognizes the fact that cyber threats are evolving so that the organization also improves its security accordingly. When done precisely, a good cybersecurity strategic plan aligns with the business goals and vision. Combined it makes the workflow effective and increases quality.
A cyber-attack can have devastating effects on businesses, ranging from financial losses, operational halts, reputation damages, legal and regulatory setbacks, and even the risk of a complete shutdown of businesses.
A strong cyber security strategy reduces the chances of your business falling prey to a cybercriminal and mitigates the repercussions if a security incident were to occur. An effective cyber security strategy works as a proactive approach to deal with cyber threats.
The absence of a cyber security strategy increases the chances of a business becoming a victim of a cyber-attack or data breach.
Now that we have learned a bit about cybersecurity strategy, let's understand how one can develop a strong cybersecurity strategy.
A cybersecurity risk assessment is structured to get a detailed view of possible cyber threats to your business. It also provides you with an overview of your capabilities to manage the associated risks.
There is a huge range of threats that can hamper businesses, so an in-depth risk assessment becomes the first key step in understanding the gaps and vulnerabilities. Other than understanding the risk profile of your organization these assessments can help in identifying third and fourth-party risks which is a crucial part of your journey to getting secure.
The benefits do not end here. A security risk assessment can help businesses identify, classify, and map information and data assets on the basis of their value. It allows businesses to prioritize and allocate resources according to the efficiency and effectiveness of cybersecurity measures implemented.
Devoid of a proper risk assessment, your business might not discover the challenges and aspects of cybersecurity measures implemented.
An important factor of any cyber security strategy is to ensure that it aligns with your larger business goals. It can be done by defining security goals that are in sync with the business envisions.
Creating security goals is a challenging task however the process can be simplified if you focus on three questions.
If you want to have a good strategy, you must understand the capability of current security architecture of your business. It can help in defining security goals by reviewing the current security infrastructure and the security incidents that have occurred in the past.
An organization’s risk appetite is defined as the amount of risk that the organization can bear. These criteria help organizations identify security risks and prepare appropriately for all the possible risks. Identifying security risk appetite can help you determine how and where security should be prioritized, thus making it easier to arrive at realistic and achievable goals.
While defining security goals it is important to ensure that the goals are realistic. The organization’s resources, timeline, budget, and skills, everything should be taken into account.
An essential element of developing a cybersecurity strategy is evaluating technology to see if it meets the best practices according to industry standards. As malpractitioners have evolved, organizations also need to improve their technology with the latest patches and security updates.
Having old and outdated technology leaves a business vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Systems that do not receive regular updates leave a network open that can be compromised by hackers.
A cybersecurity framework is essentially a system of standards, guidelines, and best practices to manage threats that come from the digital world. There is a variety of frameworks to choose from that can help in building the organization’s overall cybersecurity strategy.
A security policy is a document that states how the organization plans to protect its physical and information technology assets. They should be modified to reflect any changes in technology, vulnerabilities, and security requirements.
A part of this step is to review existing security policies and create new ones that were missing before. These security policies should be enforceable and every employee in an organization needs to be held accountable for information security.
An easy way to enforce these policies is to schedule mandated security training and awareness programs.
Always prepare for the worst. It is a common culture in the realm of cybersecurity. No matter how strong your cyber risk management strategy is, there will always be a chance that your business will fall prey to cyber-attacks or data breaches.
Identifying the potential risks to the organization’s information security beforehand is a great way to lessen the consequences of a breach. All you have to do is implement some policies such as Data Privacy Policy, Data Protection Policy, Retention Policy, and Incident Response Plan.
Once all the strategies are in place, it is important to recognize the need for continuous support and evaluation. Vulnerabilities will always keep evolving as malpractitioners devise new ways to attack. It creates the need for continuous monitoring and testing so that it can be aligned with the existing threat environment.
Important stakeholders should be identified and should be given the responsibility of keeping an oversight. Apart from this, there should be an annual risk assessment that can identify and fill any gaps posing as potential threats.
Maintaining an efficient cyber risk strategy can be a gruesome task. It is totally understandable if some organizations cannot take care of their information security strategy. This is where various cyber security companies such as Cyber Cops come in.
Cyber Cops is a well-known name in the realm of cyber security. We have expertise in creating IT security strategy for various small and large-scale organizations. We always create tailored solutions for our clients.
Cyber Cops has a huge list of satisfied clients who trust us with their digital security. Our vision is to make cyberspace safe for everyone by preventing any potential threat beforehand. We also guide our clients regularly by giving them updates regarding any new threats or vulnerabilities and how they can keep themselves protected.