Cybersecurity Posture Scorecard: Where Does Your Business Stand?

Beginning with the end in mind is a great idea. But you can’t begin unless you know where you are. The first step in creating a cybersecurity plan that protects your business from cyberattacks is an assessment of your cybersecurity posture (cyberposture). Once you have identified your key information assets and vulnerabilities, you can start to put together a plan to prevent attacks and minimize damage should a breach occur. Let’s start with what cybersecurity posturing is.

What Is Security Posturing?

Your company’s cybersecurity posture is your overall strength, or posture, against cyber attacks. Your posture includes prevention and response, as well as the ability to predict future attacks and be prepared for them. How do you assess security posture? In order to assess your cybersecurity posture, we first do an inventory of all information-related technology in your business. Then we assign the level of importance in that information. Finally, we identify the level of control you currently have in protecting those resources. That all adds up to your cybersecurity posture and will aid you in creating and implementing your cybersecurity plans. It is important to understand that a low score isn't a reason for inaction. Continue to improve your posture. Stay realistic and take incremental steps.

Try our CyberPosture Self-Assessment

What Are The Three Pillars Of Cybersecurity?

The three pillars of cybersecurity that hold up your company’s protection against a breach include the following:

• People: Your people are your biggest vulnerability. Therefore, it is vital that your workforce receive proper training on how to fend off attacks and how to respond to an attack once it is discovered. It’s your people who will follow the procedures below and who will be using the technology.
• Processes: Your processes define roles and levels of access. There’s a reason the military and CIA have a “need to know” rule. It limits access to key information and reduces the risk of loss. Your processes include your entire cybersecurity plan to prevent and react to attacks.
• Technology: While most of today’s attacks leverage vulnerable humans (social engineering, malware, ransomware, etc.), there are still hackers out there looking to find holes in your technology. Outdated software and hardware, poor username/password policies, and network security (or lack thereof) can land your business in a tenuous position including a potential end to the business.

How Can I Improve My Security Posture?

Taking an already complicated situation and trying to create improvements can sound like a daunting task. We have broken it down into a very simple process that includes an assessment, planning, implementation, and training. You can even start with our Self-Assessment tool to get started. If that shows any red flags or existing vulnerability, then move on to a full assessment and cybersecurity plan. That plan is the most important part of improving your security posture, as everything else builds from that.

The steps to improve your cybersecurity posture are:

• Assess your current situation.
• Create and implement a cybersecurity plan.
• Train your team up on your plan.

As you work through this process, you’ll firm up those pillars of cybersecurity. In the end, you’ll spend most of your time and budget on preventing cyber attacks rather than on the more costly reaction to fixing a breach. The aftermath of a security breach can be embarrassing to your business at the very least and fatal at the worst. An ounce of prevention is a wise investment.

Learn more about our Cybersecurity Panning, Implementation, and Training, then contact us to start your planning.