Strengthening Cybersecurity: Strategies to Mitigate Business Risks
Cybersecurity: Keys to close the doors:
The focus on network visibility, application availability, data center resilience, people training, and continuous cybersecurity monitoring are fundamental strategies to minimize risks.
The increasing sophistication and quantity of cyberattacks. Some relevant data from the ESET Security Report 2023[1], show that 69% of Latin American organizations suffered a cyberattack within the last year.
Furthermore, in many cases, organizations are not even aware of these breaches.
In this scenario, having a robust cybersecurity strategy in place to “close the doors” to cybercriminals is of the essence to ensure business continuity and reliable access to systems, both by employees and customers.
It all starts on the network. A secure network protects your resources from unauthorized access, inappropriate use, and information modification or denial. Access points (APs) protection -devices that enable wireless terminals to connect- is of the essence, since they are precisely one of the main potential entry doors for attackers.
The next step is given by application and data centers protection: deployment of robust measures to protect webpage access and parameters to detect and mitigate suspicious activities. Use of advanced firewalls, intrusion detection systems, multi-factor authentication and data encryption is recommended to ensure a comprehensive defense.
This is just the beginning. Acquiring the best tools available to mitigate risks or setting a static plan over time is not enough to achieve a robust protection. Let’s bear in mind we are talking about a highly dynamic segment, with new types of attacks appearing on a daily basis and where everything changes at great speed.
Ongoing and proactive monitoring
This is why an ongoing and proactive monitoring for threat prediction, prevention, and detection is required, including a penetration test review. The presence of a technology partner as Cirion Technologies may be key in this pathway: not only it provides the best available security platforms and tools, but updated knowledge, trendy insights, expertise to prepare recovery in the event of breach and, most importantly – talent, one of the scarcest assets in this market.
Monitoring is an essential practice, since it enables detection of potential incidents thanks to the active and passive monitoring of event logs, traffic patterns, users and systems behavioral anomalies, and any other unusual activity.
And to achieve a truly solid and sustainable protection over time, an additional point maybe one of the weakest links in the chain, must be necessarily reinforced; i.e., people. Raising awareness across the organization regarding the importance of IT for the business, sensitive information and risks is another pillar on which a successful cybersecurity strategy is grounded.
[1] This report addresses Latin American companies’ main concerns as far as Information Security is concerned, as well as the number of security incidents reported during the last year, and the impact of specific threats such as ransomware, spyware and trojans.
Author:
Ricardo Pulgarín
Security Solutions Architecture Manager
Cirion Technologies