Accomplish More With What You’ve Got: Cyber-Resilience on a Budget

Businesses of all sizes face even more difficulties in cybersecurity resilience, especially those tasked with protecting the digital infrastructure, in this difficult economic climate. One thing is for sure – cybercriminals will not stop their attacks. They will increase threat action by pointing to resource constraints, personnel shortages, and growing new vulnerabilities. 

Since the economy is expected to remain volatile, many new projects, including those to ensure public safety, may be delayed. Security officials will likely be under more pressure than ever to demonstrate the effectiveness of their initiatives.

What can your business do now that accomplishes the same level of cyber resilience without burning through resources?

Let’s start with Organizational Preparedness.

Maintaining cyber resilience depends heavily on the preparation of organizations. It entails planning for and preparing for cyber incidents and developing and implementing a complete cybersecurity strategy that addresses possible threats and vulnerabilities. When businesses are better equipped for cyber attacks, there’s less financial loss, less damage to their image, and less loss of customer trust. Here are 4 ways of enhancing an organization’s readiness–

• Implementing and regularly updating security policies and procedures
• Offering employees ongoing learning opportunities
• Conducting drills on how to handle emergencies regularly
• Knowledge of current hacking issues and developments

Companies can strengthen their protection and lessen the effects of cyberattacks by preparing for them in advance. To assess your own organization’s readiness for cyber resilience, ask yourself the following key questions–

Cyber Risk Assessment

1. 1. Have we identified and prioritized our critical assets and potential cyber risks?
   2. Have we put adequate safeguards in place, considering these dangers and the value of our assets?
   3. Do we know if our staff has been educated and informed on proper hacking procedures?
   4. When was the last time we ran through our incident reaction procedure?
   5. Do we follow all of the rules and guidelines for cybersecurity that apply to us?
   6. Have we evaluated the security of our supply network from an outside perspective?
   7. Is our organization currently on top of the most pressing hacking issues?
   8. Do we guarantee the efficacy and suitability of our cybersecurity plan by reviewing it and updating it regularly?

Security Policy Effectiveness

1. 1. Is my security stack, as it stands, capable of identifying and blocking threats as outlined in our security policy? 
   2. How well do I have the strategy set up? 
   3. Is it possible for dangers to sneak through even if safeguards do their job? 
   4. Can we handle the amount of malicious activity?  
   5. When can AI tools be most helpful? 
   6. Is my group aware of what they need to prioritize? 
   7. Is the remediation time within my risk tolerance?

Threat Analysis

1. 1. In what ways might 2023 bring about shifts in our risk profile or the ecosystems we need to safeguard? 
   2. Which parts of my system are more vulnerable now than a year ago, and how has my attack area changed? 
   3. Can we rapidly assess whether or not newly emerging threats threaten us? 
   4. Should I be creating stronger links in my software delivery chain? 
   5. From where might an intruder most likely enter the facility? 
   6. What would we lose regarding networks, data, and operations if an attack were to succeed? 
   7. Have we implemented adequate safety measures? 
   8. Have we taken proactive steps to validate a security or just relied on reactive software?

Business Impact Assessment

1. 1. What are our most vulnerable systems, data, and operations?
   2. What do we stand to lose if they’re successfully attacked? 
   3. Have we taken the proper precautions? 
   4. Have we employed harsh security validation measures in addition to defensive programs?

Managing Through Constraints

To maximize scarce resources, prioritize the most valuable data points and information sources. Cybersecurity solutions should be able to see across all departments and tasks and should not be constrained by individual responsibilities. It is also critical to practice emergency procedures in a safe setting to ensure that they will work in the event of an actual incident. Companies should prioritize and implement system updates, upgrades, and patches based on the likelihood of an attack and the possible impact.

Extending Cyber Resilience with UDT

Cyber resilience must evolve into a continuous and automated process to achieve incremental improvements without wasting time or money. Using systems to improve and extend the team’s capabilities can be a very effective strategy. The current team can achieve and even surpass goals and overall metrics by using automation that can be used securely and effectively, such as in virtual red teaming, regular validation operations, and other operations that don’t require manual supervision.