For all businesses, finding a way to successfully balance growth needs with risk management can be difficult. However, cybersecurity can no longer be viewed as a secondary initiative and should be deeply ingrained within all business planning processes.
Business security should be considered a critical element in building better operational resilience. But with so many potential security risks to consider, it can be difficult for organizations to know where they should concentrate their efforts.
Below, we’ll cover several helpful strategies you can put in place to help reduce your cybersecurity risk exposure.
Enforce Strong Access Control
The principle of least privilege in modern business networks has quickly become a new security standard for organizations.
This involves providing your employees with only the levels of access they need to accomplish their tasks. By restricting open access to databases or systems, regardless of the tenure or job title, it significantly reduces an organization’s potential attack surface.
Another important element of access control is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Applying this additional layer of security requires users to provide a secondary authenticator to ensure they are the assigned users to an account when requesting access.
When combined with least privilege access, this feature makes it highly unlikely for cyberattackers to gain entry to systems, even if they successfully compromise user credentials.
Implement a Rigorous Patch Management Process
Cybercriminals regularly analyze popular software programs to look for potential vulnerabilities missed by their developers. When one is found, it can create an open door opportunity for them to compromise systems for any organization that subscribes to these systems or services.
Having a thorough patch management process in place ensures that, as security fixes are released, your business puts them in place immediately. One way to ensure your systems remain consistently up-to-date is by investing in a patch management solution that connects to and monitors all technology investments while checking their firmware versions against the most up-to-date ones.
These solutions cut down the manual efforts associated with checking each piece of software or hardware and help the business to maintain more consistency when keeping them up-to-date.
Develop a Comprehensive Incident Response Plan
No matter how well you plan ahead, cybersecurity incidents are never 100% avoidable. This is why putting together a comprehensive incident response plan is one of the best defense mechanisms a business can have to help ensure its long-term viability.
But it’s important not to just document a plan and tuck it away on a shelf or server. You should regularly rehearse various recovery procedures throughout the year to test the effectiveness of response teams and the overall effectiveness of the plan.
You should also ensure that anyone placed in charge of certain incident response initiatives is adequately trained on their assignments and can follow accurate instructions to help contain potential threats as they arise or recover impacted databases or systems.
Protect Critical Data with Encryption and Backups
Contingency planning is another critical element of cybersecurity preparedness. Depending on the size of the organization and its exposure points, a major cybersecurity threat like ransomware could compromise a number of core systems and lead to a significant amount of downtime while the company addresses it.
One of the most important elements of ensuring a successful recovery from ransomware is to have reliable backups you can count on in an emergency. By creating regular backups of your systems and storing them in multiple locations, you can significantly lower the amount of time it takes to recover a system in the event of an attack.
Another important thing to consider is what happens to your data if it were ever to be compromised. Depending on the type of data stored, failure to follow a strict compliance framework and incorporate data encryption methods could leave the business open to expensive legal issues. Using powerful encryption on your own data when at rest or in transit makes it so that even if the data itself becomes compromised, there is still little chance that the information contained within it will be exposed.
Establish a Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) Program
An organization’s security posture is only as strong as its weakest link, which often lies within its supply chain of vendors and partners. Being reliant on multiple cloud service providers, shipping companies, financial institutions, or any other vendors that regularly access your data can create unintentional backdoors into a network if they aren’t properly secured.
A formal third-party risk management (TPRM) program helps to address issues by having a consistent process in place for vetting any third party that will connect to the company’s systems or handle its data. This added due diligence ensures that partners meet the organization’s security standards before they are granted access, as well as agreeing on certain disaster recovery protocols in place in the event of a security breach.
Keep Your Business Secure
Real cybersecurity resilience doesn’t happen due to the adoption of specific security technologies. While these are important, it’s also crucial to adopt a balanced approach to technology, supporting workflows, due diligence, and consistency.
By combining all of these elements and following the strategies discussed, you’ll ensure you help keep your business more secure as it grows.
Author Bio Information
Author Bio:
Nazy Fouladirad is President and COO of Tevora, a global leading cybersecurity consultancy. She has dedicated her career to creating a more secure business and online environment for organizations across the country and world. She is passionate about serving her community and acts as a board member for a local nonprofit organization.