Five steps you can take today to improve your cyber security

As we enter another year, business and information technology leaders face multiple, growing challenges in protecting their organisations against cyber threats. Not only do they need to deal with the lack of qualified and experienced cyber professionals; balance the need to upgrade and modernise legacy systems; and manage and secure a variety of devices, systems and platforms; they are also facing increasingly sophisticated and frequent cyber attacks which target their data, systems, and customers.

In the face of these very real challenges, leaders responsible for cyber security may be wondering where to start in addressing these growing cyber security risks.

Cyber security is not a one-time event, but a continuous process that requires constant monitoring, evaluation, and improvement. Here are five steps you can start to take today to kick start your organisation’s cyber security journey:

1.       Identify and document your systems

Using our free template , create a list of all your information technology systems. These are the hardware, software, and network components that enable the collection, processing, storage, and communication of data in your organisation. The list will help you know what devices, systems, and platforms you have, where they are located, what functions they perform, and what data they store or process. It can also help you prioritise and apply the appropriate security measures to protect them from cyber threats. You should plan to regularly review and update your list, as it will likely change over time due to additions, modifications, or decommissions.

 2.       Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication on important systems

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is one of the most important and effective cyber security measures you can implement to secure your information technology systems, helping you block a large majority of attacks. It adds an extra layer of security, making it harder for hackers to steal or guess your credentials and gain unauthorised access to your data and systems.

Reporting on exceptions to MFA is an important part of your security operations. For Microsoft 365 you can use a script or a tool, or manually export your user list and search. Exceptions are sometimes unavoidable but reporting on them can help ensure that your most important systems are protected from cyber threats.

3.       Create an incident response plan

An incident response plan is a vital component of cyber security. It outlines how your organisation will handle and recover from a cyber security incident and helps you to protect, monitor, and improve data and systems. By developing an incident response plan, you can:

• reduce the likelihood and impact of cyber attacks, and improve your readiness and capability to handle them

• quickly and effectively detect and contain cyber threats, and prevent them from spreading or escalating

• minimise the disruption and downtime caused by cyber incidents, and resume business functions and services as soon as possible

• enhance your cyber security posture and resilience, and reduce the recurrence and severity of future incidents.

Each organisation has different needs and requirements so you will need to customise and adapt your plan according to your specific situation and context. Professional guidance can help you to create and maintain an incident response plan, tailored to your specific needs.

Lastly, don’t forget to print out the plan and put it in a safe place!

4.       Patch everything… and without delay

Patching is the process of updating software to fix security vulnerabilities, bugs, or other issues. By creating (and following!) a patch management policy, you can ensure that all systems are up to date and protected from cyber threats. Don’t forget to include switches, firewalls and legacy software.

A key element of a patch management policy is the criteria for ranking patches based on their severity, impact, and urgency, and the timeframes for applying patches according to their priority e.g. 30 or 60 days. Patching quickly is important for cyber security because it can prevent hackers from exploiting known flaws in the software and accessing your data or systems.

If your organisation is considering delaying a patch, it is critical that you communicate the reason and the potential impact with risk owners so that they may make informed decisions.

5.       Uplift staff capability

Employees continue to be the main target and asset in cyber defence. Therefore it is critical that organisations foster a culture of security among employees via continual upskilling and training.

A comprehensive, ongoing cyber security education programme featuring phishing simulations, in-person education and computer-based training can keep employees engaged and invested in the learning process; empower people to take ownership and responsibility for their own security; and enhance the usability and accessibility of security tools and processes.

Within any organisation, employees will have various levels of security maturity and capacity, requiring diverse training needs. It will be important to ensure that employees are kept engaged in cyber security via personalised content and training approaches.

AI cyber security training means that you no longer need to rely on cookie-cutter one-size-fits-all training. Now security awareness training can adapt to individual employee knowledge levels, learning styles, and areas for improvement – creating an optimal learning experience. AI lets you give your users the right type of training at the right time to address the latest cyber security threats and risks. This ultimately makes it possible for you to change human behaviour and focus on the individual needs of each participant to eliminate risk. There are a number of platforms that offer adaptable, customised cyber security training modules for your staff including Right-Hand, Infosec IQ, KnowBe4, Proofpoint Security Awareness Training and CybSafe. Your cyber security partner can help to select the right training platform for you, customise your chosen platform to your specific needs and provide ongoing support and guidance.

Conclusion

As a leader in your organisation, you can be confident that by starting with these simple steps, you can significantly improve security defences and create a strategic advantage. Not only will you be better placed to protect your data, your reputation, and your customers from ongoing cyber threats but you can also help prepare your organisation for a more secure future.