According to an ebook published by Accenture, 68 percent of business leaders feel their cybersecurity risks are increasing. Another recent report by RiskBased Security suggests that data breaches exposed 22 billion records in 2021.
Large-scale breaches are on the rise, indicating that the severity of security threats is rising along with their frequency. Sensitive information is exposed in data breaches, which often puts affected consumers in danger of identity theft, damages businesses’ reputations, and exposes companies to legal liability.
Case study
A Global Fortune 100 company was the victim of a cyberattack and data breach, exposing millions of customers’ debit card numbers and their associated pin numbers. The hackers used this information to create fake ATM cards with stolen data embedded in the cards. Using these ATM cards, several million dollars in cash were withdrawn. Through data analysis and malware forensics, hundreds of compromised systems and the initial point of intrusion were analyzed. Following this, an independent cyber security assessment was conducted to support the remediation of security weaknesses and assisted the organization with becoming PCI compliant.
Here are some critical steps businesses can follow to keep cyberattacks at bay:
Identifying a cybersecurity compliance team:
It is crucial to initially establish a compliance team that will be in charge of evaluating, managing, and overseeing compliance and cybersecurity programmes, regardless of the size of the company. A compliance team is also crucial in teaching and alerting IT department teams about new and existing regulations. It is essential to educate the IT department to align compliance with the organization’s objectives. Finally, a solid cybersecurity environment is guaranteed by providing strong coordination between an IT department and the compliance team. Skillmine COMPLYment is a solution that can help businesses streamline their IT GRC requirements with ease.
Implementing an efficient risk assessment plan:
Every department must regularly undertake thorough risk assessments in a security-conscious firm. IT and compliance teams can identify places where regulatory requirements need to be improved by establishing assets with new vulnerabilities. Additionally, sensitive data must be safeguarded from attackers and integrated into risk management processes, including credit card information, financial information, personally identifiable information, and crucial business data.
Steps to implement a successful risk assessment:
- Identify the networks, information systems, and data accessed within the organization.
- Perform a risk assessment of all types of data and assets.
- Perform comprehensive risk analysis and prioritization procedures.
- Establish which risks to mitigate first, accept, or refuse.
Implement security and technical controls:
The risk tolerance identified in the risk assessment and cybersecurity legislation should then be used to guide an organization’s implementation of security and technical measures. Using a particular cybersecurity framework to identify the most appropriate controls is one of the approaches to deploying the proper controls.
Additional technical controls that companies should put in place:
- Mechanisms for encrypting confidential data.
- Software for managing and monitoring endpoints deployed in a network.
- External, internal, and web-based firewalls.
- Standardized anti-malware and anti-virus solutions across the endpoints connecting to a network.
- Incident response and business continuity plans.
Implement and update cybersecurity policies:
An organization can determine the necessary cybersecurity policies, process controls, and procedures for reducing identified cyber hazards through a risk and security assessment. A compliance team can simultaneously amend current policies to reflect the risk mitigation measures. Additionally, several regulatory bodies want corporate compliance departments to provide adequate information on how security procedures and policies interact.
Monitor the systems frequently:
Review the implemented cybersecurity compliance requirements to see if anything is missing. Additionally, testing the controls ensures they can protect sensitive data and infrastructure assets against contemporary threats. In addition, routine testing is advised to guarantee that a business maintains compliance with the relevant requirements. On the other hand, constant monitoring is essential since compliance rules frequently change to combat new data breaches and intrusion techniques. Only via monitoring can a business determine whether compliance standards are being neglected. Monitoring is crucial for identifying new threats and the related measures that will allow for proper retaliation.
Conclusion
Organizations can no longer assume that they will remain undetected by cybercriminals. To prevent costly data breaches, organizations must implement crucial cybersecurity policies and uphold them at all times. Reach out to Skillmine’s Cybersecurity team to know how you can secure your business against data breaches.
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