InTegriLogic Blog

Your business’ cybersecurity posture must prioritize detection, evaluation and mitigation of risks posed by your supply chain. It is vital that your security is upgraded on a regular basis to better prepare for any worst-case scenarios.

Having said that, it should come as no surprise that a vulnerable third party that your organization deals with can weaken your supply chain as well. Although controlling a third party’s cybersecurity can be challenging, it must be taken seriously since a security compromise at their end could put your business at risk.

Always remember that no matter how secure you think you are, dealing with an unsecure vendor can severely damage your business’ reputation and financial position.

 

Recommended Security Practices

Prevention is always better than cure, especially when you are managing data, systems, software and networks. By proactively adopting best practices, it is certainly possible to enhance your supply chain’s security. Some of these practices include:

 

• Security Awareness Training: You must educate all employees about how even a minor mistake on their part could severely compromise security. Since employees are usually the first line of defense against cyberattacks, it is important that they are given adequate training to identify and avoid any potential threats. Drafting and implementing an effective security awareness training program should not be a one-time affair. It should take place at regular intervals to ensure all stakeholders are on the same page.
• Data Classification: Data classification enables you to identify data, segment it according to its worth and assign security to each type of data. The bottom line is that if you do not know your data thoroughly — especially the data that rests in your supply chain — you will struggle immensely at securing it.
• Access Control: Enabling an access control gateway lets only verified users access your business data, including users that are part of your supply chain. With robust authentication and authorization protocols in place, you can minimize the chances of sensitive data getting compromised. While authentication verifies whether the user is who they claim to be, authorization verifies whether a user has access to a particular type of data. Hence, both hold equal importance when implementing a robust access control strategy.
• Monitoring: Given the invasive and inevitable nature of security threats, a brisk reaction time is fundamental to the effectiveness of your supply chain security. Hence, automated and consistent monitoring is vital for quick detection and response to an attack. You must gather and dissect relevant data to recognize suspicious activity or dubious system changes within your organization. You can pre-define acceptable behavior on the monitoring system, and if breached, the system will trigger an alert.
• Endpoint Protection: Endpoint protection ensures that end-user gadgets are protected against nefarious cybercriminals. Cybercriminals are getting more adept at identifying the most vulnerable point within your network. In most cases, it turns out to be an end-user device on your network or even devices on your third-party partner’s network. Therefore, securing endpoints is crucial to reinforcing the security of your business and your supply chain.
• Patch Management: Security gaps left wide open due to inept patch management can leave your business vulnerable to cyberattacks. Whenever a new patch gets delivered, it is essential you deploy it immediately. Failing to do so could give cybercriminals a clear passage to circumvent your defenses.
• Routine Scanning: Routine vulnerability scanning is a coordinated process to test, recognize, examine and reveal potential security threats (internal and external). Automating these scans so they are conducted accurately and regularly without investing a lot of time and effort will work wonders.
• Network Segmentation: Once you dissect your business’ network or segment it into smaller units, you can control movement of data between segments and secure each segment from one another. Moreover, automating the process can help you smartly restrict suspicious entities (both internal and external) from gaining access to vital information or data.
• Managed Detection and Response: MDR is an economically feasible service that helps you with in-depth threat detection and response. Threat hunting, which is part of this service, helps you with deep research and analysis of vulnerabilities, thus allowing you to deal strategically with cyberthreats.

 

Adopt These Best Practices Before It’s Too Late

When it comes to supply chain security, the best practices mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg of what you should do to avoid security incidents. Enlisting the help of an MSP can help you stay ahead of the curve since they have the experience and expertise to shore up your business’ security.

Drop us an email to know more about safeguarding your supply chain from looming cyberthreats.

 
 
 
Article curated and used by permission.

Your business’ cybersecurity posture must prioritize detection, evaluation and mitigation of risks posed by your supply chain. It is vital that your security is upgraded on a regular basis to better prepare for any worst-case scenarios.

Having said that, it should come as no surprise that a vulnerable third party that your organization deals with can weaken your supply chain as well. Although controlling a third party’s cybersecurity can be challenging, it must be taken seriously since a security compromise at their end could put your business at risk.

Always remember that no matter how secure you think you are, dealing with an unsecure vendor can severely damage your business’ reputation and financial position.

 

Recommended Security Practices

Prevention is always better than cure, especially when you are managing data, systems, software and networks. By proactively adopting best practices, it is certainly possible to enhance your supply chain’s security. Some of these practices include:

 

• Security Awareness Training: You must educate all employees about how even a minor mistake on their part could severely compromise security. Since employees are usually the first line of defense against cyberattacks, it is important that they are given adequate training to identify and avoid any potential threats. Drafting and implementing an effective security awareness training program should not be a one-time affair. It should take place at regular intervals to ensure all stakeholders are on the same page.
• Data Classification: Data classification enables you to identify data, segment it according to its worth and assign security to each type of data. The bottom line is that if you do not know your data thoroughly — especially the data that rests in your supply chain — you will struggle immensely at securing it.
• Access Control: Enabling an access control gateway lets only verified users access your business data, including users that are part of your supply chain. With robust authentication and authorization protocols in place, you can minimize the chances of sensitive data getting compromised. While authentication verifies whether the user is who they claim to be, authorization verifies whether a user has access to a particular type of data. Hence, both hold equal importance when implementing a robust access control strategy.
• Monitoring: Given the invasive and inevitable nature of security threats, a brisk reaction time is fundamental to the effectiveness of your supply chain security. Hence, automated and consistent monitoring is vital for quick detection and response to an attack. You must gather and dissect relevant data to recognize suspicious activity or dubious system changes within your organization. You can pre-define acceptable behavior on the monitoring system, and if breached, the system will trigger an alert.
• Endpoint Protection: Endpoint protection ensures that end-user gadgets are protected against nefarious cybercriminals. Cybercriminals are getting more adept at identifying the most vulnerable point within your network. In most cases, it turns out to be an end-user device on your network or even devices on your third-party partner’s network. Therefore, securing endpoints is crucial to reinforcing the security of your business and your supply chain.
• Patch Management: Security gaps left wide open due to inept patch management can leave your business vulnerable to cyberattacks. Whenever a new patch gets delivered, it is essential you deploy it immediately. Failing to do so could give cybercriminals a clear passage to circumvent your defenses.
• Routine Scanning: Routine vulnerability scanning is a coordinated process to test, recognize, examine and reveal potential security threats (internal and external). Automating these scans so they are conducted accurately and regularly without investing a lot of time and effort will work wonders.
• Network Segmentation: Once you dissect your business’ network or segment it into smaller units, you can control movement of data between segments and secure each segment from one another. Moreover, automating the process can help you smartly restrict suspicious entities (both internal and external) from gaining access to vital information or data.
• Managed Detection and Response: MDR is an economically feasible service that helps you with in-depth threat detection and response. Threat hunting, which is part of this service, helps you with deep research and analysis of vulnerabilities, thus allowing you to deal strategically with cyberthreats.

 

Adopt These Best Practices Before It’s Too Late

When it comes to supply chain security, the best practices mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg of what you should do to avoid security incidents. Enlisting the help of an MSP can help you stay ahead of the curve since they have the experience and expertise to shore up your business’ security.

Drop us an email to know more about safeguarding your supply chain from looming cyberthreats.

      Article curated and used by permission.

Digital transformation has made many things easier for businesses, right from inventory management and order processing to managing financials. On the flip side, however, it has also made companies more vulnerable to cyberattacks and data breaches. A breach occurring anywhere in the supply chain could end up seriously disrupting your operations. So, how do you safeguard your business against these threats?

Deploying a bunch of security solutions within your company is not enough. For starters, it can’t guarantee the prevention of human errors and insider threats, which are major causes of data breaches. Besides that, it doesn’t exactly address the weak links in your supply chain. Global supply chains have grown vast and complex, making it virtually impossible to pinpoint failure points or completely avoid risks.

In other words, it is time to stop considering cybersecurity and data protection as just a technology problem that exists within your organization. The scope is much, much larger. It is also a people, process and knowledge/awareness problem that extends to your entire supply chain. That means your preventive and corrective measures should proactively address risks within your supply chain.

Let's take a look at some key strategies and controls that can help you effectively manage and avoid supply chain risks effectively.

 

Make Supply Chain Security a Part of Governance

Addressing supply chain risks on an ad hoc basis will only create ambiguity and chaos. Instead, you need to make it a part of your security activities and policies. This way, employees will know how to coordinate with third-party organizations and what kind of security activities must be undertaken.

 

Supply chain cybersecurity strategy best practices include:

• Defining who is responsible for holding vendors and suppliers accountable
• Creating a security checklist for vendor and supplier selection
• Specifying how to evaluate and monitor suppliers’ cybersecurity practices and how often
• Setting up a mechanism for measuring performance and progress

 

Take Compliance Seriously

With cyberattacks and data breaches increasing and impacting more people than ever before, the emergence of numerous compliance regulations has come to the forefront. For instance, if you are part of the defense industrial base, you must be Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) compliant. There are many more out there, such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc., each applicable to a particular industry or specific focus area.

In most cases, to prove and maintain compliance, companies must undergo several detailed assessments, produce different reports and documentation, implement certain best practices and more. You can avoid weak links in your supply chain by making compliance with these regulations mandatory for your vendors.

Besides that, you need to ensure your business remains compliant with laws applicable to you as well. Not only does it strengthen your cybersecurity and data protection posture, but these regulations also act as a guide for everyone on your team to follow. Since these regulations are often updated, it ensures the measures you take align with industry standards.

 

Deploy Comprehensive and Layered Security Systems Internally

Threat prediction is virtually impossible if you have a large number of third-party vendors. The attack surface is massive, making it almost impossible to guard against. What you need is comprehensive and layered security.

It is a more holistic approach, where each layer of your IT infrastructure is protected by a series of different solutions that make up for each other's vulnerabilities. So, even if your firewall fails to defend an attack vector, you still have multiple layers of defense protecting your data, including antivirus, access control, intrusion prevention systems and data encryption.

The layered approach to security also calls for regular training and testing of your employees since they are usually your first line of defense. For instance, if your team knows how to identify a phishing email, your data won't be compromised even if your phishing filter fails.

By not relying on any one solution to protect your sensitive data and files, you disrupt the cyber kill chain. This will allow you to prevent, detect and respond to cybersecurity risks more effectively.

 

Adopt and Enforce International IT and Data Security Standards

Because modern supply chains are so interconnected, you have to interact and collaborate with your vendors constantly. This means vast amounts of data are exchanged, including sensitive customer information such as medical records, PII and financial data. The data must be stored securely (with continuous monitoring and real-time alerting) and access to it must be regulated.

But how do you guarantee this? By adopting and enforcing international IT and data security standards such as GDPR and HIPAA. These standards ensure companies keep track of the sensitive data they acquire, produce it when challenged and have implemented adequate measures to secure the data. Besides that, when selecting a SaaS vendor, you should find out if they are SOC 2 or ISO27001 compliant. This indicates that the vendor is securing information as per industry standards.

 

Wrapping Up

With supply chains becoming more interconnected and smarter, now is the time to identify and secure weak links in your supply chain. Collaborate with your partners, find out potential vulnerabilities and compliance violations, and work together to mitigate those risks.

To find out how to deploy layered security and how you can secure your data while staying compliant with regulations, contact us now.

 
 
 
Article curated and used by permission.
Data Sources:

• https://prolink.insure/the-cybersecurity-stats-you-should-know-in-2020/
• https://www.idwatchdog.com/insider-threats-and-data-breaches/

 

Digital transformation has made many things easier for businesses, right from inventory management and order processing to managing financials. On the flip side, however, it has also made companies more vulnerable to cyberattacks and data breaches. A breach occurring anywhere in the supply chain could end up seriously disrupting your operations. So, how do you safeguard your business against these threats?

Deploying a bunch of security solutions within your company is not enough. For starters, it can’t guarantee the prevention of human errors and insider threats, which are major causes of data breaches. Besides that, it doesn’t exactly address the weak links in your supply chain. Global supply chains have grown vast and complex, making it virtually impossible to pinpoint failure points or completely avoid risks.

In other words, it is time to stop considering cybersecurity and data protection as just a technology problem that exists within your organization. The scope is much, much larger. It is also a people, process and knowledge/awareness problem that extends to your entire supply chain. That means your preventive and corrective measures should proactively address risks within your supply chain.

Let's take a look at some key strategies and controls that can help you effectively manage and avoid supply chain risks effectively.

 

Make Supply Chain Security a Part of Governance

Addressing supply chain risks on an ad hoc basis will only create ambiguity and chaos. Instead, you need to make it a part of your security activities and policies. This way, employees will know how to coordinate with third-party organizations and what kind of security activities must be undertaken.

 

Supply chain cybersecurity strategy best practices include:

• Defining who is responsible for holding vendors and suppliers accountable
• Creating a security checklist for vendor and supplier selection
• Specifying how to evaluate and monitor suppliers’ cybersecurity practices and how often
• Setting up a mechanism for measuring performance and progress

 

Take Compliance Seriously

With cyberattacks and data breaches increasing and impacting more people than ever before, the emergence of numerous compliance regulations has come to the forefront. For instance, if you are part of the defense industrial base, you must be Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) compliant. There are many more out there, such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc., each applicable to a particular industry or specific focus area.

In most cases, to prove and maintain compliance, companies must undergo several detailed assessments, produce different reports and documentation, implement certain best practices and more. You can avoid weak links in your supply chain by making compliance with these regulations mandatory for your vendors.

Besides that, you need to ensure your business remains compliant with laws applicable to you as well. Not only does it strengthen your cybersecurity and data protection posture, but these regulations also act as a guide for everyone on your team to follow. Since these regulations are often updated, it ensures the measures you take align with industry standards.

 

Deploy Comprehensive and Layered Security Systems Internally

Threat prediction is virtually impossible if you have a large number of third-party vendors. The attack surface is massive, making it almost impossible to guard against. What you need is comprehensive and layered security.

It is a more holistic approach, where each layer of your IT infrastructure is protected by a series of different solutions that make up for each other's vulnerabilities. So, even if your firewall fails to defend an attack vector, you still have multiple layers of defense protecting your data, including antivirus, access control, intrusion prevention systems and data encryption.

The layered approach to security also calls for regular training and testing of your employees since they are usually your first line of defense. For instance, if your team knows how to identify a phishing email, your data won't be compromised even if your phishing filter fails.

By not relying on any one solution to protect your sensitive data and files, you disrupt the cyber kill chain. This will allow you to prevent, detect and respond to cybersecurity risks more effectively.

 

Adopt and Enforce International IT and Data Security Standards

Because modern supply chains are so interconnected, you have to interact and collaborate with your vendors constantly. This means vast amounts of data are exchanged, including sensitive customer information such as medical records, PII and financial data. The data must be stored securely (with continuous monitoring and real-time alerting) and access to it must be regulated.

But how do you guarantee this? By adopting and enforcing international IT and data security standards such as GDPR and HIPAA. These standards ensure companies keep track of the sensitive data they acquire, produce it when challenged and have implemented adequate measures to secure the data. Besides that, when selecting a SaaS vendor, you should find out if they are SOC 2 or ISO27001 compliant. This indicates that the vendor is securing information as per industry standards.

 

Wrapping Up

With supply chains becoming more interconnected and smarter, now is the time to identify and secure weak links in your supply chain. Collaborate with your partners, find out potential vulnerabilities and compliance violations, and work together to mitigate those risks.

To find out how to deploy layered security and how you can secure your data while staying compliant with regulations, contact us now.

      Article curated and used by permission. Data Sources:

• https://prolink.insure/the-cybersecurity-stats-you-should-know-in-2020/
• https://www.idwatchdog.com/insider-threats-and-data-breaches/

 

Insider threats are among the most dangerous cyberthreats out there. Yet, organizations of all sizes seem to be either reluctant or negligent when it comes to fighting them. Over 50 percent of organizations don’t have an Insider Risk Response Plan and 40 percent don’t assess how effectively their technologies mitigate insider threats.¹ Even though 59 percent of IT security leaders expect insider risks to increase in the next two years, very little is being done to prevent them from causing serious security incidents.

With the threat growing bigger by the minute, disaster could strike at any time. If you still aren’t worried, just remember that the average time to identify and contain a data breach is 280 days. This should give you an idea of the possible damage a single data breach could cause to your business.

This brief article will attempt to throw some light on the types of insider threats you must detect and mitigate, the damage they could cause, the user attributes that increase these risks, and the security controls you should implement to prevent and reduce these threats.

 

Understanding Insider Threats

Simply put, an employee or contractor who wittingly or unwittingly uses his/her authorized access to cause harm to your business is considered an insider threat. The Ponemon Institute’s Global Cost of Insider Threats Report 2020 lists three types of insider threats:

• A careless or negligent employee or contractor who unwittingly lets a hacker access your business’ network. Over 60 percent of incidents in 2020 were related to negligence.
• A criminal or malicious insider who abuses his or her privileged access to your business’ network to either steal or exfiltrate sensitive data for financial gain or plain old revenge. Criminal insiders were involved in 23 percent of breaches in 2020.
• A credential thief who poses as an employee or a contractor to gain access to sensitive data and then compromise the data for financial gain. Credential theft led to 14 percent of breaches in 2020.

The Serious Damage Insider Threats Can Cause

Even a single security breach caused by an insider threat can result in serious damage to your business in the following ways:

• Theft of sensitive data: Valuable data such as customer information or trade secrets could be exposed following a breach — an ordeal Marriott International survived in early 2020. Hackers abused a third-party application used by Marriott for providing guest services, to gain access to 5.2 million records of Marriott guests.
• Induced downtime: The downtime following a breach impacts your business in more ways than one. As mentioned earlier, it can take a long time for you to ascertain the details of a breach and then control the damage. This period can drain your business resources like it did to a company in the UK who had to eventually shut shop after a disgruntled employee deleted 5,000 documents from its Dropbox account.
• Destruction of property: A malicious insider could cause damage to physical or digital equipment, systems or applications, or even information assets. A former Cisco employee gained unauthorized access to the company’s cloud infrastructure and deleted 456 virtual machines, jeopardizing the access of 16,000 users of Cisco WebEx. The tech major had to shell out $2.4 million to fix the damage and pay restitution to the affected users.
• Damage to reputation: This is a guaranteed consequence of a security breach. Should you suffer a breach, investors, partners and clients may immediately lose confidence in your business’ ability to protect personal information, trade secrets or other sensitive data.

User Attributes That Aggravate Insider Threats

The likelihood of a security breach caused by an insider could be significantly increased due to:

• Excessive access provided to several users in the form of unnecessary permissions or admin rights
• Haphazard allocation of rights to install or delete hardware, software and users
• Usage of weak login credentials and bad password hygiene practices by the users
• Users that act as a single point of failure since no one keeps their access under check (a phenomenon common with the CEO fraud)

 

Building a Resilient Defense Against Insider Threats

As a business, you can undertake a list of security measures to build a resilient defense against insider threats as part of a proactive defense strategy rather than a reactive one. Some of the immediate measures you can take include:

• Assessment and audit of all systems: Direct your IT team to assess and audit every system, data asset and user in order to identify insider threats and document it thoroughly for further action.
• Restriction of access and permission controls: Not every employee needs to have access to every piece of data. You must review and limit unnecessary user access privileges, permissions and rights.
• Mandatory security awareness training for all users: This measure is non-negotiable. Every user on your network must be trained thoroughly on cyberthreats, especially insider threats, and on how to spot early warning signs exhibited by potential insider threats such as:
  
  • Downloading or accessing substantial amounts of data
• Accessing sensitive data not associated with the employee’s job function or unique behavioral profile
• Raising multiple requests for access to resources not associated with the employee’s job function
  
  • Attempting to bypass security controls and safeguards
• Violating corporate policies repeatedly
• Staying in office during off-hours unnecessarily
• Enforcement of strict password policies and procedures: You must repeatedly encourage all users to follow strict password guidelines and ensure optimal password hygiene.
• Enhancement of user authentication: Deploy enhanced user authentication methods, such as two-factor authentication (2FA) and multi-factor authentication (MFA), to ensure only the right users access the right data securely.
• Determining ‘baseline’ user behavior: Devise and implement a policy to determine ‘baseline’ user behavior related to access and activity, either based on the job function or the user. Do not be counted among the 56 percent of security teams that lack historical context into user behavior.
• Ongoing monitoring to detect anomalies: Put in place a strategy and measures that will identify and detect abnormal/anomalous behaviors or actions based on ‘baseline’ behaviors and parameters.

 
Detecting insider threats and building a robust defense strategy against them can be a tough task for most businesses, irrespective of size. Unfortunately, the longer you wait, the greater the chance of a security lapse costing your business its entire future.

 
However, you certainly shouldn’t hesitate to ask for help. The right MSP partner can help you assess your current security posture, determine potential insider threats to your business, fortify your cybersecurity infrastructure and secure your business-critical data.

 
It may seem like a tedious process, but that’s why we’re here to take all the hassle way and ensure your peace of mind remains intact throughout this fight. All you have to do is shoot us an email and we’ll take it from there.

 
 
 
 
Article curated and used by permission.
 
  
Data Sources:

• Ponemon Data Exposure Report 2021 by Code42
• Ponemon Cost of a Data Breach 2020 Report 2020
• https://www.ekransystem.com/en/blog/real-life-examples-insider-threat-caused-breaches
• https://northyorkshire.police.uk/news/businesswoman-sentenced/
• https://www.ekransystem.com/en/blog/real-life-examples-insider-threat-caused-breaches

Insider threats are among the most dangerous cyberthreats out there. Yet, organizations of all sizes seem to be either reluctant or negligent when it comes to fighting them. Over 50 percent of organizations don’t have an Insider Risk Response Plan and 40 percent don’t assess how effectively their technologies mitigate insider threats.¹ Even though 59 percent of IT security leaders expect insider risks to increase in the next two years, very little is being done to prevent them from causing serious security incidents.

With the threat growing bigger by the minute, disaster could strike at any time. If you still aren’t worried, just remember that the average time to identify and contain a data breach is 280 days. This should give you an idea of the possible damage a single data breach could cause to your business.

This brief article will attempt to throw some light on the types of insider threats you must detect and mitigate, the damage they could cause, the user attributes that increase these risks, and the security controls you should implement to prevent and reduce these threats.

 

Understanding Insider Threats

Simply put, an employee or contractor who wittingly or unwittingly uses his/her authorized access to cause harm to your business is considered an insider threat. The Ponemon Institute’s Global Cost of Insider Threats Report 2020 lists three types of insider threats:

• A careless or negligent employee or contractor who unwittingly lets a hacker access your business’ network. Over 60 percent of incidents in 2020 were related to negligence.
• A criminal or malicious insider who abuses his or her privileged access to your business’ network to either steal or exfiltrate sensitive data for financial gain or plain old revenge. Criminal insiders were involved in 23 percent of breaches in 2020.
• A credential thief who poses as an employee or a contractor to gain access to sensitive data and then compromise the data for financial gain. Credential theft led to 14 percent of breaches in 2020.

The Serious Damage Insider Threats Can Cause

Even a single security breach caused by an insider threat can result in serious damage to your business in the following ways:

• Theft of sensitive data: Valuable data such as customer information or trade secrets could be exposed following a breach — an ordeal Marriott International survived in early 2020. Hackers abused a third-party application used by Marriott for providing guest services, to gain access to 5.2 million records of Marriott guests.
• Induced downtime: The downtime following a breach impacts your business in more ways than one. As mentioned earlier, it can take a long time for you to ascertain the details of a breach and then control the damage. This period can drain your business resources like it did to a company in the UK who had to eventually shut shop after a disgruntled employee deleted 5,000 documents from its Dropbox account.
• Destruction of property: A malicious insider could cause damage to physical or digital equipment, systems or applications, or even information assets. A former Cisco employee gained unauthorized access to the company’s cloud infrastructure and deleted 456 virtual machines, jeopardizing the access of 16,000 users of Cisco WebEx. The tech major had to shell out $2.4 million to fix the damage and pay restitution to the affected users.
• Damage to reputation: This is a guaranteed consequence of a security breach. Should you suffer a breach, investors, partners and clients may immediately lose confidence in your business’ ability to protect personal information, trade secrets or other sensitive data.

User Attributes That Aggravate Insider Threats

The likelihood of a security breach caused by an insider could be significantly increased due to:

• Excessive access provided to several users in the form of unnecessary permissions or admin rights
• Haphazard allocation of rights to install or delete hardware, software and users
• Usage of weak login credentials and bad password hygiene practices by the users
• Users that act as a single point of failure since no one keeps their access under check (a phenomenon common with the CEO fraud)

 

Building a Resilient Defense Against Insider Threats

As a business, you can undertake a list of security measures to build a resilient defense against insider threats as part of a proactive defense strategy rather than a reactive one. Some of the immediate measures you can take include:

• Assessment and audit of all systems: Direct your IT team to assess and audit every system, data asset and user in order to identify insider threats and document it thoroughly for further action.
• Restriction of access and permission controls: Not every employee needs to have access to every piece of data. You must review and limit unnecessary user access privileges, permissions and rights.
• Mandatory security awareness training for all users: This measure is non-negotiable. Every user on your network must be trained thoroughly on cyberthreats, especially insider threats, and on how to spot early warning signs exhibited by potential insider threats such as:
  • Downloading or accessing substantial amounts of data
• Accessing sensitive data not associated with the employee’s job function or unique behavioral profile
• Raising multiple requests for access to resources not associated with the employee’s job function
  • Attempting to bypass security controls and safeguards
• Violating corporate policies repeatedly
• Staying in office during off-hours unnecessarily
• Enforcement of strict password policies and procedures: You must repeatedly encourage all users to follow strict password guidelines and ensure optimal password hygiene.
• Enhancement of user authentication: Deploy enhanced user authentication methods, such as two-factor authentication (2FA) and multi-factor authentication (MFA), to ensure only the right users access the right data securely.
• Determining ‘baseline’ user behavior: Devise and implement a policy to determine ‘baseline’ user behavior related to access and activity, either based on the job function or the user. Do not be counted among the 56 percent of security teams that lack historical context into user behavior.
• Ongoing monitoring to detect anomalies: Put in place a strategy and measures that will identify and detect abnormal/anomalous behaviors or actions based on ‘baseline’ behaviors and parameters.

  Detecting insider threats and building a robust defense strategy against them can be a tough task for most businesses, irrespective of size. Unfortunately, the longer you wait, the greater the chance of a security lapse costing your business its entire future.

  However, you certainly shouldn’t hesitate to ask for help. The right MSP partner can help you assess your current security posture, determine potential insider threats to your business, fortify your cybersecurity infrastructure and secure your business-critical data.

  It may seem like a tedious process, but that’s why we’re here to take all the hassle way and ensure your peace of mind remains intact throughout this fight. All you have to do is shoot us an email and we’ll take it from there.

        Article curated and used by permission.      Data Sources:

• Ponemon Data Exposure Report 2021 by Code42
• Ponemon Cost of a Data Breach 2020 Report 2020
• https://www.ekransystem.com/en/blog/real-life-examples-insider-threat-caused-breaches
• https://northyorkshire.police.uk/news/businesswoman-sentenced/
• https://www.ekransystem.com/en/blog/real-life-examples-insider-threat-caused-breaches

The year 2020 witnessed an unprecedented onslaught of cybersecurity threats across the world as the global workforce underwent a forced transition to remote working. However, not all cybersecurity threats come from the outside. In a study conducted by Bitglass, 61 percent of businesses surveyed reported at least one insider-related cybersecurity incident in the last year. This could be anything from negligent employees who lack cybersecurity training to rogue employees who facilitate a breach for personal gain.

Considering the increasing frequency of insider threats and the severity of data breaches resulting from them, it goes without saying that all organizations need to take proactive steps to combat this serious security risk.

Before taking any preventative security measures, it is necessary to understand who causes these risks and why. In this blog, we’ll discuss all aspects of insider threats including the motivations behind them, potential actors, primary targets, consequences and more.

 Actors Behind Insider Threats

Anyone with access to critical information can pose a potential insider threat if the information is unknowingly or maliciously misused, resulting in a data breach. Businesses need to identify these actors if they want to curb insider threats effectively.

Insider threat types can be classified as follows:

• Negligent insiders – This may include careless executives or employees with access to privileged information. These insiders don’t have any motivation – money or otherwise. They are simply careless in their actions or may have fallen victim to a scam. For instance, in one particular incident involving an apparel manufacturer, a careless employee clicking one phishing link from his laptop was enough to compromise the entire network.
• Malicious insiders – These are insiders who intentionally abuse their credentials for personal gain. These actors have an advantage over external attackers since they have access to privileged information and are aware of the security loopholes. They may be motivated by monetary gain or may have a personal vendetta against the company.
• Contractors or vendors – Sometimes, even third-party vendors and contractors who have temporary access to an organization’s IT network can cause a data breach. The motivation in this case could also be money or vengeance. The US Army Reserves payroll system was once targeted in a similar attack, where a contractor who lost his contract activated a logic bomb to create a delay in delivering paychecks.

 

Motivations Behind Malicious Insider Threats

Malicious insiders are usually motivated by one or more of the following reasons:

• Money or greed – Most cases of non-negligent insider threats are motivated by money and personal financial gain. A greedy insider with access to restricted information is most often the culprit in this case. For example, two employees of General Electric stole the company’s intellectual property about calibrating turbines and started a competing firm with this information. After years of investigation, they were convicted in 2020.
• Revenge – Another familiar reason for insider threats involves revenge. Disgruntled employees, who believe they have been wronged by the company they once worked for, are usually behind this type of threat. In August 2020, a disgruntled former employee of Cisco deleted hundreds of virtual machines and caused about $1.4 million in damages to the company.
• Espionage – Many large organizations across the world have been victims of economic espionage from competing firms. This is mainly done to gain a competitive advantage in the market. A state-owned Chinese enterprise perpetrated espionage against American semi-conductor firm Micron by sending compromised insiders and stole valuable trade secrets.
• Strategic advantage – Intellectual property theft against large corporations is most often a result of trying to gain a strategic advantage in the market. Korean smartphone giant Samsung became a victim recently when its blueprint for bendable screen technology was stolen by its supplier.
• Political or ideological – There have been many documented cases of insider threats motivated by political or ideological factors. These cases often concern national pride or revenge against another nation for the attack.

 

Why Insider Threats Are Dangerous

Insider threats often have a massive impact on your data, primary assets and your bottom line. On top of it all, these threats are often hard to detect and contain. A study by the Ponemon Institute estimates that it takes 77 days on average to contain insider threats once detected.

• Targets primary assets: Insider threats often target the primary assets of an organization including proprietary information, product information, business plans, company funds, IT systems and more.
• Results in huge costs: The same study by the Ponemon Institute estimated that the average cost of insider threats has increased 31 percent to $11.45 million in the last two years. These costs include downtime losses, loss of business transactions, loss of business opportunities and more.

 

Don’t Wait to Protect Your Business

Although the consequences of insider threats may be disastrous, you don’t have to face this problem alone. If you are wondering how you can mitigate these threats and prevent losses, we’ve got you covered. Reach out to us today to understand the different ways by which you can build a resilient cybersecurity posture against insider threats.

 
 
 
Article curated and used by permission.
 
 
Data Sources:

 

• Bitglass 2020 Insider Threat Report
• https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-one-hacked-laptop-led-to-an-entire-network-being-compromised/
• https://www.theregister.com/2017/09/22/it_contractor_logic_bombed_army_payroll
• https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/two-guilty-in-theft-of-trade-secrets-from-ge-072920
• https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/ex-cisco-engineer-pleads-guilty-in-insider-threat-case-a-14917
• https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/prc-state-owned-company-taiwan-company-and-three-individuals-charged-economic-espionage
• https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-tech-theft/index.html
• IBM Cost of Insider Threats: Global Report 2020

The year 2020 witnessed an unprecedented onslaught of cybersecurity threats across the world as the global workforce underwent a forced transition to remote working. However, not all cybersecurity threats come from the outside. In a study conducted by Bitglass, 61 percent of businesses surveyed reported at least one insider-related cybersecurity incident in the last year. This could be anything from negligent employees who lack cybersecurity training to rogue employees who facilitate a breach for personal gain.

Considering the increasing frequency of insider threats and the severity of data breaches resulting from them, it goes without saying that all organizations need to take proactive steps to combat this serious security risk.

Before taking any preventative security measures, it is necessary to understand who causes these risks and why. In this blog, we’ll discuss all aspects of insider threats including the motivations behind them, potential actors, primary targets, consequences and more.

 Actors Behind Insider Threats

Anyone with access to critical information can pose a potential insider threat if the information is unknowingly or maliciously misused, resulting in a data breach. Businesses need to identify these actors if they want to curb insider threats effectively.

Insider threat types can be classified as follows:

• Negligent insiders – This may include careless executives or employees with access to privileged information. These insiders don’t have any motivation – money or otherwise. They are simply careless in their actions or may have fallen victim to a scam. For instance, in one particular incident involving an apparel manufacturer, a careless employee clicking one phishing link from his laptop was enough to compromise the entire network.
• Malicious insiders – These are insiders who intentionally abuse their credentials for personal gain. These actors have an advantage over external attackers since they have access to privileged information and are aware of the security loopholes. They may be motivated by monetary gain or may have a personal vendetta against the company.
• Contractors or vendors – Sometimes, even third-party vendors and contractors who have temporary access to an organization’s IT network can cause a data breach. The motivation in this case could also be money or vengeance. The US Army Reserves payroll system was once targeted in a similar attack, where a contractor who lost his contract activated a logic bomb to create a delay in delivering paychecks.

 

Motivations Behind Malicious Insider Threats

Malicious insiders are usually motivated by one or more of the following reasons:

• Money or greed – Most cases of non-negligent insider threats are motivated by money and personal financial gain. A greedy insider with access to restricted information is most often the culprit in this case. For example, two employees of General Electric stole the company’s intellectual property about calibrating turbines and started a competing firm with this information. After years of investigation, they were convicted in 2020.
• Revenge – Another familiar reason for insider threats involves revenge. Disgruntled employees, who believe they have been wronged by the company they once worked for, are usually behind this type of threat. In August 2020, a disgruntled former employee of Cisco deleted hundreds of virtual machines and caused about $1.4 million in damages to the company.
• Espionage – Many large organizations across the world have been victims of economic espionage from competing firms. This is mainly done to gain a competitive advantage in the market. A state-owned Chinese enterprise perpetrated espionage against American semi-conductor firm Micron by sending compromised insiders and stole valuable trade secrets.
• Strategic advantage – Intellectual property theft against large corporations is most often a result of trying to gain a strategic advantage in the market. Korean smartphone giant Samsung became a victim recently when its blueprint for bendable screen technology was stolen by its supplier.
• Political or ideological – There have been many documented cases of insider threats motivated by political or ideological factors. These cases often concern national pride or revenge against another nation for the attack.

 

Why Insider Threats Are Dangerous

Insider threats often have a massive impact on your data, primary assets and your bottom line. On top of it all, these threats are often hard to detect and contain. A study by the Ponemon Institute estimates that it takes 77 days on average to contain insider threats once detected.

• Targets primary assets: Insider threats often target the primary assets of an organization including proprietary information, product information, business plans, company funds, IT systems and more.
• Results in huge costs: The same study by the Ponemon Institute estimated that the average cost of insider threats has increased 31 percent to $11.45 million in the last two years. These costs include downtime losses, loss of business transactions, loss of business opportunities and more.

 

Don’t Wait to Protect Your Business

Although the consequences of insider threats may be disastrous, you don’t have to face this problem alone. If you are wondering how you can mitigate these threats and prevent losses, we’ve got you covered. Reach out to us today to understand the different ways by which you can build a resilient cybersecurity posture against insider threats.

 
 
 
Article curated and used by permission.
 
 
Data Sources:

 

• Bitglass 2020 Insider Threat Report
• https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-one-hacked-laptop-led-to-an-entire-network-being-compromised/
• https://www.theregister.com/2017/09/22/it_contractor_logic_bombed_army_payroll
• https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/two-guilty-in-theft-of-trade-secrets-from-ge-072920
• https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/ex-cisco-engineer-pleads-guilty-in-insider-threat-case-a-14917
• https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/prc-state-owned-company-taiwan-company-and-three-individuals-charged-economic-espionage
• https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/30/tech/samsung-china-tech-theft/index.html
• IBM Cost of Insider Threats: Global Report 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything about the world as we know it. Just as we started embracing new practices like sanitizing, social distancing and remote working, the pandemic has also forced us to embrace systemic changes in the ways we deal with cyberthreats. In fact, the FBI has reported an increase in cyberattacks to 4,000 per day in 2020, which is 400 percent higher than the attacks reported before the onset of the coronavirus.

Since remote working is here to stay, the trend in increasing cyberattacks is expected to continue well into the future. Moreover,  business technologies are also transforming, attracting more cybercriminals to target business data. In these circumstances, the best solution is to build your cyber resiliency and protect yourself from unforeseen attacks.

Remote Working and Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity has always been a challenge for businesses with sensitive data. A single unexpected breach could wipe out everything and put your existence in question. With the sudden transition to remote working, this challenge has increased manifold for security teams. From the potential safety of the remote working networks to trivial human errors, there are endless ways in which your IT network could be affected when employees are working remotely.

A study by IBM Security has estimated that about 76 percent of companies think responding to a potential data breach during remote working is a much more difficult ordeal. Also, detecting breaches early is another big issue for IT security teams. The same study by IBM has estimated that it takes companies roughly about 197 days to detect a breach and 69 days to contain it. Is your cybersecurity posture good enough to withstand a potential attack?

Threats You Need to Be Aware of

Cyberthreats come in different shapes and forms. From a simple spyware monitoring your network transactions to a full-fledged ransomware attack that holds all your critical data for a ransom, there are multiple ways in which your IT network could be affected. Only when you get the idea of the potential risks surrounding your IT infrastructure, you can build a resilient cybersecurity strategy that enhances your IT environment and keeps vulnerabilities at bay.

Let’s look at some of the common cyberthreats that businesses faced in 2020:

• Phishing scams: Phishing emails still pose a major threat to the digital landscape of many business organizations across the globe. COVID-19 communications have provided the perfect cover for these emails to lure unsuspecting users. By creating a sense of urgency, these emails might persuade your employees to click on malware links that could steal sensitive data or install malicious viruses inside a computer.
• Ransomware: Targeted ransomware attacks are increasing every day. It is estimated that a ransomware attack will happen every 11 seconds in 2021. Ransomware attacks hold an organization’s critical data for a ransom, and millions of dollars are paid to hackers every year as corporates do not want to risk losing their sensitive data. However, there is no guarantee that your files will be secure even after you pay the ransom.
• Cloud Jacking: With the cloud becoming a more sophisticated way of storing data, incidents of cloud jacking has become a serious threat. These attacks are mainly executed in two forms – injecting malicious code into third-party cloud libraries or injecting codes directly to the cloud platforms. As estimated by the 2020 Forcepoint Cybersecurity Predictions, a public cloud vendor is responsible for providing the infrastructure while most of the responsibility concerning data security rests with the users. So, bear in mind, you are mostly responsible for your data security even when it is on the cloud.
• Man-in-the-middle attack: Hackers can insert themselves in a two-party transaction when it happens on a public network. Once they get access, they can filter and steal your data. If your remote working employees use public networks to carry out their official tasks, they are vulnerable to these attacks.
• Distributed Denial-of-Service attack: This attack happens when hackers manipulate your normal web traffic and flood the system with resources and traffic that exhaust the bandwidth. As a result, users will not be able to perform their legitimate tasks. Once the network is clogged, the attacker will be able to send various botnets to the network and manipulate it.

 

Protecting Your Business from Cyberthreats

Security readiness is something all organizations must focus on irrespective of their size. It is mandatory to have an action plan that outlines what needs to be done when something goes wrong. Most importantly, it is critical to have a trusted MSP partner who can continuously monitor your IT infrastructure and give you a heads-up on usual activities.

Investing in cybersecurity solutions is way cheaper than losing your critical data or paying a large ransom. You need to deploy advanced solutions that can keep up with the sophisticated threats of this modern age. Then, there is a list of best practices such as multi-factor authentication, DNS filtering, disk encryption, firewall protection and more.

If all these aspects of cybersecurity sound daunting to you, fret not. Reach out to us today to get a full understanding of the vulnerabilities in your network and how you can safeguard your data with the right tools and techniques.

 
 
 
Article curated and used by permission.
 

Data Sources:

• https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/top-cyber-security-experts-report-4-000-cyber-attacks-a-day-since-covid-19-pandemic-301110157.html#:~:text=Cybercrime%20Statistics%20During%20the%20Pandemic,they%20were%20seeing%20pre%2Dcoronavirus

• IBM 2020 Cost of a Data Breach Report

• https://www.idagent.com/blog/10-2020-ransomware-statistics-that-you-need-to-see/

• 2020 Forcepoint Cybersecurity Predictions and Trends

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everything about the world as we know it. Just as we started embracing new practices like sanitizing, social distancing and remote working, the pandemic has also forced us to embrace systemic changes in the ways we deal with cyberthreats. In fact, the FBI has reported an increase in cyberattacks to 4,000 per day in 2020, which is 400 percent higher than the attacks reported before the onset of the coronavirus.

Since remote working is here to stay, the trend in increasing cyberattacks is expected to continue well into the future. Moreover,  business technologies are also transforming, attracting more cybercriminals to target business data. In these circumstances, the best solution is to build your cyber resiliency and protect yourself from unforeseen attacks.

Remote Working and Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity has always been a challenge for businesses with sensitive data. A single unexpected breach could wipe out everything and put your existence in question. With the sudden transition to remote working, this challenge has increased manifold for security teams. From the potential safety of the remote working networks to trivial human errors, there are endless ways in which your IT network could be affected when employees are working remotely.

A study by IBM Security has estimated that about 76 percent of companies think responding to a potential data breach during remote working is a much more difficult ordeal. Also, detecting breaches early is another big issue for IT security teams. The same study by IBM has estimated that it takes companies roughly about 197 days to detect a breach and 69 days to contain it. Is your cybersecurity posture good enough to withstand a potential attack?

Threats You Need to Be Aware of

Cyberthreats come in different shapes and forms. From a simple spyware monitoring your network transactions to a full-fledged ransomware attack that holds all your critical data for a ransom, there are multiple ways in which your IT network could be affected. Only when you get the idea of the potential risks surrounding your IT infrastructure, you can build a resilient cybersecurity strategy that enhances your IT environment and keeps vulnerabilities at bay.

Let’s look at some of the common cyberthreats that businesses faced in 2020:

• Phishing scams: Phishing emails still pose a major threat to the digital landscape of many business organizations across the globe. COVID-19 communications have provided the perfect cover for these emails to lure unsuspecting users. By creating a sense of urgency, these emails might persuade your employees to click on malware links that could steal sensitive data or install malicious viruses inside a computer.
• Ransomware: Targeted ransomware attacks are increasing every day. It is estimated that a ransomware attack will happen every 11 seconds in 2021. Ransomware attacks hold an organization’s critical data for a ransom, and millions of dollars are paid to hackers every year as corporates do not want to risk losing their sensitive data. However, there is no guarantee that your files will be secure even after you pay the ransom.
• Cloud Jacking: With the cloud becoming a more sophisticated way of storing data, incidents of cloud jacking has become a serious threat. These attacks are mainly executed in two forms – injecting malicious code into third-party cloud libraries or injecting codes directly to the cloud platforms. As estimated by the 2020 Forcepoint Cybersecurity Predictions, a public cloud vendor is responsible for providing the infrastructure while most of the responsibility concerning data security rests with the users. So, bear in mind, you are mostly responsible for your data security even when it is on the cloud.
• Man-in-the-middle attack: Hackers can insert themselves in a two-party transaction when it happens on a public network. Once they get access, they can filter and steal your data. If your remote working employees use public networks to carry out their official tasks, they are vulnerable to these attacks.
• Distributed Denial-of-Service attack: This attack happens when hackers manipulate your normal web traffic and flood the system with resources and traffic that exhaust the bandwidth. As a result, users will not be able to perform their legitimate tasks. Once the network is clogged, the attacker will be able to send various botnets to the network and manipulate it.

 

Protecting Your Business from Cyberthreats

Security readiness is something all organizations must focus on irrespective of their size. It is mandatory to have an action plan that outlines what needs to be done when something goes wrong. Most importantly, it is critical to have a trusted MSP partner who can continuously monitor your IT infrastructure and give you a heads-up on usual activities.

Investing in cybersecurity solutions is way cheaper than losing your critical data or paying a large ransom. You need to deploy advanced solutions that can keep up with the sophisticated threats of this modern age. Then, there is a list of best practices such as multi-factor authentication, DNS filtering, disk encryption, firewall protection and more.

If all these aspects of cybersecurity sound daunting to you, fret not. Reach out to us today to get a full understanding of the vulnerabilities in your network and how you can safeguard your data with the right tools and techniques.

      Article curated and used by permission.  

Data Sources:

• https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/top-cyber-security-experts-report-4-000-cyber-attacks-a-day-since-covid-19-pandemic-301110157.html#:~:text=Cybercrime%20Statistics%20During%20the%20Pandemic,they%20were%20seeing%20pre%2Dcoronavirus

• IBM 2020 Cost of a Data Breach Report

• https://www.idagent.com/blog/10-2020-ransomware-statistics-that-you-need-to-see/

• 2020 Forcepoint Cybersecurity Predictions and Trends

Rapid technological advancement and rising global connectivity is reshaping the way the world is functioning. From higher productivity to improved customer satisfaction, technology has played a critical role in the growth of businesses across the world. However, the consequential bad news is that technological advancements have also made organizations increasingly vulnerable to digital risks. However, this does not mean that businesses must compromise on growth and advancement for the sake of security.

The security challenges within these digital environments can be better addressed if organizations knew how to identify these risks and incorporate preventative security measures and controls, along with proactive solutions and detailed plans, to overcome their digital vulnerabilities. Let us discuss the different types of digital risks you should be looking out for and how you can use this information to get a positive ROI.

Types of Digital Risks

Digital risks are increasing in the business world due to the rapid adoption of new disruptive technologies. These risks are seen in various industries and are more pervasive than cybersecurity risks. On a broader scale, digital risks can be classified into physical, technical and administrative risks.

The following risks are the most prevalent in today’s digital world and should be treated as top priorities for your business:

• Cybersecurity risk: Cyberattacks continue to evolve as businesses become more technology driven. Attacks like ransomware, DDoS, etc., can bring a halt to the normalcy of any business.
• Data privacy risk: As we move forward to a knowledge-based economy, data has become the most valuable commodity in the world. This has resulted in hackers targeting critical business data and misusing them for personal gains.
• Compliance risk: Businesses need to adhere to various regulations regarding data privacy, cybersecurity, organizational standards of practice, etc. Any violation can attract heavy fines and penalties for a business.
• Third-party risk: When you outsource certain services to third parties, it might compromise the security of your IT infrastructure. For instance, a software tool you develop with an external vendor may introduce some vulnerabilities to your otherwise intact digital environment.
• Resiliency risk: This concerns the ability of a business to bounce back and continue operations after an unexpected disaster.
• Risks due to human errors: In the UK, 90 percent of cyber data breaches were caused by human errors in 2019. Whether it’s falling for phishing scams or misusing work devices, human errors can be quite costly for organizations if they go unchecked.
• Automation risks: While automation is reshaping the tech industry for the better, it could also give rise to a range of risks such as compatibility risks, governance risks, etc.
• Cloud storage risks: The flexibility, ease-of-use and affordability offered by the cloud makes it one of the most popular options for backup and storage. However, the cloud is also prone to various risks such as lack of control over data, data leakage, data privacy, shared servers, etc.

Importance of Risk Assessment in Managing Digital Risks

The best way to start managing your digital risks is by performing comprehensive security risk assessments regularly. After all, how would you know what your current vulnerabilities or gaps are and where you biggest security challenges lie without an ‘under the skin’ examination? With a risk assessment, you can measure your security posture against various internal and digital threats and determine how equipped you are to deal with these risks. When you perform a security risk assessment you can proactively:

• Identify vulnerabilities: A risk assessment helps you identify which part of your digital environment is relatively weak against various security threats. You can identify which systems are likely to be targeted by attackers and incorporate measures to strengthen these systems. Without the information presented by your risk assessment report, you don’t stand much chance of improving your digital security posture against various vulnerabilities.
• Review and bolster security controls: In most cases, security incidents occur due to a lack of controls in the process. For instance, without proper cybersecurity awareness training and best practices training, employees are unlikely to follow security protocols on their own, which could result in losses due to human errors. Based on the risk assessment, you can upgrade your securities and incorporate preventive measures against various risks.
• Track and quantify risks: To effectively manage various risks, you need to know the effect of these risks on your business. With a risk assessment, you can quantify these risks by identifying the potential losses posed by various threats. This helps you incorporate necessary risk mitigation strategies to prevent your exposure to various risks.

 

The Value of Risk Assessment

IT and security budgets are often difficult to explain to management. Everyone understands the consequences of not investing in correct security measures. However, it isn’t that easy or simple to put an exact ROI figure on security investments. The value of risk assessment is based on how you choose to act with the information you get from these reports.

In this scenario, the real question is – what is the cost of not making this investment? Let us consider a major data breach for example. It is always about what you stand to lose in the aftermath of a breach. If your business is dealing with valuable customer data, a data breach can result in unrecoverable financial losses as well as reputational damage. Moreover, this might also result in regulatory non-compliance and attract heavy penalties from various regulators. In such cases, reviving a business after a major disaster can be almost impossible.

Here, the cost of investment in security solutions and cyber insurance is negligible since it concerns the survival of the business. You may not be able to measure the exact ROI of the airbags in your car but that does not mean that your survival is not dependent on them. Similarly, the information and insights gained from routine risk analyses are critical to the operation, resilience posture and long-term success of your business.

Assess Your Risks the Right Way

Monitoring and managing your digital security risks is a continuous process that must be done regularly and should be a part of your ongoing operational strategy. To implement it the right way, you need to create a risk monitoring strategy that focuses on what risks need to be identified and how to identify them.

Reach out to us today to perform a complete risk assessment of your digital infrastructure and help you build a resilient security posture against various threats.

 
 
 
Article curated and used by permission.
 
 

Data Sources:

• https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/90-of-breaches-are-caused-by-human-error-4820.html: 90% of breaches are caused by human error

Rapid technological advancement and rising global connectivity is reshaping the way the world is functioning. From higher productivity to improved customer satisfaction, technology has played a critical role in the growth of businesses across the world. However, the consequential bad news is that technological advancements have also made organizations increasingly vulnerable to digital risks. However, this does not mean that businesses must compromise on growth and advancement for the sake of security.

The security challenges within these digital environments can be better addressed if organizations knew how to identify these risks and incorporate preventative security measures and controls, along with proactive solutions and detailed plans, to overcome their digital vulnerabilities. Let us discuss the different types of digital risks you should be looking out for and how you can use this information to get a positive ROI.

Types of Digital Risks

Digital risks are increasing in the business world due to the rapid adoption of new disruptive technologies. These risks are seen in various industries and are more pervasive than cybersecurity risks. On a broader scale, digital risks can be classified into physical, technical and administrative risks.

The following risks are the most prevalent in today’s digital world and should be treated as top priorities for your business:

• Cybersecurity risk: Cyberattacks continue to evolve as businesses become more technology driven. Attacks like ransomware, DDoS, etc., can bring a halt to the normalcy of any business.
• Data privacy risk: As we move forward to a knowledge-based economy, data has become the most valuable commodity in the world. This has resulted in hackers targeting critical business data and misusing them for personal gains.
• Compliance risk: Businesses need to adhere to various regulations regarding data privacy, cybersecurity, organizational standards of practice, etc. Any violation can attract heavy fines and penalties for a business.
• Third-party risk: When you outsource certain services to third parties, it might compromise the security of your IT infrastructure. For instance, a software tool you develop with an external vendor may introduce some vulnerabilities to your otherwise intact digital environment.
• Resiliency risk: This concerns the ability of a business to bounce back and continue operations after an unexpected disaster.
• Risks due to human errors: In the UK, 90 percent of cyber data breaches were caused by human errors in 2019. Whether it’s falling for phishing scams or misusing work devices, human errors can be quite costly for organizations if they go unchecked.
• Automation risks: While automation is reshaping the tech industry for the better, it could also give rise to a range of risks such as compatibility risks, governance risks, etc.
• Cloud storage risks: The flexibility, ease-of-use and affordability offered by the cloud makes it one of the most popular options for backup and storage. However, the cloud is also prone to various risks such as lack of control over data, data leakage, data privacy, shared servers, etc.

Importance of Risk Assessment in Managing Digital Risks

The best way to start managing your digital risks is by performing comprehensive security risk assessments regularly. After all, how would you know what your current vulnerabilities or gaps are and where you biggest security challenges lie without an ‘under the skin’ examination? With a risk assessment, you can measure your security posture against various internal and digital threats and determine how equipped you are to deal with these risks. When you perform a security risk assessment you can proactively:

• Identify vulnerabilities: A risk assessment helps you identify which part of your digital environment is relatively weak against various security threats. You can identify which systems are likely to be targeted by attackers and incorporate measures to strengthen these systems. Without the information presented by your risk assessment report, you don’t stand much chance of improving your digital security posture against various vulnerabilities.
• Review and bolster security controls: In most cases, security incidents occur due to a lack of controls in the process. For instance, without proper cybersecurity awareness training and best practices training, employees are unlikely to follow security protocols on their own, which could result in losses due to human errors. Based on the risk assessment, you can upgrade your securities and incorporate preventive measures against various risks.
• Track and quantify risks: To effectively manage various risks, you need to know the effect of these risks on your business. With a risk assessment, you can quantify these risks by identifying the potential losses posed by various threats. This helps you incorporate necessary risk mitigation strategies to prevent your exposure to various risks.

 

The Value of Risk Assessment

IT and security budgets are often difficult to explain to management. Everyone understands the consequences of not investing in correct security measures. However, it isn’t that easy or simple to put an exact ROI figure on security investments. The value of risk assessment is based on how you choose to act with the information you get from these reports.

In this scenario, the real question is – what is the cost of not making this investment? Let us consider a major data breach for example. It is always about what you stand to lose in the aftermath of a breach. If your business is dealing with valuable customer data, a data breach can result in unrecoverable financial losses as well as reputational damage. Moreover, this might also result in regulatory non-compliance and attract heavy penalties from various regulators. In such cases, reviving a business after a major disaster can be almost impossible.

Here, the cost of investment in security solutions and cyber insurance is negligible since it concerns the survival of the business. You may not be able to measure the exact ROI of the airbags in your car but that does not mean that your survival is not dependent on them. Similarly, the information and insights gained from routine risk analyses are critical to the operation, resilience posture and long-term success of your business.

Assess Your Risks the Right Way

Monitoring and managing your digital security risks is a continuous process that must be done regularly and should be a part of your ongoing operational strategy. To implement it the right way, you need to create a risk monitoring strategy that focuses on what risks need to be identified and how to identify them.

Reach out to us today to perform a complete risk assessment of your digital infrastructure and help you build a resilient security posture against various threats.

      Article curated and used by permission.    

Data Sources:

• https://www.cybersecurityintelligence.com/blog/90-of-breaches-are-caused-by-human-error-4820.html: 90% of breaches are caused by human error

No business today is 100 percent secure from cyberthreats and more businesses are waking up to this reality now than ever before. It’s no wonder cybersecurity investment in 2020 is pegged to grow by 5.6 percent to reach nearly $43.1 billion in value.¹ With cyberattacks surging due to widespread remote work and increased online interactions during the pandemic, it seems likely that this trend will only continue to grow further.

While 58 percent of IT leaders and practitioners consider improving IT security their topmost priority, nearly 53 percent of them find cybersecurity and data protection to be among their biggest challenges as well.² That’s primarily because cybersecurity is not a one-and-done exercise. Your business might be safe now but could be unsafe the very next minute. Securing your business’ mission critical data requires undeterred effort sustained over a long period of time. While there are several pieces to this puzzle, the most important one, considering today’s threat landscape, is ongoing risk management.

Through the course of this blog, you will understand the definition of a cybersecurity risk assessment and why you must undertake and monitor them regularly to keep your business’ cybersecurity posture abreast with ever-evolving cyberthreats. By the end of it, we hope you realize how installing cybersecurity solutions alone isn’t enough to counter cyberattacks unless you make ongoing risk management an operational standard for your business.

Understanding Cybersecurity Risk Assessment

In rudimentary terms, a cybersecurity risk assessment refers to the act of understanding, managing, controlling and mitigating cybersecurity risks across your business’ infrastructure.

In its Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) states that the purpose of cybersecurity risk assessments is to “identify, estimate and prioritize risk to organizational operations, assets, individuals, other organizations and the Nation, resulting from the operation and use of information systems.”

The primary purpose of a cybersecurity risk assessment is to help key decision-makers take informed decisions to tackle prevalent and imminent risks. Ideally, an assessment must answer the following questions:

• What are your business’ key IT assets?
• What type of data breach would have a major impact on your business?
• What are the relevant threats to your business and their sources?
• What are the internal and external security vulnerabilities?
• What would be the impact if any of the vulnerabilities were exploited?
• What is the probability of a vulnerability being exploited?
• What cyberattacks or security threats could impact your business’ ability to function?

 
The answers to these questions will help you keep track of security risks and mitigate them before disaster strikes. Now, imagine periodically having the answers to these questions whenever you sit down to make key business decisions. If you’re wondering how it would benefit you, keep reading.

Why Make Ongoing Risk Management an Operational Standard?

Making ongoing risk management an operational standard is vital, especially in today’s cyberthreat landscape where even a single threat cannot be underestimated. In one assessment, your business might seem on the right track but in the next one, certain factors would have changed exactly how business would have changed. That’s precisely why having an ongoing risk management strategy is now an integral part of standard operations for many of your peers.

Here are seven reasons why you just can’t keep this key business decision on the backburner anymore:

Reason 1: Keeping Threats at Bay

Most importantly, an ongoing risk management strategy will help you keep threats at a safe distance from your business; especially ones you usually do not monitor regularly.

Reason 2: Prevent Data Loss

Theft or loss of business-critical data can set your business back a long way, leading to loss of business to competitors. Ongoing risk management can help you remain vigilant of any possible attempts at compromising your business data.

Reason 3: Enhanced Operational Efficiency and Reduced Workforce Frustration

As a business owner or key decision-maker of your organization, you would be amazed how consistently staying on top of potential cybersecurity threats can reduce the risk of unplanned downtime. The assurance that hard work will not vanish into thin air will surely keep the morale of your employees high, thereby reflecting positively on their productivity.

Reason 4: Reduction of Long-Term Costs

Identifying potential vulnerabilities and mitigating them in time can help you prevent or reduce security incidents, which in turn would save your business a significant amount of money and/or potential reputational damage.

Reason 5: One Assessment Will Set the Right Tone

You must not assume that there should only be one fixed template for all your future cybersecurity risk assessments. However, in order to update them continuously, you need to conduct one in the first place. Hence, the first few assessments will set the right tone for future assessments as part of your ongoing risk management strategy.

Reason 6: Improved Organizational Knowledge

Knowing security vulnerabilities across the business will help you keep a keen eye on important aspects that your business must improve on.

Reason 7: Avoid Regulatory Compliance Issues

By ensuring that you put up a formidable defense against cyberthreats, you will automatically avoid hassles with respect to complying with regulatory standards such as HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, etc.

Join Hands With the Right Partner

While we certainly wish we could say that you have plenty of time to mull over this, the unfortunate reality is you do not. If you snooze, it's very likely that you will lose to a nefarious cybercriminal.

It’s time for you to join hands with the right partner to help you gauge every single cybersecurity risk your business is exposed to. Contact us today to find out how you can prevent cybersecurity concerns from being the biggest reason you stay up late at night.

 
 
 
Article curated and used by permission.
 
Data Sources:

1. Global Cybersecurity 2020 Forecast Canalys
2. 2020 State of IT Operations Survey, Kaseya

No business today is 100 percent secure from cyberthreats and more businesses are waking up to this reality now than ever before. It’s no wonder cybersecurity investment in 2020 is pegged to grow by 5.6 percent to reach nearly $43.1 billion in value.¹ With cyberattacks surging due to widespread remote work and increased online interactions during the pandemic, it seems likely that this trend will only continue to grow further.

While 58 percent of IT leaders and practitioners consider improving IT security their topmost priority, nearly 53 percent of them find cybersecurity and data protection to be among their biggest challenges as well.² That’s primarily because cybersecurity is not a one-and-done exercise. Your business might be safe now but could be unsafe the very next minute. Securing your business’ mission critical data requires undeterred effort sustained over a long period of time. While there are several pieces to this puzzle, the most important one, considering today’s threat landscape, is ongoing risk management.

Through the course of this blog, you will understand the definition of a cybersecurity risk assessment and why you must undertake and monitor them regularly to keep your business’ cybersecurity posture abreast with ever-evolving cyberthreats. By the end of it, we hope you realize how installing cybersecurity solutions alone isn’t enough to counter cyberattacks unless you make ongoing risk management an operational standard for your business.

Understanding Cybersecurity Risk Assessment

In rudimentary terms, a cybersecurity risk assessment refers to the act of understanding, managing, controlling and mitigating cybersecurity risks across your business’ infrastructure.

In its Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) states that the purpose of cybersecurity risk assessments is to “identify, estimate and prioritize risk to organizational operations, assets, individuals, other organizations and the Nation, resulting from the operation and use of information systems.”

The primary purpose of a cybersecurity risk assessment is to help key decision-makers take informed decisions to tackle prevalent and imminent risks. Ideally, an assessment must answer the following questions:

• What are your business’ key IT assets?
• What type of data breach would have a major impact on your business?
• What are the relevant threats to your business and their sources?
• What are the internal and external security vulnerabilities?
• What would be the impact if any of the vulnerabilities were exploited?
• What is the probability of a vulnerability being exploited?
• What cyberattacks or security threats could impact your business’ ability to function?

 
The answers to these questions will help you keep track of security risks and mitigate them before disaster strikes. Now, imagine periodically having the answers to these questions whenever you sit down to make key business decisions. If you’re wondering how it would benefit you, keep reading.

Why Make Ongoing Risk Management an Operational Standard?

Making ongoing risk management an operational standard is vital, especially in today’s cyberthreat landscape where even a single threat cannot be underestimated. In one assessment, your business might seem on the right track but in the next one, certain factors would have changed exactly how business would have changed. That’s precisely why having an ongoing risk management strategy is now an integral part of standard operations for many of your peers.

Here are seven reasons why you just can’t keep this key business decision on the backburner anymore:

Reason 1: Keeping Threats at Bay

Most importantly, an ongoing risk management strategy will help you keep threats at a safe distance from your business; especially ones you usually do not monitor regularly.

Reason 2: Prevent Data Loss

Theft or loss of business-critical data can set your business back a long way, leading to loss of business to competitors. Ongoing risk management can help you remain vigilant of any possible attempts at compromising your business data.

Reason 3: Enhanced Operational Efficiency and Reduced Workforce Frustration

As a business owner or key decision-maker of your organization, you would be amazed how consistently staying on top of potential cybersecurity threats can reduce the risk of unplanned downtime. The assurance that hard work will not vanish into thin air will surely keep the morale of your employees high, thereby reflecting positively on their productivity.

Reason 4: Reduction of Long-Term Costs

Identifying potential vulnerabilities and mitigating them in time can help you prevent or reduce security incidents, which in turn would save your business a significant amount of money and/or potential reputational damage.

Reason 5: One Assessment Will Set the Right Tone

You must not assume that there should only be one fixed template for all your future cybersecurity risk assessments. However, in order to update them continuously, you need to conduct one in the first place. Hence, the first few assessments will set the right tone for future assessments as part of your ongoing risk management strategy.

Reason 6: Improved Organizational Knowledge

Knowing security vulnerabilities across the business will help you keep a keen eye on important aspects that your business must improve on.

Reason 7: Avoid Regulatory Compliance Issues

By ensuring that you put up a formidable defense against cyberthreats, you will automatically avoid hassles with respect to complying with regulatory standards such as HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, etc.

Join Hands With the Right Partner

While we certainly wish we could say that you have plenty of time to mull over this, the unfortunate reality is you do not. If you snooze, it's very likely that you will lose to a nefarious cybercriminal.

It’s time for you to join hands with the right partner to help you gauge every single cybersecurity risk your business is exposed to. Contact us today to find out how you can prevent cybersecurity concerns from being the biggest reason you stay up late at night.

 
 
 
Article curated and used by permission.
 
Data Sources:

1. Global Cybersecurity 2020 Forecast Canalys
2. 2020 State of IT Operations Survey, Kaseya