Improving cybersecurity posture for enterprises is no longer an option but the need of the hour

By Shally Gupta, IEEE Graduate Member

Cyber risk has become the biggest threat for companies and businesses all around the world. In the Covid-19 era, most enterprises have made a sudden shift to digital platforms to gain customer attention in different sectors like banking, telecommunication, or logistic sector. With this increasing digitization, there has been a prominent increase in cyber-attacks which has the potential to affect business structure at large. Hence, there is a high need to address it – improving cybersecurity posture for enterprises is no longer a choice but the need of the hour. It is therefore essential to explore the vulnerabilities not only in software but in hardware systems as well.

Generally speaking, CERT records around 3000 cybersecurity-related issues every day with the proliferation of internet and mobile usage. Cyber-attacks can come in many forms such as data breaching, ransomware, malware, phishing, or denial-of-service attack. All these attacks significantly affect the enterprise structure but out of these, ransomware has become the most conspicuous of all. It is a type of attack which holds the whole system hostage. As per the reports, ransomware attacks go up to as high as 88% in 2018 and most enterprises are deeply affected by these attacks.

Exposure of business models to new and innovative technology such as Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, and the Internet of things are providing all kinds of benefits for growth but also exposing them to various types of cyber risks. Companies are more than willing to add an extra cost to ensure safe data and upgraded security.

Cyber Security Posture
Cyber security posture refers to the strategies to curb cyber risk. Security policies and cyber security programs should be incorporated into business model to deal with cybercrime challenges. The cyber security posture represents a defense mechanism of a particular company to safeguard their data. All organizations should be encouraged to adopt a new cyber security posture as the traditional method for online security. The new posture would take a holistic approach in protecting every aspect of a business structure more comprehensively and persistently.

Challenges
The IT sector has been prone to severe attacks by bad actors and has become a major endpoint for attacks. In current digital times, information pushed to the internet includes a number of endpoints. The channels have increased significantly, providing a wider surface for attackers to expose. Numerous IoT devices are developed with very little or minimal security built into them and are highly prone to malware or denial-of-service attacks.

It is not just the IT sector as a whole that needs to be protected. Company rules should be laid out for enhanced cybersecurity. It must be seen as the organizations responsibility to defend its business from vulnerabilities. Most companies introduce new policies or hire a high-grade hacker but do not evaluate the potential cyber threats.

Moving Towards a Secured and Networked Business Model
Cyber risk can affect various assets of a business such as data, people, infrastructure, and applications at different levels. Therefore, a comprehensive approach is necessary to mitigate any risk factors. It is essential for companies to accept cyber threats as a bigger risk and should adapt security solutions that can be implemented to confront security and data breaching challenges in the future.

Companies can effectively regulate risk by balancing out their investment strategies for effective risk management and prioritizing the assets of high risk. Setting up business goals considering the security posture as per the company’s needs is important.

Overall, a strategical training program to mentor and educate company employees about the importance of cyber security is necessary. Timely action for the latest and unknown threats that can harm systems should be addressed swiftly. Therefore, Cybersecurity is a mandatory in this age of digital transformation and should be used to protect a company’s private information and maintain confidentiality.