When it Comes to Cybersecurity, Prepare, Protect, Deploy
Attackers covet your data and never stop coming for it. In 2021, ransomware cases grew by 92.7%. Are you protecting your data with the same passion and with adequate cybersecurity solutions?
• In 2022, the Austrian Health insurer Medibank lost the data of four million customers at an estimated cost of $25-35 million to the company.
• Cyrpto.com had over 500 user wallets hacked, with a combined loss of over $33 million.
• The Ronin Cryptocurrency theft saw $625 million stolen.
• By 2025, cybercrime will cost the world $10.5 trillion yearly.
It is no secret that cybercrime is on the rise, and how your company prepares, protects and deploys cybersecurity solutions may be the key to mitigating or avoiding the loss of data.
Comprehensive Cybersecurity Solutions Start With Preparation
Preparation is the first step to preventing and responding to a data breach. As a cybersecurity leader, you must know your organization’s mission, critical assets and culture. Understanding these components lets you weave secure processes into everyday business functions and better defend your attack surface.
A company’s mission will reveal an operational-sight picture and be the springboard for cybersecurity planning. This springboard will help develop and refine the total attack surface. In addition, identifying the critical business and IT functions will also help craft the best courses of action to defend data, and the worst case, respond if compromised.
Evaluating your culture is a crucial preparation step, as the battlefield is not just electronic. Human error plays a huge role in data breaches today. Preparing and training your employees for cyberattacks is as important as monitoring your systems. Evaluating your business associates and third-party vendors will help ensure they are trusted partners and not increase your risk.
Protecting Against Data Breaches is a 24/7/365 Fight
A simple way to start protecting against data breaches is to create baselines. Baselines are an excellent way to incorporate security without impacting the company’s production. Once the baseline is established, testing the baseline to ensure it is not compromised is vital. One way you can do this is by implementing persistent threat hunting. Doing this will feed essential data into your business’s risk and vulnerability process. A proactive approach will allow you to stay ahead of advanced attacks. In addition, a review and update to web application security are required, as this is a leading cause of breaches. Pay attention to software (SW) assurance. SW is becoming an increasingly popular attack surface for threats to exploit. Building software in a standardized, repeatable manner and doing so using secure components, including third-party software dependencies, is essential in the secure build process. Finally, a combination of antivirus and data loss prevention tools must be applied to protect data.
Unfortunately, many individuals are fooled into believing clever phishing emails and unknowingly executing malware. Educate employees on the importance of remaining vigilant and bring real-life cybersecurity scenarios to them by conducting a phishing campaign or a physical security penetration test. Real-life training is the best way to prepare and protect your staff against data breaches.
Worst Case Scenario, You’re Hacked
In a breach, deploying a quick and well-tested action plan is crucial. A developed and tested incident response plan is vital to successfully mitigating the harmful effects of a data breach. Practicing your incident response plan will help you identify what can be automated, who and what needs to be deployed and when. In addition, action plans must be practiced to ensure everyone knows their role and responsibilities during a breach. Handling data breaches is stressful, and proper planning will lead to efficient and precise decision-making. Another advantage of testing, it allows for continuous improvement. New threats constantly emerge against the network’s attack surface, and frequent testing will enable the incident recovery plan to maintain relevance.
Backup and recovery data solutions are a simple but often forgotten piece of the cybersecurity response. Data should be backed up and stored securely, quickly and effectively. To mitigate potential threats while maintaining operational efficiency, a triage tree must be used to determine the minimum level of deactivation required in worst-case scenarios. A triage tree ensures that devices are only deactivated to the necessary extent. In addition, part of the incident recovery plan is reporting to the appropriate agency within the specified time frame. Reporting will vary based on the country, state, and compliance standards associated with each business.
Conclusion
Whether you are dealing with sensitive customer information, intellectual property or credit card transactions, it is your responsibility as a cybersecurity professional to safeguard the company’s data. As cybercrime continues to increase, it is crucial to have a plan to prepare, protect and deploy measures to mitigate or avoid data loss. By implementing a comprehensive security plan, businesses can stay ahead of the game and protect their valuable assets from potential threats. In addition, with the proper preparation and action plan, organizations can minimize data breach damage and continue to operate smoothly. Therefore, it is imperative to take a proactive and persistent approach toward data security to safeguard your organization’s critical information from cybercriminals.
