Understanding IT Security Threat Mitigation

IT Security Threat Mitigation

Is cybersecurity a major concern for your company? A thorough risk assessment may be the first step towards mitigating the threats facing your organization.  

There are dangers surrounding your business on all sides, but the most pervasive risk of all is one that might surface from within your organization: cybersecurity risk. Even companies whose leadership feels that they’ve taken all the appropriate measures for protection are suddenly spending hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of dollars attempting to remediate issues from a major breach. Communicating with customers is expensive, and the negative PR gained from a massive data breach or attack can make it difficult to gauge the full impact on the organization. While it may be impossible to thwart every attack, you can significantly limit your risks with proactive IT security threat mitigation. By exploring all of the potential ways that a cybercriminal could exploit your organization, you’re prepping your business to maintain operations and withstand the inevitable attacks.

Why Your Business Must Manage Cybersecurity Risk

Smaller businesses are softer targets — at least that’s what cybercriminals seem to think. With more than 43% of cyberattacks aimed at small to mid-size businesses, it’s time for organizations of all sizes to consider the need for managing cybersecurity risk. Massive enterprises often have entire teams devoted to maintaining a secure environment, but small businesses rarely have access to these resources. It’s one of the reasons that more companies are turning to outsourced IT services providers for IT security threat mitigation. Identifying these cyber risks upfront allows you to prioritize issues for remediation, reducing the possibility of a devastating attack on your livelihood. Businesses grow organically over time, often resulting in a less-than-secure environment that makes it challenging for internal IT staff to fully identify the risks.

Stages of IT Security Threat Mitigation

Prepping your business for the onslaught of cybersecurity risks requires a thoughtful, step-by-step process to first assess and then mitigate the various threats facing your corporation. Perhaps the most important aspect of your IT security threat mitigation strategy is to gain buy-in from the executive leadership team and key managers. This helps ensure that ongoing education for employees becomes a priority and that your remediation recommendations will get priority in the funding queue.

1. Identify your most attractive digital properties, documenting why these particular components are a risk and how your data is currently being protected.
2. Become familiar with industry-specific techniques and tactics that could become external vulnerabilities — as well as the potential threats from disgruntled employees or those interested in stealing intellectual property.
3. Look for known system vulnerabilities, including penetration testing or white-hat hacking to identify unexpected areas of egress that could be exploited by dedicated cybercriminals.
4. Define possible business outcomes in the event of an attack and form loose outlines of your response. This should include a full incident response (IR) plan, detailing communication workflows and identifying both IT and business-related operations.
5. Prioritize the results of your efforts, quickly remediating the most immediate threats and putting measures in place to ensure ongoing status review.

It’s all too easy to do a one-time sweep through your business, patting yourself on the back for a job well done in identifying and remediating the threats. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of cybersecurity is that it’s an unending cycle of identifying and patching threats, requiring ongoing diligence and attention.

Protecting your organization against cybersecurity risk is rising in awareness throughout the C-Suite and beyond. Where IT security threat mitigation used to be something discussed only in legal or operational realms, business leaders at all levels are becoming engaged with how to prevent cybersecurity attacks — and the value of prioritizing remediation for any potential vulnerabilities. When you need assistance filtering through this complex landscape, contact the professionals at Palindrome Consulting anytime to schedule your free initial consultation. We work closely with companies throughout the Fort Lauderdale and Broward County area to create a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity that helps mitigate your overall risk to support the long-term, successful operation of your corporation.