Digital transformation is at the core of the development of all organizations; from businesses to governments and corporations, and it is present in every industry. Embracing transformation has for some been a longer process than others, but one that is generally valued, nonetheless. However, with the benefits of digital transformation, comes the unfortunate disadvantages; cyber threats and disasters. But that is nothing new, and most organizations have, for a long while, understood the importance of having a cybersecurity framework in place. The question now is whether the standard cybersecurity measures are enough? The answer is no - businesses need cyber resilience.
Cyber security is no longer enough: businesses need cyber resilience
The numbers in cybercrime are on the rise with global cybercrime in 2021 amounting to $16.4 billion per day. 2022 has also seen its fair share of various cyberattacks, such as the Crypto.com breach in January, which resulted in the targeting of nearly 500 people’s cryptocurrency wallets, and subsequently the theft of $18 million worth of Bitcoin and $15 million worth of Ethereum. The breach was caused by a compromised two-factor authentication. More recently, The Nikkei Group fell victim to a ransomware attack on May 13th after an unknown source gained unauthorized access to their internal server. In March, Microsoft was targeted by the hacking group, Lapsus$. Although Microsoft confirmed that no data had been compromised, they are only one of many companies that the collective has hacked including Nvidia, Samsung, Ubisoft, and T-Mobile to name a few.
It is not just major corporations that are vulnerable to these threats but also governments, societies, and individuals, at different organizational levels. One such example is the attempted attack on the Jordan Ministry of Foreign Affairs that ensued through a phishing email.
While we may not be able to get rid of every cyber threat out there, we can navigate digital transformation in a way that allows us to get a better understanding of what we can do to protect our digital assets. This is where cyber resilience comes in to enable organizational continuity in the face of cyber adversity.
What is cyber resiliency?
Cyber resiliency refers to the ability of an organization to survive and protect itself in the event of a cyber-attack or security incident. The strength of your system in detecting, responding to, and recovering from an attack is what will ensure that your company can withstand digital transformation in an era of imminent cyber threats.
There are four crucial elements for a cyber resilience strategy to be successful:
- Management and protection: Identifying, assessing, and managing any cyber threats to the network - including those across third-party and fourth-party vendors.
- Identification and detection: The use of consistent and continuous scanning capabilities to detect vulnerabilities in the network before any damage can be done or information can be breached.
- Response and recovery: Incident response techniques need to be put in place to ensure that your company can continue operating in the event of a cyber-attack.
- Authority assurance: Cyber resilience should be monitored and overseen by senior authorities from within the organization.
Why is cyber resilience necessary?
Cyber resilience is essentially the public spectacle of your company’s will to survive a cyber attack. It stands as proof of your organization’s integrity and commitment to getting up whenever it gets knocked down.
A few common reasons why cyber resilience is so important can be charted as follows:
- Business continuity. Cyber resilience reduces the frequency of cyber-attacks on your organization and an effective incident response protocol in place will ensure that your company doesn’t suffer the brunt of downtime and loss of productivity – even from within the clutches of a cyber-attack.
- Avoiding financial losses. IBM has stated in a report that the global average cost of a data breach in 2022 reaches up to US$4.35M. While we all want to believe that we’ll never be the victims of a ransomware attack, the chances are increasing rapidly each day. The recovery expenditure after a cyber-attack alone is enough to cripple most small to medium-sized enterprises. Cyber resilience ensures that your company finds and mitigates the problem quickly, extending your financial hold on the situation and decreasing your expenses.
- Brand reputation. Once hit with an attack, your company’s recovery is always watched closely by the public and even a hint of flawed planning or a lag in response can cause a brand’s reputation to be permanently tarnished. Governments are quick to condemn organizations for not adhering to established data protection laws and industry partners are even quicker to pull the plug on investments with companies that don’t tidy up neatly in the face of a cyber-attack.
- Customer trust. It’s easy to see how customers might feel uneasy about trusting an organization with their data and information after a cyber-attack. Companies that make use of data protection software and advanced cybersecurity solutions that ensure encryption and effective cyber resilience in the face of a data breach will establish a better sense of trust and loyalty in their customers.
- The competitive advantage. Establishing cyber resilience pushes you to enhance your company’s digital infrastructure, which will in turn give you an advantage over your competitors. A more advanced IT department makes your organization look innovative and adaptable – features that are attractive to potential clients and investors.
- Advanced threat protection. The improved IT infrastructure demanded by cyber resilient strategies will enhance the cybersecurity measures of your organization and reduce the risk of any cyber threats that might afflict your systems. Prevention is always better than cure and, in this case, the improved detection and response solutions adopted by your network will be far more effective before any recovery resilience is necessary at all.
Why building cyber resilience needs more than just technology
Technology plays a key role in the cybersecurity solutions that combat cyber threats. Threat detection, network security, antivirus and anti-malware software, backups, firewalls, and more, are all dependent on technology. This is why cybersecurity and cyber resilience are different. BitSight defines cybersecurity as “the methods and processes of protecting electronic data. This includes identifying data and where it resides and implementing technology and business practices to protect it.”
While the terms may differ, cybersecurity is an important part of cyber resilience, as both concepts are based on technology-related solutions. Cyber resilience takes it a step further by being a framework that does not just revolve around security. It aims to ensure business continuity under all circumstances.
Some of the elements that are associated with cyber resilience include:
- Detection: Detection should be automated and advanced enough to detect even the most expertly hidden threats, as well as spot vulnerabilities that may be leaving the organization susceptible to threats or unprepared for disasters
- Mitigation and Prevention: After detection, solutions must be implemented that will remove and patch up all weak points, as well as the strengthen any defenses that will be put into motion should disasters occur
- Response: Response must be quick, and limit further damage
- Recovery: Recovery must take place after the damage has been assessed. It is essential to the continuity
- Continuity: The organization must continue to meet its business goals and grow
How easy is it to build cyber resilience?
Many organizations build cyber resilience through experiences that have put their cybersecurity at risk or exposed weak spots in their cybersecurity, but you do not have to wait to be the victim of a disaster to embrace cyber resilience. By understanding the importance of cyber resilience, the drive to create a cyber resilience framework should arise, and that is the first step in building cyber resilience. There are many ways to approach it, with various sources differently prioritizing the components of a strong framework.
How can Sangfor help to build Cyber Resilience?
As stated earlier on, cyber security isn’t enough; but it certainly is a step in the right direction. The right cyber security framework, from the right vendor, will take into consideration every aspect of what a good defense against cyber crimes and disasters looks like, and that means taking cyber resilience into account.
At Sangfor, our mission is to provide a full analysis of an organization’s security network and put in adequate threat detection and response platforms that will assist in identifying any existing and potential threats, and eradicating those present while closing vulnerabilities that could lead to infections or breaches.
Some of our solutions and products include:
- Sangfor Cyber Command: It is an NDR platform built for the sole purpose of detecting and responding to threats on an organization’s network;
- Sangfor Incident Response: provides a full scope on all compromises, identifying why, what, when, and how an attack or breach occurred;
- Sangfor Platform-X: A cloud-based security management platform; and more.
Sangfor NGAF
Our solutions take a full-view approach to organizational security, providing solutions that fulfill the requirements of a cyber resilience framework.
Conclusion
Resilience determines whether we overcome adversity and grow as humans. Our organizations are no different. And with the expansion in threats and disasters, cyber resilience frameworks implement structures, policies, and systems that ensure disaster recovery and preparation strategies that will allow businesses to continue to meet their goals with peace of mind.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cyber resilience is the ability of an organization/entity to respond to, survive, and learn from various cyber threats or disasters whether or not they have already occurred. Cyber resilience also dictates whether an organization is sufficiently prepared for potential disasters, known and unknown.
Cyber resilience means that in the face of adversity brought on by cyber disasters of any kind, a business is prepared to overcome the obstacles that challenge the security and wellbeing of its digital infrastructure and, therefore, its overall survival.
In cybersecurity, resilience refers to an entity having adequate cybersecurity resources to fend against any potential threats, this involves detecting them, removing them, and having measures that will avoid them as far as possible.
Cyber resilience is important because it dictates whether organizations will survive in the face of adversity. No organization is exempt from the possibility of being a target of cybercrime or being vulnerable to cyber disasters such as data loss or breaches. Cyber resilience helps organizations have frameworks that will allow them to recover from these scenarios and resume business practices.
Furthermore, the landscape of cyber threats is continuously growing, and cyber resilience involves the constant updating of systems to prepare for unfamiliar threats. In doing so, organizations will grow by continuously adapting to these landscapes. Cyber resilience encourages organizational growth and innovation.
