Today, IT pros can't keep up with the growing number of security updates for systems, or at least not easily. Additionally, they have to deal with multiple compliance mandates, which have been put in place by various agencies.
Contents1. Conduct a risk assessment2. Use privileged access management software3. Keep track of security incidents4. Invest in employee security awareness training5. Require background checks for employees with access to sensitive systems6. Limit data retention7. Encrypt external devices for mobile employees8. Implement policies that limit administrative privileges9. Back up data regularly ConclusionCybersecurity accountability is crucial to preventing data breaches and protecting customers from cybercrime. When companies don't take responsibility seriously, they open themselves up to potential lawsuits and fines.
Here are nine ways to improve cybersecurity accountability in your business:
It is an assessment of current security measures and how well they protect against threats. It highlights areas for improvement and helps management determine what is already working well and where resources should go.
Using privileged access management software is one way to increase cybersecurity accountability. And you might be wondering, "What is Privileged Access Management and why is it needed?" »
Well, privileged access management (which you can see more about in this article) allows companies to limit the number of people with elevated privileges, as well as easily download large files or erase data. It also provides a record of who accessed privileged data, when they did so, and what actions were taken. This makes it easy to control staff activities with special access rights.
This type of software can be used to limit and track the activity of privileged users within a network. It works by granting temporarily elevated privileges if needed, without requiring the administrator to remember complex passwords or authenticate to separate systems.
It's important to keep track of every security incident as a business—be it a data breach, malware infection, virus contamination, etc.— and document how you reacted, what was affected, and the steps you took to resolve the situation. Then, make that information readily available to third parties, like customers and law enforcement.
An organization's best line of defense are its employees, which means it should do everything in its power to ensure that they take the necessary steps to raise their security awareness. This can include holding regular training sessions on emerging cybersecurity trends and how employees can protect themselves against modern cyber attackers. Regular awareness training sessions can improve employees' understanding of how to identify phishing emails, helping them avoid being duped by attacks using social engineering techniques.
You should already have a solution for managing privileged access to potential abuse, to ensure that the access power that certain people may have in your organization is properly verified and neutralized. But, on top of that, it is important that employees undergo background checks before accessing sensitive information or systems. This can help reduce insider threats by ensuring that only trusted people have physical or logical access to important resources.
Organizations should also consider having a strategy in place for how they will respond if they suspect an employee has compromised systems and networks through unauthorized access, misuse of credentials, or infection with a malware.
Organizations can achieve this through Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM) tools, which collect event data from network devices, operating systems, applications, security software, and other sources to provide information on what is happening within the organization.
Under some laws, businesses are required to keep all electronic records related to their business activities for at least seven years. Organizations should implement retention policies that retain only specific data needed for operational purposes instead of indefinitely. Sometimes too much storage can be just as bad as not having enough, as organizations risk storing sensitive data beyond its useful life, which can lead to additional security risks.
Another option is to implement a hardware solution, such as removable or external hard drives, or USB drives, which provide businesses with portability and security. These devices can store large amounts of data, but are much less likely to fail than traditional hard drives.
External storage devices pose a huge security risk as they are easily lost or stolen, which means that if they fall into the wrong hands, the data on them could also be compromised. To help protect these devices, companies should require employees to encrypt all external devices before connecting them to their network. This not only protects sensitive information on the device itself, but also against malware that may attempt to steal data once connected to a workstation.
Administrative privileges should be reserved for IT personnel only because employees who do not need access to sensitive systems and data should not. Organizations should also implement the principle of least privilege, which means employees only have access to the resources and information they need for their respective roles. The fewer privileges an employee has, the less damage they can cause in the event of a compromise.
If data is lost or stolen, much of it can be restored simply by backing it up properly. This includes both physical and logical backup processes, where the former is performed on removable storage devices, such as external hard drives or USB drives, while the latter is stored on a remote server. Both types of backups can be useful when disaster strikes and organizations need to be able to restore files quickly.
However, the ability to restore data from a remote location is especially important for organizations whose employees must work remotely or when an incident occurs while employees are on the road.
By thinking outside the box and implementing innovative solutions, organizations can protect themselves against potential cyberattacks. This includes avoiding weak protocols and encrypting mobile devices, which helps improve cybersecurity accountability.
