Cyber Ready

The cyber world is an ever-changing landscape. It’s a place where people are constantly trying to get their hands on your data, and businesses need to be prepared for the onslaught of attacks that come with it. This is one of the reasons why cyber readiness has become an important topic in the private and public sector.  

This blog post will explore what you can do now so that your company is ready when the next attack comes around! 

I’m sure you heard about the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requiring federal agencies to have cyber resilience plans in order to protect essential functions and information from cyber threats, and about the Executive Order focused on improving cybersecurity nationwide. These are all great steps to get organizations where they need to be with cyber readiness.  

The private sector also shows signs of knowing how important it is to be cyber ready when we learn from PwC’s 24th Annual CEO Survey that CEO’s in the US consider cyber threats a number-one concern and that CEO’s globally consider it a number-two concern. 

Let’s start with what cyber ready entails  

In order to be cyber ready, companies need a cyber resilience strategy and the will to execute it.  

Cyber ready doesn’t mean promising that your organization will not be breached; that’s a promise no CEO can make or necessarily keep, unfortunately.  

However, what cyber ready does mean, is that you secure the infrastructure your organization’s sustainable growth depends on and that you are ready to respond quickly and protect your stakeholders’ interests when the inevitable breach happens. 

There are many ways for companies and organizations to protect themselves from cyber threats and it always starts with CEOs putting money where it is needed to get the most optimal results for everyone involved. 

What steps you want to take to be cyber ready 

Add cybersecurity to your company’s list of business operational and emergency procedures. This includes, at the very least:  

• Having a process in place for how you and other employees are notified about data breaches. 
• Knowing which emails or communications should be considered sensitive (and if any need to remain secret). 
• Knowing what kind of information needs encrypted protection on devices—both hard drives and email messages—or when it is stored online. 
• Understanding whether you have vulnerabilities that could leave your systems open to attack. 

Ensure all staff members, executives included, receive cybersecurity training. You can opt for micro-learning cyber awareness training or the support of the IT department.  

Ideally, having both options available is your best bet because you can provide extra support after the micro-learning cyber awareness training, and it also aids those people who learn best with somebody showing them the way.  

Also be sure to cover topics like phishing scams, malware attacks, spoofing, and social engineering schemes. Employees must also be trained on not clicking links they don’t recognize as well as avoiding sending confidential files over unsecured networks. 

Set up your governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) strategy 

GRC gives you a structured approach that aligns IT with business objectives, while effectively managing risk and meeting compliance requirements. This means you are meeting regulations for your industry and therefore going to avoid fines. It also means you will be prepared if breach happens to effectively respond (incident response and business continuity plans are established with your GRC strategy). 

Setting up your GRC strategy also includes the first step in cyber readiness, which is to take an inventory of the data and information assets that need protection. This can be done by mapping all networks, servers, databases, applications, and other IT resources. Once mapped out you will have a complete picture of which devices are generating or storing sensitive data for your organization as well as where these devices reside on your network.  

Next create policies around what people within the company may do with this information (i.e., who has access to it). These guidelines should include provisions for when somebody leaves the company or changes positions and so they no longer need such high levels of authorization over certain types of sensitive data. 

A well-planned GRC strategy improves decision-making, allows your business to make more optimal IT investments, it eliminates silos, and reduces fragmentation among divisions and departments. 

NCX Group can get you cyber ready 

If you need support for getting cyber ready and ensuring your business is always protected to the best of your ability from cyber threats, give us a call. 

Our security experts are ready to help you with your cyber resilience strategy, setting up your GRC strategy and implementing it, as well as cyber awareness training for your remote workforce and hybrid workforce, executives and the board included. 

Keep your company safe from cyber threats by being cyber ready today. Schedule your free consultation! 

Photo courtesy of wavebreakmedia