As a business, relying on an information system requires securing it. Businesses now rely on cyber security to combat online threats. According to reports, firms’ cybersecurity budgets have increased by over 50% since 2020.
However, cyber security is only part of a bigger concept: cyber resilience. This concept targets not just the protection and recovery of data but also ensures your business remains operational when you’re under cyber threats.
This blog will explore this concept, its components, and how you can benefit from integrating it in your business.
Cyber Resiliency Meaning: An Overview
This type of resilience ensures your business has the means to secure your information systems, detect an attack, and restore your core functions after a breach. Furthermore, your business will be resilient when you create and implement a strategy with the following key components:
- Cybersecurity: This resiliency requires responding to cyber threats and securing your information system and the data you store.
- Business Continuity: This resilience ensures you have business continuity by maintaining core operations even as you’re under attack.
- Risk Management: As part of this resilience, you’ll need to analyse the risks you’re vulnerable to and put procedures in place to prevent or minimise their effect.
- Disaster Recovery: This concept requires security protocols such as disaster recovery to ensure that you maintain access to your data.
The Importance of Cyber Resilience
Integrating this resilience in your business is crucial for you to remain operational, especially as companies become a larger target for cybercriminals. According to reports, there was a 20.5% increase in breaches between 2020 and 2021. Furthermore, these attacks are evolving, becoming more dangerous and effective.
Therefore, you need this type of resilience to reduce the impact of these threats. Moreover, a resilience strategy allows you to map your data so that you know how you can most effectively protect it. Plus, it allows your business to outcompete other companies that don’t have a resilient information system.
The Benefits of Cyber Resilience
When your business has an information system that’s resilient to cyber threats, you’ll receive the following benefits:
Early Vulnerability Detection
The first advantage of this concept is that it enables you to detect issues in your cyber security. As part of your resiliency strategy, you’ll examine the risks your information systems face. This process will ensure you’re able to detect vulnerabilities before criminals can exploit them.
Decreased Costs
Another benefit of this concept is that you’ll incur fewer costs. To start with, this type of resilience ensures you’re less likely to endure a successful attack. So, there’s a lower likelihood that you’ll need to make an expense to restore your information system and retrieve your data.
In addition, the government may legally require you to have this resilience due to your sector and the sensitivity of the data you store. Therefore, being cyber-resilient prevents you from incurring fees and penalties.
Moreover, since this concept guarantees your business can remain operational during an attack, your business will quickly return to normal operations. Consequently, you’ll be able to avoid the hidden costs of having to stop or slow down your operations until you regain normal access to your data.
Reduced Successful Cyber Attacks
This resilience benefits your business by reducing the number of successful attacks. When your business is resilient, you’ll secure your information systems. Moreover, you’ll be aware of the risks your information system faces, and you’ll be able to set up procedures to guarantee access to your data. Therefore, you’ll incur fewer incidents that can fully destabilize your cyber security.
Increased Security and Flexibility
When your business has this type of resiliency, you have an increased sense of privacy and security. According to reports, cybercriminals have attacked 61% of small to medium businesses. Nonetheless, the privacy and security resiliency offers allow your business to work on more confidential material. Therefore, you’ll be able to broaden your operations to include work that you previously didn’t qualify for. Furthermore, as your staff have access to a more secure system, they’ll be able to work comfortably on confidential material. Plus, they’ll be able to work from anywhere, on any device, since they’ll be secure.
Enhanced Reputation
Finally, your business will receive a better reputation due to this type of resilience. While it’s likely that your company will be the target of a cyber attack, resilience will ensure you remain operational. Then, your customers will note that your services are reliable, which will increase their trust in your company.
Tips to Improve Your Cyber Resiliency Strategy
Your strategy will change depending on your information system, the data you have, and the type of operations at the core of your business. Nevertheless, you can use these universal tips to hone your strategy:
- Analyse Behaviour: You should use software to analyse the behaviour of your staff and the way they use your data. Then, you’ll be able to notice when there’s odd behaviour, which could be a sign of a cyber threat.
- Analyse Your Data: For a well-targeted strategy, you’ll need to analyse your data to determine where you’ve stored it, how important it is to your operations, and the level of its confidentiality.
- Integrate Regulations: You should ensure that your strategy is in line with your industry’s regulations, especially when it comes to customer’s data and their privacy.
- Manage Access: Your strategy should define which staff have access to data. Additionally, there should be procedures that restrict access to only those who should have it so as to minimise internal threats.
- Update Your Strategy: You should regularly update your strategy to ensure that your security measures are able to counter the innovative tools cybercriminals use.
Conclusion
Now you know that cyber resilience is your company’s ability to remain operational as you endure cyber threats. It requires a strategy that takes into account the risks you face, ensures your information system’s security, and prepares data recovery procedures.
Furthermore, your business’ resiliency helps you detect threats, which in turn reduces the number of successful cyber attacks. Then, you’ll also be able to reduce the costs associated with dealing with a cyber attack. Plus, it will enable your staff to manipulate confidential data from any device safely. So, consider incorporating this concept into your business.