Five Things Management Must Know About Cyber Security

Cyber security is the continuous and evolving nature of security risks themselves. Traditionally, organisations have focused most of their cyber security resources on perimeter security to protect only their most crucial system components and defend against known treats.

As the threats advance and change more quickly than organisations can keep up with this approach is no longer adequate. Here are five points that  business leaders and other organisations' managers must focus on:-

First: Cyber-attacks and hacks will affect your business. Currently, the average cost of the effects of a cyber breach is very expensive and is criminally based on the size of the organisation from small, medium to large. Gone are the days where cyber security is strictly the responsibility of your IT staff.  If and when a cyber-attack occurs, it is the leaders who will be held accountable when brand equity and/or business performance is impacted, and so you must understand the risks and be a part of the decision process. 

It is very important to hire an independent company to conduct a cyber risk audit and assessment of government regulatory compliance requirements and industry standards to identify potential gaps in your company’s information security policies, processes, plans, and procedures.

Second: According to most cyber security surveys, over 60% of all data breaches originate from unauthorised access from one of your current or former employees, or third-party suppliers. Cyber space is an increasingly attractive hunting ground for criminals, activists and terrorists motivated to make money, get noticed, cause disruption or even bring down corporations and governments through online attacks. Over recent years, cyber criminals demonstrating a higher degree of collaboration amongst themselves and sometimes employees within the organisation about to be hacked

Third: Achieving information security compliance with one or more government regulatory standards for information security is good, but not sufficient to ensure real cybersecurity. You must also understand the changes coming withIT legal changes. IT Compliance is the process of meeting a third party's requirements for digital security with the aim of enabling business operations in a particular market or with a particular customer.

Compliance establishes a comprehensive baseline for an organisation’s security posture, and diligent security practices build on that baseline to ensure that the business is covered from every angle. 

With an equal focus on both of these concepts, a business will be empowered to not only meet the standards for its market, but also demonstrate that it goes above and beyond in its commitment to digital security.

Fourth: Cyber liability insurance premiums are significantly increasing in cost and often do not cover all of the damages caused by a cyber breach. Cyber insurance provides your digital assets with a layer of protection so you don't lose substantial amounts of money or have to completely halt business operations as a result of the breach. With this policy, you are transferring some of the risks of a cyber attack instead of taking on the risk yourself.

Cyber insurance policies generally do not cover: Potential future lost profits. Loss of value due to theft of your Intellectual Property. Betterment: the cost to improve internal technology systems, including any software or security upgrades after a cyber event.

Fifth: To achieve real information security and data resilience it is vital to combine managed Monitoring, Detection, and Response services with comprehensive disaster recovery and business continuity plans.

Many organisations don’t think a data breach can happen to them. They believe data thieves are only interested in giant corporations with hundreds of thousands of customers, however, research suggests that over 90% of organisations will be hacked with most of them experiencing some severe problems. It has never been more important for business leaders to take action.

BDO:        ATB-Tech:      CSO:        BMC:        Justworks:    Woodruff Sawyer:     Security Metrics:   Digital Guardian: 

A proper cyber security strategy is required and needs to be independently put in place and then reviewed by the Board and senior management.  For more Information and recommendations for professional advice,  please contact Cyber Security Intelligence.

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