The Internet Dilemma: Leveraging the Value While Reducing Vulnerabilities
Today, an organization’s brand and reputation are intrinsically tied to its data security and privacy protections. Years ago, we couldn’t foresee the potential impact of digital technology innovations on brand stability. Network connectivity and digital transformation are a double-edged sword that holds the key to brand promotion and protection while also exposing companies to great risk and vulnerabilities.
Every Story Wants a Happy Ending
A brand’s story highlights the ups and downs of its journey toward success and creates a memorable and relatable platform. But when the story is disrupted by a data breach, that brand, as it relates to users, customers, investors and regulatory bodies, can be seriously damaged or even destroyed.
Cybersecurity has become critically important to maintaining the integrity of a company’s story. When networked elements like databases, servers, apps and endpoints, lack effective security, they become network-connected threats. Users logging into and interacting with corporate assets open virtual doors that can leave organizations vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Expanding Vulnerabilities
The explosion of IoT, the migration to a remote work-from-anywhere, and single-function security product sprawl have expanded security vulnerabilities and risk to unprecedented levels. Today’s corporate perimeters are everywhere all the time. In this perimeter-less digital landscape, defense measures must expand in breadth and vigilance. Just as a moat is not a great defense approach in the 21st century, traditional perimeter-focused IT security isn’t a great defense for today’s expanded business.
Cybersecurity must meet cybercrime without borders. There are ever-increasing remote and mobile users and seemingly limitless amounts of data, including personal and corporate information that should remain secure and private. Escalating vulnerabilities must be met with greater detection mechanisms to curtail the increasing sophistication of cybercrime exploitation.
Cybersecurity must be as agile as today’s workforce to ensure continuous and consistent protection, regardless of where infrastructure, users and devices are located. An organization’s digital transformation, like its brand, is a journey that must continuously adapt and grow. To be successful, at the center of both is explicitly controlled security and vigilance.
The Ugly Truth About Vulnerability Prevalence
In a recent study, pentesters across several industries found 93% of assessed organization’s networks were poorly configured, with 71% of them vulnerable to an unacceptably high degree of attack impact. In many of these, the threat could have been removed by installing updates and patches immediately when required.
Organizations cannot become lax or complacent in light of the ever-escalating attack landscape. They need to address all necessary steps to secure their networks, systems and data. Beyond the necessity for business promotion and brand protection, adequate security is crucial to avoid potential legal liabilities as a result of cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Security measures should include a comprehensive response plan, penetration testing, identity access management, end-to-end encryption, a zero-trust model and multifactor authentication protocols. Security best practices recommend conducting regular staff training and attack simulations in readiness for real threats.
Vigilance Overcomes Vulnerability
Within a multilayered security posture, regular penetration testing is a vital step for ongoing risk mitigation. It utilizes the same tactics and techniques used by cyber attackers to verify vulnerabilities and demonstrate the business impacts of weaknesses in a system. Vulnerable points and gaps are discovered, and the best mitigation techniques are determined before hackers can find and exploit systems.
Organizations can derive the full value and benefits of the internet and digital transformation without falling victim to the crushing impact of exploitable vulnerabilities. They can defend their brand reputation and realize greater potential by employing a comprehensive multilayered security approach and proactive best practices and business protocols.
