In today's techno-connected landscape, it is crucial to reduce and manage business risk. And the best way to do so is by increasing our security efficacy by identifying, defending, and responding to attacks.
For information security experts and consultants who have undergone proper cybersecurity training - a few instances are quite familiar, such as the aftermath of a security breach into the data stores of their enterprise.
Statistics reveal how data breaches in 2016 increased by 40% - reaching an all-time high. Hacking and cyber-attacks are recognized as advanced security threats to both large corporations and small businesses alike. However, many businesses are still failing to adopt reliable security practices and protocols to reduce the risk. Another survey conducted by KPMG revealed how more than 80% of business owners admit to having their cyber security compromised in more than 24-month period.
Even though most companies acknowledge the severity of hacking and its associated pervasive concerns, uncertainty and the lack of understanding of how important it is to implement a cybersecurity program, businesses are still susceptible to these attacks.
Whether you have recently discovered the threat and are trying to scale a cybersecurity program or you already have one implemented but are struggling to improve your current system, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can be your ultimate solution. To be able to measure and identify cybersecurity threat, KPI is crucial to the security and success of your business.
Improve your information security plan
As far as security measures are concerned, they are only as effective as the practices and policies applied to make them usable. A little misunderstanding and lack of judgment can lead a well-meaning employee putting a company's intel, sensitive files, and customer's confidential information at risk.
To avoid exposing such critical information to opportunist hackers, it is important to plan out and implement a reliable and strong strategy for your company's information security. When done right they can save your business money, staff, reputation, and a great deal of stress.
To improve your information security key performance indicators, these five practices can be executed right away!
Encrypt Cloud Data
To put it in simple word, encryption is the best way to protect your data - whether it is on the cloud, stored on a data center, or transmitted around the World Wide Web. It's the most effective way to put a seal around your data that keeps it from all unwanted eyes, even if that includes competitors, business partners, regular people, and hackers.
As far as practice and policies are concerned, encryption is made more effective by integrating it into your workflow. There shouldn't be a switch to control the data encryption. It should be implemented as an automatic process, especially for files shared on the cloud.
Cybersecurity training highlights the importance of looking for strong cloud solutions instead of simply opting for the most basic one. By doing so, you can block ciphers and use advanced encryption security. This even allows you to keep up with the standard security compliance code, which includes:
- ISO 27001
- AICPA SOC 2
- PCI DSS
Manage Access Permissions
Breaches that secure bigger headlines are often those that take place due to external attacks. However, employee error and internal data loss can also be a big threat to a data breach. Thus, it's crucial to define clearly who can have access to certain information.
Take a step and remove permission for people who shouldn't be accessing specific client data as well as for employees who are no longer a part of the organizations. Dismiss the rights of your staff to email, print, save documents, or export documents outside the on-premise software or cloud.
If a finance administrator, account manager, attorney, or any other employee is not participating in regular interactions with clients, they shouldn't have access to view or edit files that are not a part of their job or concern.
Use information security expertise to control business assets for improved security perimeter.
Protect Data on Devices and Applications
Mobile devices, laptops, and other similar gadgets equipped with cloud apps make it easy for people to access sensitive information and files from outside the office and move that data beyond the physical boundaries without anyone finding out.
Establish clear policies on the types of files that shouldn't be accessed or moved around outside the office. You can even think about implementing a data protection system that offers secure apps for iOS and Android devices.
Stay Up-to-date with Current Cyber-trends and News
Hackers are always around you and more active than ever before. 'zero-day' attacks, vulnerabilities, and new malware occur frequently. Do not allow hackers or malicious attackers to get into your computer systems.
Keep up with the latest trends and news to find out about the threats, opportunities, strengths, and weaknesses from other popular InfoSec sources - specifically Twitter. You can get your hands on the latest updates on stories as soon as the data breach emerges.
What You Need to Do
After securing cloud applications and improving network perimeter, you must consider devising a strong strategy to take action right away as soon as a security breach takes place. A dedicated team that undergoes proper security training are equipped with the best tools and solutions to protect enterprise data.
Information security is not a one-time project that you can outsource or hire temporary professionals for. It starts when you initiate your business and ends with it. Thus, streamlining your policies, solidifying your practices, and hiring a team of experts who can implement and track the best Key Performance Indicators is crucial.