5 Crucial Components of Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is a foundational element for the success of any modern business. There’s no going back to an unconnected world — imagine trying to run a global enterprise without email, cloud services, or even the Internet! Connectivity is essential for everything from day-to-day operations to planning for growth in the future. Businesses will only continue to get more connected, as IoT devices proliferate and employees bring their own devices to the mix. 

Trying to defend an expanding threat landscape from bad actors with ever-evolving tactics can be stressful. But it’s possible to meet the challenge with a multilayered strategy that includes culture, training, technology, and strategic relationships with vendors who can help. 

Start with the following essential elements. 

Oops, I Shouldn’t Have Clicked That: Managing Human Error with Training

Human error is a major contributing cause to security breaches. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Gartner Inc. estimates that up to 95% of cloud breaches occur due to human error, and the firm expects the trend to continue.

People click on phishing links, use passwords that are easy to crack, fall for impostor emails, and send sensitive information on unsecured networks. Even security-savvy individuals can get distracted or fall prey to a sophisticated new ploy. 

That’s why continuous, consistent cybersecurity training is key. Do not assume employees will recognize even obvious attempts at infiltration–spell out the potential risks. 

I recently spoke with cybersecurity expert Joseph Steinberg about his thoughts on the current state of cybersecurity.  He reinforces importance of training throughout organizations: “The single most important thing that business leaders can do to help ensure that cybersecurity is – and remains – an integral part of their respective organizational cultures is to ensure that all team members understand, and internalize, that every team member as an individual, and the organization as a whole, are targets who various attackers wish to harm, have the capability to harm, and are going to attempt to harm,” he says. 

Tone from the Top: Create a Culture of Security

Keeping employees updated on developing tactics and reminding them of best practices for threat awareness and risk prevention helps create a security-minded culture. The other critical component of building that culture is executive participation. The C-suite should be modeling best practices and demonstrating that security is a top priority. 

Joseph Steinberg adds one other vital way that executives set the culture: Provide employees with the right level of training. “On top of creating the aforementioned ‘attitude that encourages and facilitates the pursuit of cybersecurity,’ executives should also ensure that every team member receives appropriate information-security training,” he says. “Teach people what they need to know for their respective positions, but, do not over-train – providing too much information can sometimes lead to confusion, or to people focusing on the wrong things and/or otherwise making mistakes – which, when it comes to cybersecurity, can lead to serious problems.”

Put on the White Hat: The Importance of Testing

Ethical, or “white hat” hacking often involves penetration tests–simulated attacks that are designed to uncover weaknesses in a system using the same techniques employed by malicious hackers. Penetration testing should incorporate threat modeling, common goals and objectives, and real-time visibility into results for instant assessment and feedback. 

When conducted frequently and collaboratively between the in-house IT department and teams that deal with sensitive data, such as finance and customer service, testing enables employees to fully comprehend the risks and vulnerabilities from the viewpoints of both attackers and defenders. 

This type of regular testing regimen both identifies vulnerabilities and contributes to an ongoing culture of cybersecurity. As Steinberg  puts it, “Simply put, people who believe that they are likely to be targeted by others intent on inflicting damage think and act differently than people who do not feel as such; such differences can easily permeate through almost every aspect of an organization’s culture and practices, and become a major factor in determining the success of the organization’s information-security efforts.”

Lock It Down: Protecting Internal Networks

With the ever-expanding number of connected devices in a business, it’s vital to provide that your internal network is protected with multiple layers of security. Rupesh Chokshi, VP - Cybersecurity at AT&T Business, explains it this way: 

“With IoT, BYOD, wireless, wired, and mobile devices, it’s enough to make you long for the days of a single dial-up modem line. But you can help to keep your business connected and protected: The layers of security for your network should include highly secure and encrypted access protocols and firewalls. These safeguards help protect sensitive data both internally and during data transmission.”

While algorithms can detect anomalies in behaviors and systems that suggest intrusion attempts, organizations still need to continuously monitor the network. Established standards and regular processes for inspections and alerts are required to supplement these automated efforts.

In Case of Attack, Break Glass: Addressing Incidents

Even with a multilayered approach, no cybersecurity system is impermeable. That’s why it’s vital to have resources in place to identify and mitigate threats. Managed threat detection and response (MTDR) provides proactive security monitoring and investigation 24 hours a day, with a combination of expert analysis and technological tools to help detect and classify threats.

Having a platform of tools and services in place that can analyze behavior and logging activity across the entire IT infrastructure both in real time and via regular reports helps enhance detection and cuts down on response time. This type of support can help repel attacks, but also to mitigate adverse events quickly if they do occur.

Cover All Your Bases

A multilayered approach forms the basis of an effective, holistic cybersecurity plan. Infrastructure that protects networks and monitors for suspicious activity serves as a solid technology foundation. Instituting activities that cultivate preparedness and awareness of security, such as training and testing, help to create an organizational culture that can quickly recognize and take action against attempted attacks.

Add another robust layer to your cybersecurity profile with managed security services from a trusted provider. Managed security services provide an extended team of cybersecurity professionals and experts with the right technology, skills, expertise and tools to help organizations on their journey to cybersecurity resilience. 

To learn more about cybersecurity threats and defenses, download the latest Cybersecurity Insights Report.