Cybersecurity affects companies of all sizes in all industries. The threat is serious and constantly changing, and legal and regulatory requirements are constantly increasing. The damage faced by the enterprise means that IT security cannot be ignored.
If you are already working with an IT security provider, this is just the beginning. Regular communication with your provider on cyber security issues is essential to protect your business interests and ensure accountability.
IT security is the same as any other outsourced service. If you hire an accountant, it will still check your bank balance. Therefore, just because you have IT security services, you should be interested in their security.
You may think “I don’t know what to ask”. This is why we have put together 10 questions to ask your IT security provider.
What is the Biggest Risk My Business Faces?
According to Gartner, by 2020, 30% of the global top 2000 companies will be directly attacked by independent cyber activists or cyber criminals.
Your company must identify security breaches and their possible impact on your business To prioritize real risks. You can then ensure that the budget for managing these risks is allocated accordingly.
You should ask your IT security provider whether they fully understand the impact of relevant laws, regulations, and contractual requirements related to network security.
Do you Test Our System before an Issue?
There are many tests to assess the vulnerabilities of systems, networks, and applications. An important element of any security system should be regular penetration testing,
Pen tests which is a simulated attack on a computer system with the purpose of discovering exploitable security vulnerabilities. They help determine whether key processes such as patching and configuration management have been followed correctly.
Many companies do not perform regular penetration tests and mistakenly believe that they are safe, but new vulnerabilities and threats appear every day, and companies need to keep testing them Defend against emerging threats.
Do you regularly conduct IT security risk assessments?
The risk assessment should ensure that your company has considered all relevant risks. In addition, there is a universally defined and understood way to communicate the results of the risk assessment and take action.
If you are unsure of the risks associated with the vulnerability, your organization may misplace security efforts and resources. This method not only wastes time and money, but also expands the window of opportunity for hackers to exploit critical vulnerabilities.
Advanced security operations teams use threat intelligence to understand the capabilities and activities of potential threat actors and current plans, and to predict current and future threats.
How do we prove compliance with our cyber security?
Audits can support your business needs to understand the effectiveness of your network security. If an organization chooses to comply with an information security standard, such as ISO 27001, the certification body can conduct an independent review of its information security control.
Which can be used as a competitive advantage when bidding for new businesses, as described below. Examples of companies that have passed ISO 27001 certification.
Certification can also provide convincing evidence that the company has taken due care in protecting its information assets.
Do you provide an effective IT security awareness program?
A large number of violations are caused by employee errors or negligence. A GSIS survey shows that employees are responsible for 27% of all cybersecurity incidents.
Social engineering is still a common strategy through which criminals can enter the network through secret methods and strip weak or unknowing employees.
The pressure is high enough. Studies have shown that traditional cybersecurity awareness measures can be greatly enhanced through a multifaceted security plan, which can create a comprehensive cultural change and resolve ongoing employee misconduct.
If a data breach occurs, what is your response plan?
This is no longer a question of ‘if’, but a question of ‘when’ will be violated.
The key difference between companies that can survive a data breach and those that do not implement a cyber resilience strategy is that the strategy takes incidents into account. Response plans, business continuity and disaster recovery strategies to recover from cyber attacks with minimal business interruption.
The board of directors should also be aware of the laws that govern their obligations to disclose data breaches. The NIS Directive and GDPR are examples of legislation that introduces corporate reporting obligations for violations.
Do we comply with major IT security standards?
Examples include the leading international information security management standard ISO 27001, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), and the CyberEssentials program (providing basic cyber security protection against 80% of cyber attacks)
Certified to major international standards, such as ISO 27001 means that the company adopts proven cybersecurity best practices and takes a holistic approach to protect not only online information, but also the risks associated with people and processes.
Companies can also choose independent certification to verify that the control measures they implement are working as expected.
Do we need to spend more money for IT Security?
There is more money to buy more technology to fix network security vulnerabilities. The key is to take a strategic approach to budget allocation in order to have a real impact on your company’s information security situation.
Higher security does not translate into higher technology. In fact, technology alone cannot protect your business from ever-present threats.
Companies must prioritize what steps need to be taken to comply with current legislation and prioritize the prevention and handling of attacks to protect their continued security status.
Do you have network visibility?
Poor visibility into network behavior can cause serious damage to the organization. IBM’s 2017 data breach cost study showed that the average time to detect a data breach was 191 days.
Many administrators do not have enough in-depth network access rights and security intelligence to accurately understand the real situation. They lack the tools to quickly identify, explain, and respond to threats.
IT and security teams must be trained to maintain clear and continuous visibility into the network.
When was the last time you tried our recovery procedure?
The impact of business continuity management shows that the business continuity plan significantly reduces the time to identify and control data breaches.
Effective business continuity management (BCM) helped the company save 43 days to identify violations and 35 days to contain violations.
The plan should be tested regularly to determine whether the business can recover quickly after being attacked. Some ‘what if’ ideas should determine the vulnerability of your backup options to cyber attacks.
For example, a malicious attack on your data may go undetected for a period of time, and backup data may have been stolen.
