The recent rise in data breaches just showed that implementing a strategic, risk-based cybersecurity roadmap is a must. Read on to see how to do so.
Understand and monitor your organization’s attack surface
One of the main reasons why companies fall victim to attacks is that hackers can exploit risks hidden in complex digital ecosystems. Modern organizations have tons of digital assets. Those are on-premises, in the cloud, and across business units and geographies.
As result, determining where risk may exist is harder than ever. Thus, even a misconfigured firewall or an unpatched system may open the door for hackers. Hence, the first step to creating a cybersecurity roadmap is to identify risk throughout your digital assets. To achieve this, you must continuously scan your organization’s attack surface to see a big picture of weak points.
This includes knowing the location of all your digital assets and the corresponding cyber risk associated with each. Moreover, your cybersecurity roadmap must include how you will monitor your company’s cybersecurity.
Benchmark your cybersecurity performance
A benchmark will serve as a basis for how effective your security controls are. Benchmark your security program against other organizations of similar size in your industry. Moreover, benchmarking will enable you to make more informed decisions about where to focus your cybersecurity efforts.
Furthermore, you may also share your benchmark assessment with C-level executives to justify your program. This will help them see how crucial it is to develop improvement plans and secure a budget for cybersecurity.
Understand and mitigate third-party risk
Indeed, third parties are a crucial part of your business. You’ll need them to achieve success. However, their actions may also introduce cyber risks to your organization. It is now common for hackers to attack third parties to gain access to their real targets. Thus, your cybersecurity roadmap must include these risks.
Risks never stop evolving so a one-time security audit is not simply enough. To ensure vendors are striving to meet your security benchmarks, establish acceptable risk levels and document them into contracts. If a vendor’s rating falls below that score, the vendor may receive an alert to immediately resolve the problem.
Prioritize cybersecurity awareness and skills training
Let’s say that you have resolved every vulnerability and secure every digital asset. Is the work done? Absolutely not. The weakest link in your cybersecurity is your employees. Seemingly simple actions like clicking on a phishing email or connecting to a public Wi-fi connection may compromise your organization.
Studies show that human errors have caused 85% of cyberattacks. That is whether intentional or unintentional.
Mitigate this risk by frequently conducting security awareness training sessions. Furthermore, set the appropriate learning pace for them. After a few months, test your employees to see whether they have retained the information. Topics you may include are password management, Wi-Fi safety, the importance of updates, and more.
Communicate with board members
Your board members will be accountable for the damages brought by the breach. Hence, they must be aware of the status of the organization’s security program.
