As your organization’s cybersecurity expert, you must be aware of the growing landscape of cyber threats. Cybercriminals are becoming more proficient, employing advanced tools to breach sensitive IT assets, target companies, and interfere with daily operations. In light of this, you must evaluate and improve your cybersecurity posture to protect your company from cyber-attacks.
But what do we mean when we talk about “cybersecurity posture”?
A cybersecurity posture, or more simply, security posture, is your company’s overall security status across all software, hardware, services, networks, information, vendors, and service providers. It usually consists of vendor risk management, vulnerability management, data breach prevention, penetration testing, network security, information security (InfoSec), and other security measures. Your organization’s security posture must include security awareness training to thwart social engineering assaults.
This blog will discuss how you can assess and improve your company’s cybersecurity posture. We will elaborate on the importance of a security posture, highlight some examples of cybersecurity postures, outline some steps to evaluate your cybersecurity posture, and some strategies to reinforce it.
But first, let’s define a cybersecurity posture.
What is a Cybersecurity Posture?
An organization’s “cybersecurity posture” is its comprehensive defense strategy against prospective cyberattacks. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines it as follows:
The information security resources and capabilities to manage enterprise defense and adjust as circumstances change to determine the security state of a business’s networks, information, and systems. This covers all implemented security measures, such as antivirus and malware protection software, security policies, and employee training programs.
Your company’s entire preparedness to handle a possible assault and level of cybersecurity strength can be called its cybersecurity posture. It includes every procedure, tool, security policy, and training course you have implemented to guard against hostile actors.
Now, let’s understand the importance of a security posture.
What is the Importance of a Security Posture?
If you need to know how strong your cybersecurity posture is, your company may become open to various risks and future attacks.
Security breaches can cause financial losses, reputational harm, regulatory fines, and legal lawsuits from parties aggrieved that your company failed to take adequate protection against its cyber risks, in addition to business disruptions and data loss.
Thus, it is important to comprehend your cybersecurity posture to assess your readiness for handling such hazards. You cannot develop a strategy to fortify security controls and produce a robust operating environment if you don’t identify the organizational vulnerabilities within your business.
So, what are some examples of cybersecurity postures? We will elaborate on that in the following section.
What are Some Examples of Cybersecurity Postures?
Here are some examples of cybersecurity posture based on an enterprise’s approach and preparedness to identify, address, and avoid cybersecurity threats:
Reactive
A reactive cybersecurity posture refers to an organization’s response to a data breach rather than taking proactive steps to prevent future breaches.
Proactive
A proactive cybersecurity posture involves taking preventative action by conducting routine security assessments, penetration tests, and vulnerability scans, among other activities, to find and remedy cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
Defensive
A defensive cybersecurity posture involves businesses using firewalls, intrusion detection, antivirus software, access restrictions, and preventative systems, among other defensive techniques, to thwart cyberattacks.
Offensive
An aggressive cybersecurity posture refers to the approach employed by the armed forces and government, which actively identifies and eliminates possible adversaries.
Compliance
A compliance cybersecurity posture involves adopting a comprehensive strategy that meets regulatory obligations and standards and adhering to pertinent legislation and industry best practices.
Risk-Based
A risk-based cybersecurity posture involves prioritizing an organization’s IT assets before adding further protection. In this approach, security professionals evaluate risks based on the possible consequences of a security breach before making other security decisions.
Want a step-by-step guide on evaluating your organization’s security posture? We have provided detailed instructions below.
A Step-By-Step Guide For Evaluating Your Organization’s Security Posture
To assess the cybersecurity posture of your company, it can be useful to ask about things like:
- Can we see every inch of our attack surface?
- Can we properly foresee cyber threats?
- Can we contain them and react to them quickly?
- How quickly can security incidents like malware assaults be recovered from?
- Is it possible to stop these and other types of cyberattacks?
To provide answers to these questions, you need a complete and comprehensive cyber risk assessment. Here are a few fundamental steps to evaluate your organization’s security posture:
Step 1: Identify Business Needs and Objectives
While defending the company against cyberattacks will always be the main objective, how that objective is accomplished will change based on the demands of the situation.
For example, policies and technologies to secure remote devices and Wi-Fi networks are necessary to set up a secure, distant working environment.
Therefore, comprehending the company’s requirements and imperatives should always come first when evaluating cybersecurity posture. The security measures you should prioritize and implement to improve the security posture will depend on these needs.
Step 2: Create an Inventory for Your Data Assets
To improve your security posture, you must know what you are protecting. This involves identifying every asset in your IT landscape, which creates an inventory.
To construct the inventory, list all your assets (hardware and software included) and arrange them from least to most vulnerable. Once that is done, you must also sort them according to business criticality. This exercise will help you compute and measure the risk of an asset breach.
Step 3: Assess Existing Data Assets
This stage involves enumerating every control you now employ to identify, stop, and handle security risks and threats. Do you possess firewalls? Systems for detecting intrusions? SIEM-style automated alerting systems? Training for employees?
It would help if you determined which measures are in place and evaluated how well they work to prevent and expose security vulnerabilities. You should also ascertain which controls need to be reinforced and if the security ecosystem needs any new ones implemented.
Step 4: Identify Attack Vectors and Cybersecurity Risks
So, what are attack vectors? Attack vectors are the techniques that attackers employ to breach your network. These include malware, ransomware, viruses, phishing, improper software patching, misconfigured devices, compromised credentials, and subpar encryption. Every one of these cybersecurity dangers can put the company at risk.
To evaluate the risk, you should calculate the likelihood of a loss event and multiply the resultant amount by the size of the loss that would occur. You can develop your cybersecurity strategy and take action to manage the risk by knowing the possible paths that hackers can use to compromise your organization and by quantifying each risk.
Step 5: Map Out Your Attack Surface
It would help to create a blueprint of your attack surface in this final step. But what is that? An attack surface comprises a combination of your attack vectors and asset inventory. A clear understanding of your assets and potential avenues for compromise can help you focus your efforts on strengthening your security posture.
You will also be able to choose the best cybersecurity framework and implement incident response plans to handle risks related to data security and other areas. The framework must offer precise instructions on recognizing possible hazards, implementing preventative measures, spotting cyber threats, and reacting to security incidents.
Last, let’s examine some strategies for assessing and improving your company’s security posture.
Strategies To Assess and Improve Your Organization’s Security Posture
Here are five strategies that can help you better evaluate and improve the cybersecurity posture of your business:
Automate Your Asset Inventory Management
As your IT environment expands, updating your asset inventory by hand will become laborious and time-consuming. However, if maintaining a good security posture is your priority, you must adopt automation because you cannot afford an antiquated inventory.
If you automate your asset inventory management process, it will go more smoothly and with fewer mistakes. Real-time updates to your asset inventory will allow you to promptly adjust your security protocols to preserve the integrity and security of your assets.
Rank and Prioritize Risks
Cybersecurity risk can be ranked in various ways, one of which is using a risk matrix. Risk matrices are useful tools for assigning degrees to the cyber risks your company faces. They are created by weighing the consequences your company would face if a possible risk materialized against the likelihood of it occurring.
For instance, an impending hurricane predicted to create power disruptions and interfere with corporate operations would be a high-priority risk. This risk has a high probability of occurring and significantly impacting business.
If you have a strategy for what to do if a storm takes out the electricity, your team won’t rush at the last minute. Your company can provide generators to maintain operations and notify clients or suppliers before the probable interruption. You should prioritize the most dangerous risks and concentrate your team’s time and resources on reducing their effects.
Conduct Third-Party Vendor Assessments
Evaluating the cybersecurity posture of your third-party partners and vendors, particularly those who handle sensitive data or offer essential services, can also help you improve your security posture.
You might determine their weaknesses and the potential harm a threat actor could cause to your company if they are exploited.
Create an Incident Management Plan
Once you determine your company’s most significant risks, it is beneficial to develop a thorough plan outlining how to handle each. These preparations can then be kept in an incident response plan, a document that helps an organization return to normalcy promptly following a risk occurrence.
Your incident management plan should clearly define the roles and duties of team members. It should also include instructions on reporting the occurrence and who to notify, such as the board of directors or customers.
Following the elimination and resolution of a threat, your team should conduct a post-operation assessment to assess the plan’s efficacy, identify areas for improvement, and document lessons learned to prevent future occurrences. An incident management plan can help assign responsibilities to high-priority risks, dividing the intimidating risk management process into more manageable chunks.
Define Metrics To Monitor Your Security Posture
Establishing and tracking the right metrics can help you adjust your security posture over time to improve your security posture.
The appropriate metrics and service-level agreements (SLAs) can increase attack surface visibility and promptly address risks and vulnerabilities. You can also evaluate security procedures’ efficacy and identify areas for improvement using these metrics. Examples of such metrics include number of incidents, dwell time, number of known vulnerabilities, security awareness training completion rates, and compliance reports earned.
Security and Compliance with Akitra!
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Using automated evidence collection and continuous monitoring, together with a full suite of customizable policies and controls as a compliance foundation, our compliance automation platform and services help our customers become compliance-ready for NIST’s 800-218 Secure Software Development Framework and other security standards, such as SOC 1, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 9001, ISO 13485, NIST CSF, NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, FedRAMP, CCPA, CMMC, SOX ITGC, and more such as CIS AWS Foundations Benchmark, Australian ISM and Essential Eight etc. In addition, companies can use Akitra’s Risk Management product for overall risk management using quantitative methodologies such as Factorial Analysis of Information Risks (FAIR) and qualitative methods, including NIST-based for your company, Vulnerability Assessment and Pen Testing services, Trust Center, and AI-based Automated Questionnaire Response product to streamline and expedite security questionnaire response processes, delivering huge cost savings. Our compliance and security experts also provide customized guidance to navigate the end-to-end compliance process confidently. Last but not least, we have also developed a resource hub called Akitra Academy which provides easy-to-learn short video courses on security, compliance, and related topics of immense significance for today’s fast-growing companies.
The benefits of our solution include enormous savings in time, human resources, and cost savings, including discounted audit fees with our audit firm partners. Customers can achieve compliance certification fast and cost-effectively, stay continuously compliant as they grow, and become certified under additional frameworks from our single compliance automation platform.
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