NIST defines cyber resilience as “the ability to anticipate, withstand, recover from, and adapt to adverse conditions, stresses, attacks, or compromises on systems that use or are enabled by cyber resources.”
The idea of cyber resilience holds a strong foundation in defence-in-depth solutions and designs that can protect the traditional frameworks and approaches. In the recent uprising of cyber threats and attacks, the need for cyber resilience has increased exponentially.
Global bodies such as the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), G7, Financial Stability Board (FSB), and others have cyber resilience at the top of their agenda. It’s time to include it in your organisations’ agenda, too.
Pillars of Cyber resilience
In 2020, 64% of companies worldwide have experienced at least one form of a cyber attack and ransomware cases have increased by 150%. Post the Covid-19 pandemic, this alarming rate of attacks is why organisations want to be well equipped to handle risks. Here are three pillars on which cyber resilience stands as a strong framework for the future:
People
The first pillar of Cyber Resilience is people since employees are the most vulnerable entry points for breaches. A resourceful team equipped with the knowledge and right tools is essential to deal with cyber threats and attacks. Invest in training your team to decrease the risk probability and maintain a clear understanding of the critical assets associated with information.
Process
It is equally necessary to have a streamlined and organisation-wide process that can be launched if and when the system is under attack. Also, to limit the severity of attacks, a proactive strategy that actively monitors and responds should be implemented using the capabilities available in your stack.
Technology
Precaution is always better than the cure. Technology here includes all the tools, solutions, and capabilities one can gather to combat the attack. In case you find yourself dealing with malicious actors or cyber threats, you should have the means to get out of it with minimum loss to the business.
Steps to Cyber resilience 2021
Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither is the cyber resilience of any organisation. It’s an ongoing process of upgrading and updating with everyday practices. In order to grow the team with cyber resilience at the core, IT leaders are incorporating strategic processes with security positioned as a key factor. Here’s how you can achieve it:
- Prepare: Identify the entry points for the threats and attack vectors, and analyse the effects they might have on your system and business.
- Protect: Implement and invest in cybersecurity best practices to ensure you are protected from bad actors.
- Detect: Employ a system to detect early signs of intrusion and incorporate policies that can help you deal with them.
- Respond: Eliminate harmful impacts by reacting to threats in a strategic manner keeping in view possible retaliation in future.
- Recover: Assure continuity of operations as you repair the damage incurred from the attack and rebuild your walls of security. i f you have written the 3 pillars then do you need these bullets?
Next-generation Cyber Resilience 2022
Government and administrative departments continue to be one of the top targeted sectors in 2020-21. The cyberattack on the Norwegian parliament’s e-mail system was the biggest attack in the Nordic region.
Organisations are having to embrace new edge technologies to extend worker productivity in the remote culture. Further, implementing security practices like data encryption and key management can safeguard the scattered workforce of the future.
More than an additional layer of defence, cyber resilience frameworks are emerging with everyday strategies for global teams. Industries are leaning towards policies like zero-trust and reinforcing the right security behaviour to reduce human errors.
Just like any other risk or setback, a business should be equipped for, cyber crimes are preventable and can be managed with the cyber resilience strategy. All it takes is the first step towards preparing for it.
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