David Kelleher Profile

David Kelleher

Apr 03, 2023

David Kelleher Profile

David Kelleher

Apr 03, 2023

Preparing for the worst - Evaluating the approach and measures to protect your organisation from cyber attacks

Nowadays, organisations have a better understanding of the potential risks associated with their reliance on technology to conduct business operations. The possibility of a cyberattack that could significantly impair an organization is a legitimate concern. Although there has been an overall increase in awareness, there are still numerous organisations that fail to give cybersecurity the attention it warrants.

Many organisations face significant challenges when it comes to cybersecurity. These difficulties can range from a lack of understanding about the fundamentals of security to uncertainty about where to begin and how to secure buy-in from management. For those organisations with limited IT resources, the task of implementing effective cybersecurity measures can be particularly daunting.

Kickstarting the cybersecurity journey

The first step is to identify your security posture.

A security posture refers to the overall approach and measures taken by an organization to protect its assets, including people, information, and technology, from potential threats and vulnerabilities. It encompasses the policies, procedures, controls, and technologies that an organisation employs to secure its systems, data, and networks.

An effective security posture should help the organisation to detect, respond, and recover quickly and efficiently from any security breaches should they occur.

 In today's dynamic threat landscape, it is crucial for organisations to assess and enhance their security posture to effectively counter cyberattacks and data breaches. This necessitates a continuous review and update of security measures to stay ahead of evolving threats.

By maintaining a resilient security posture, organisations can protect their valuable assets, mitigate risks, and establish credibility and confidence with their customers and stakeholders. It is imperative for organisations to prioritize the reinforcement of their security posture to ensure their long-term sustainability in an increasingly interconnected world.

The starting point: a cybersecurity discovery assessment

Establishing your cybersecurity posture requires a fair amount of work but it is not as challenging as you may think. Ideally, you would rope in expert advisors, like BMIT technologies, to help define your security posture and then assist with the execution of a plan of action.

BMIT’s cybersecurity discovery assessment is based on an important industry standard framework from the Centre for Internet Security (CIS). BMIT uses version 8 of the CIS Controls.

What are these controls?

The CIS controls are a set of best practices for securing IT systems and networks, and widely recognized as a leading framework for IT security.

How does it work?

The first step is to perform a thorough cybersecurity discovery assessment of your IT systems and networks. This will help you identify vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and potential attack vectors. Once you have identified these risks, you can prioritize your remediation efforts based on their severity and impact on your business.

The second step is to establish strong security policies and procedures that align with the CIS controls. This includes implementing password policies, access controls, patch management, and other key security measures that are in line with industry best practices. In addition, your employees should be trained on security awareness and procedures, so they can recognize and respond to security incidents.

The third step is to monitor and maintain your IT infrastructure on an ongoing basis. This includes regularly reviewing and updating your security policies and procedures to ensure they remain up-to-date and effective. Additionally, you should regularly monitor your IT systems and networks for signs of unauthorized access, or other security incidents. This can be achieved through the implementation of security tools and technologies such as intrusion detection and prevention systems and firewalls, for example.

In the event of a cyberattack, you need to have a response plan in place that can help mitigate the damage and quickly restore normal operations. This plan should include steps for identifying the source and nature of the attack, isolating and containing the affected systems and networks, and notifying the relevant authorities and stakeholders. Additionally, your response plan should include steps for recovering data and systems.

BMIT and your security posture

BMIT is an ideal partner to help you identify the security challenges in your organisation, fortify your infrastructure and environment and finally, be ready for a cyber attach or breach.

There are five steps in the process:

Audit, Assess & Review

BMIT conducts a thorough discovery exercise based on these controls to gain a deep understanding of your current IT infrastructure, data architecture and requirements. Based on this analysis, BMIT will determine the level of assessment required to identify any cybersecurity gaps.

Strategy & Design

After gathering all the information from the assessments, BMIT will deliver a strategic roadmap and provide actionable recommendations to mitigate the findings. Our experts will guide you through the entire process and explain the significance of each action required.

Enable & Deploy

The solution advisors and security engineering team will map out the requirements and time-frame to implement or deploy the solution/s. Deployment may occur in phases depending on the project's complexity and circumstances.

Manage & support

BMIT will manage the deployment as needed and provide full support to ensure the smooth execution and running of any solution or configuration. Once the project is completed, BMIT provide ongoing support and maintain the deployed solutions to ensure optimal performance.

Re-assess & Optimisation

BMIT's experts will continuously monitor and optimise your setup to ensure that your deployment remains secure and compliant. In addition, our experts will recommend changes or further configuration to maximise the deployment's potential.

The BMIT cybersecurity discovery assessment and guidance will help you transition from a reactive to a proactive approach to cybersecurity. Your organisation will be more prepared, aware, and ready to detect, respond to, and recover from any security incident quickly and effectively.

If you want to learn more about BMIT’s assessment and the benefits to your organisations, visit our website here or contact us to book your cybersecurity discovery assessment today.

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