Picture cybersecurity like a game of chess: your organization's sensitive data is the king, and a potential hacker is an opposing player. Without a solid defense strategy, your king is more vulnerable to attack. This is where a comprehensive security assessment comes in; it's like a master chess player evaluating the board and devising a winning strategy to safeguard your most valuable assets.
In terms of business, a comprehensive security analysis is crucial to identifying vulnerabilities and guarantees that your company's critical data and assets will be secured.
According to the latest industry reports, exploiting vulnerabilities remains a second-leading vector. Data shows 23,964 vulnerabilities were discovered in 2022, slightly higher than 21,518 in 2021. Although the industry responds to several significant vulnerabilities in any given year, not all are treated equally. Therefore, businesses must examine the entire cyber threat landscape to address a genuine threat that a vulnerability could present.
Identifying Potential Assets, Threats, and Vulnerabilities to Strengthen the Cybersecurity Strategy
Assets: Every asset essential to the business must be evaluated carefully. This includes data, software, hardware, physical assets (vehicles, facilities, equipment, etc.), and personnel.
Threats: The digital world is not a stranger to cyber threats, but it is essential to address them proficiently. Some of these threats include phishing, malware, insider threats, breaches in physical security, and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.
Vulnerability: The vulnerability makes the threat capable of damaging the asset. Non-technical vulnerabilities—such as a lack of disaster recovery or business continuity plans, regulatory compliance failures, physical security weaknesses, and insider threats—have an equal impact on an organization as technical vulnerabilities.
Assets, threats, and vulnerabilities are integral parts of the cybersecurity field and have ties to one another. Therefore, enterprises must scan and address these vulnerabilities to safeguard their assets from future cyberattacks.
How do Vulnerabilities Impact Organizations?
- Operational Technology (OT) vulnerability
Physical processes, such as manufacturing, energy generation, or transportation systems, can be monitored and controlled using hardware or software. Unfortunately, these systems are frequently linked to the internet or other networks, making them susceptible to hackers.
An OT system's vulnerability will impact the asset it controls or monitors. For instance, the manufacturing sector saw the highest attack rate of 24.8% in 2022. If the manufacturing process is affected, substandard products will be made, or production may stop altogether.
Similarly, if an energy production system is compromised, it may result in service interruptions, such as power outages. The impact of an OT vulnerability can vary depending on the asset category and the industry.
A thorough cybersecurity strategy must include employee education, which can also provide a vulnerability if not carried out appropriately. Employees who lack cybersecurity knowledge or best practices training risk unintentionally exposing the company to vulnerabilities that could seriously harm its assets, such as data confidentiality.
Employees can access data or systems they shouldn't be able to if a business doesn't have adequate access controls, which increases the risk of vulnerability exploitation. Attackers use these weaknesses to acquire private information, steal valuable intellectual property, or interfere with crucial activities.
Navigating the Remediation Plan
Attackers are continuously looking for vulnerabilities they can exploit to disrupt an asset of the company. However, the key is to remain vigilant in the management of the organization's security posture by planning and implementing a remediation plan. Prioritizing vulnerabilities is a tried-and-true method of remediation.
Even though the number of vulnerabilities decreased from 27% in 2021 to 26% in 2022, the risk of exploitation does not diminish. The decreased rate is the result of several factors, including practical security assessments.
A comprehensive security assessment includes a vulnerability scan to help security teams identify, prioritize, and resolve issues. But first, let's take an extensive view of the stages involved in the process.
- Recognize the gaps and compile all the data. Your company must be aware of the assets, threats, and vulnerabilities and set aside the necessary resources to address prospective gaps.
- Consider the best antidote for each vulnerability. Some issues can be resolved internally, but a bigger problem with a crucial process needs to be highlighted for better external resourcing.
- To diminish or completely prevent the risk of a threat exploiting the vulnerability, you must take technical and non-technical control of your organizations into your own hands. To do this, your company must evaluate the security risk and assess the assets at stake.
- Based on the identified risk level, appropriate measures should be taken for mitigation. Consider organizational policy, safety and reliability, operational impact, and cost-benefit analysis while going through this procedure to decide whether the risk is high, medium, or low.
- Document the full report, including analyzing all the appropriate organizational choices. In addition, reports must identify each threat, its corresponding weakness, and how it will affect the assets.
Conclusion
Cybersecurity goes beyond installing firewalls and antivirus software; it is about having a comprehensive strategy to identify and mitigate risks. The enterprise risk management and extensive security risk assessment processes are at the core of this strategy. Organizations should secure their assets and data from the constantly changing cyber threat landscape by devoting time and resources to these activities. Zones’ Security Assessment Services offer a comprehensive range of assessments to evaluate your environment's strengths and weaknesses. Our experts delve deep into your practices, identifying areas of vulnerability and empowering you to achieve an ideal security posture. To know more, click here or contact us today and take the first step toward a safer future.
Zones : Jul 14, 2023 8:00:00 AM
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