How to Improve Your Company’s Cybersecurity Risk Management 1 How to Improve Your Company’s Cybersecurity Risk Management There’s no quick-fix solution when it comes to company needs to understand the importance managing cybersecurity risks. Simply putting up a of strong cybersecurity and be accountable for firewall or buying more anti-virus software won’t mitigating risks. Blaming one person or department protect your organization against the abundance of when disaster strikes won’t help anyone. While cyber threats worldwide. employees’ responsibilities will of course vary, your entire organization is threatened when cybersecurity Cybersecurity is a company-wide issue—not just isn’t taken seriously. something the IT staff should worry about. Since cybersecurity risks are really business risks, security The need to protect your organization from cyber standards must be incorporated into your overall crime has never been greater. It’s time to take the business strategy. necessary steps to improve your cybersecurity risk management. To improve IT risk management, your whole 2 WHAT IS CYBERSECURITY RISK MANAGEMENT? Cybersecurity risk refers to any cyber threat to your company’s information technology, and more importantly, any data the technology stores, processes, or transmits. Simply put, cybersecurity risk management is the process of identifying cyber risks and developing strategies to mitigate them. No business is free of cybersecurity risks. Since organizations have become increasingly dependent on technology, the impact of a data breach can be severely harmful. Your company needs to grasp the value of a strong cybersecurity risk management strategy in order to adequately prevent, detect, and respond to threats. THE CYBERSECURITY RISK MANAGEMENT LIFECYCLE Managing cybersecurity risk is a necessary function of all businesses today. Due to increasingly sophisticated and ever-evolving cyber attacks, it’s more important than ever to regularly review the threat landscape and adjust control strategies accordingly. If your company already has a cybersecurity risk management process in place, are you sure it’s effective? Perhaps there’s room for improvement, but how exactly can you take the right approach to manage risk? To get on the right track, follow these five steps. 3 UNDERSTAND YOUR CYBERSECURITY RISKS The first step to improve your company’s cybersecurity risk management practices? Determine what exactly you need to protect. Begin by locating, categorizing, and assessing your organization’s data and associated assets to lock down scope. Once scope has been identified, assess threats against assets and existing controls to identify risks. These are all critical steps in the completion of a well executed cybersecurity risk assessment. While this step is critical for all businesses, only 45 percent of organizations have a risk assessment process in place. Threats to your IT systems include: An effective cybersecurity risk assessment evaluates risks based on the probability that they • Data corruption will occur and outlines the impact they could • Malware have on your business. Only by understanding prioritized risks can you develop cost-effective • Viruses ways to manage them and improve your • Social engineering cybersecurity controls and culture. • Human error 4 DEVELOP A RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN The results from your company’s cybersecurity risk assessment seem overwhelming. But don’t just dwell on the possibility of what could go wrong. Now’s the time to take action and put together an effective risk management plan. Develop a clear strategy for how your company will prepare for, detect, and respond to threats. While you can’t predict every potential event or incident, a well-designed plan can mitigate a substantial amount of risk. Policy, process, and procedure development should make up a significant part of the plan. They should outline the importance of managing cybersecurity risk to your staff, customers, and partners. Define acceptable behaviors through a code of conduct and give your staff clear direction on how to navigate cybersecurity issues. Security policies and procedures should address issues such as: • Safe email use • Safe passwords • Personal use of computer systems • Anti-virus software • Restrictions for installing applications • Response to IT incidents 5 TRAIN YOUR EMPLOYEES Communicate your cybersecurity risk management plan to all employees, and make sure they understand its importance. Make policy, process, and procedure training part of the onboarding process, and ensure your current employees also have regular training sessions. Whether you opt for e-learning courses or in-person classes, make training available to all employees, regardless of location. Effective cybersecurity risk management cannot come down to one person. The most successful businesses take an all-hands-on-deck approach to cybersecurity risk management. No matter what their roles in the company, all your employees should support your company’s cybersecurity risk management process. By instilling a sense of accountability in your staff, you’ll have more support to mitigate risks and protect your company. TEST & UPDATE YOUR PLAN A single cybersecurity risk assessment is not enough to get an accurate representation of your company’s vulnerabilities. The threat landscape is constantly changing, as cyber attacks have become more complex and costly for organizations. Conduct regular cybersecurity risk assessments throughout the year to determine where your company stands, to analyze previous risks, and to identify new ones. Assess how effective your cybersecurity risk management plan really is by setting up mock cyber incidents. Can you detect when your company is being threatened? How well can your company withstand the assault? To what extent can your network be compromised? A penetration test will highlight control gaps and can help you determine how your company will fare in the event of a security crisis. Take note of the strengths and weaknesses of your strategy so you can see what’s working and identify areas of improvement. Update your risk management plan based on these assessments. Your strategy should be fluid in order to reflect your latest discoveries and decisions. 6 AUTOMATE YOUR SECURITY DEFENSES Cyber criminals leverage automation to attack—don’t let your organization fall behind by using manual defense methods. Incorporate automation into your cybersecurity control strategy to detect abnormal behavior, prevent threats, and respond to attacks. Continuous monitoring is the best way to quickly detect malicious activity. By allowing you to spot cyber threats before they can wreak havoc on your company, automatic detection and remediation solutions will save you time and money. Optimize your business efficiency by automating your cyber defense systems. THE BENEFITS? Improving your cybersecurity risk management takes time and energy. But your efforts will not be in vain. Here are some of the benefits you’ll experience when you take the steps to improve your cybersecurity risk management strategy: • Make more strategic decisions • Boost profits • Gain a competitive advantage • Provide insights to the board of directors • Reduce business liability • Meet compliance standards • Protect your brand Adopting a wait-and-see approach to cybersecurity will merely make you a sitting target. Your cybersecurity risk management program is your first line of defense in identifying and addressing vulnerabilities. Improve your cybersecurity risk management to boost business efficiencies, protect your company, and control costs. 7 Partner with Difenda Difenda is a global cybersecurity leader with decades of experience helping companies like yours defend against cyber threats and manage their security risk. Established by cybersecurity professionals and leaders with intensive practical experiences in assessing, responding, and securing organizations, Difenda has the expertise and advanced capabilities to protect your organization from evolving cyber threats. We incorporate big data analytics, automation, machine learning technologies, and artificial intelligence to prevent, detect, and respond against sophisticated cyber threats. Partner with us and gain peace of mind knowing cyber intelligence experts are available on demand to stop breaches, mitigate damage, and recover operations. LEARN MORE 1.866.252.2103 [email protected] 8.