Cybersecurity Awareness: 6 Must-Dos for Cyber Defenders

CIOL.com | 2 Minute Read

Cybersecurity is no longer a nice-to-have. It must be a key consideration when implementing any digital project. By considering factors around people, process, and technology, we have these six tips to help readers build a robust strategy that can withstand the onslaught of cyber threats.

Tip 1: Cyber awareness training is a must

The best security strategies your organization enforces, an unsuspecting employee can easily undo in an instant. Thus, Cybersecurity awareness education is essential to safeguard against breaches. Deploy a cyber-intelligence driven, industry-specific, awareness training program. Be sure to include rigorous social engineering training that covers the latest methods, tools, and techniques employed by threat actors. Customize the social engineering tests to your organization. Give it the ability to simulate the latest attack methods by hackers for your specific industry and geography. These trainings should include various attack methods such as spear-phishing, APTs, use of USB, brute-force attack to break into passwords, web, and social media profile security, among others. While people are often the weakest link when it comes to cybersecurity; with the right training, employees can become effective defenders against hackers and adversaries.

Tip 2: Red Team exercises to uncover security gaps

Red teams are security professionals playing the offense role. Further, they are experts in attacking systems and breaking into defenses to test the effectiveness of the network’s security. Plan periodic Red Team exercises to measure the effectiveness of the people, processes, and security technologies used to defend the environment. Red Team exercises help organizations to improve security controls detection, enhance defensive capabilities, and calibrate the overall effectiveness of existing security operations.

Tip 3: Breach detection solution

Malware variants are multiplying at an unprecedented rate. To effectively detect the presence of malicious code within the network, deploy real-time breach detection solutions. Use security technologies around data science, machine learning, and behavioral analytics to identify reconnaissance activities inside the perimeter.

Tip 4: Cyber hygiene

These are fundamental cybersecurity practices that one must adhere to religiously:

Ensure the email security gateways, Email SPF, DKIM, DMARC, Advanced Threat protection systems, Firewall rules, and network proxy controls are configured appropriately to detect the attacks in real-time.
Implement robust security protocols and encryption, including authentication or access credentials configurations, to secure critical information stored in databases/servers.
Ensure that all applications/hardware are updated to their latest versions. It’s the best way to flush out exploitable vulnerabilities.
Employ backup systems to restore data in the occurrence of ransomware attacks. Ideally, you also must not attach or connect these backup systems to the main network.

Tip 5: Third-party risks

Connection with external application, service, or network needs to be handled carefully. It is important to enforce an information security policy that governs vendor management and data sharing. Manage supply chain risk by building a process where there are periodic assessments and reviews.

Tip 6: Use external intel to detect cyberattacks

Understand the external threat landscape vis-à-vis the organization. Ensure insights are multi-layered so that remedial actions can be taken across functions and hierarchy. For example, strategic insights that senior leaders consume, management insights for security leaders, and tactical insights for security operations.

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