Layering Cyber Resilience Over Cyber Security Is the New Security Gold

Cybersecurity used to be all the craze, but we can now see that it is not enough.

If otherwise was the case, we would not have the big brands like Uber and Yahoo, among others, falling victim to some hacks and breaches which they could have prevented against. Of course, there is the occasional chance (like in the case of a specific Sony hack) that the company knew about their flaws and failed to move fast enough – but that is not always the case.

This current situation has given way to more being done to securely protect the interests of the business/ individual and their data when a data breach occurs. To put it in simpler terms, we now have cyber resilience to talk about.

What Cyber Resilience Is

Taking all the necessary measures to prevent the data breach in the first place used to be the cybersecurity department. That is also a part of a good cyber resilience framework, but it does not stop there.

We mentioned how Yahoo and Uber had been subjected to hacks in the past up there. There are a ton of other companies – Microsoft, Google, Twitter, and more – that have also been in the same shoes.

In the same light, we know of companies that almost instantly fold up after being subjected to a data breach. It is evident that the folding up did not come from being hacked alone but not managing the situation right.

This is where cyber resilience shines through.

Cyber resilience can be said to be the steps taken by an entity to identify, protect, manage, and recover from a data breach whenever it happens. It follows the prospects of hoping for the best while preparing for the worst to happen – and knowing just how to handle the worst when it does happen.

Threat actors will always be upping their game against the current cybersecurity protocols. Thus, companies can only try their best to keep them out before a flaw that they did not even know about is found in their systems.

That makes it advisable for them to not only prepare to keep hackers out but also have a protocol in place for when their initial plan fails.

The Best Cyber Resilience Frameworks

The most effective cyber resilience framework for an entity will differ from that of another. However, they will share elements of similarity in different aspects, informing what everyone should aim to have in their framework.

Breaking down multiple cyber resilience frameworks, we have the following:

• Identification of assets – trying to protect everything at once is good, but can also make you lose track of what’s important. By the time you get to such, it might have been too late. That is why you should always identify which of your assets are the most important for protection before you start drawing up a plan.
• Protection of assets – bordering on the line of traditional cybersecurity, this is where you deploy all the basic and advanced resources to protect all of your assets (databases, networks, files, etc.). Under this aspect, it is not uncommon to install antimalware on the network, download a VPN app to encrypt traffic, put up a firewall, lockdown external system access, and more. Such measures should be tighter around more sensitive assets.
• Monitoring – now that you know what to protect, if you are protecting it, start monitoring the system for breaches. You don’t pray for one to happen, but you want to catch it as fast as possible. That is how you ensure not much damage has been done before you nip the issue in the bud.
• Recovery – a recovery plan is crucial to every cyber resilience framework. Plan for the different attacks that could happen – and what you would do in the instance of each. You can contract an IT security firm for this as they are more experienced with the kind of breaches you could face.

About Author

Matthew Stern is a technology content strategist at TechFools, a tech blog aiming to inform readers about the potential dangers of technology and introduce them to the best ways to protect themselves online.

As a tech enthusiast and an advocate for digital freedom, Matthew is dedicated to introducing his readers to the latest technology trends and teaching them how to gain control over their digital lives.