As an IT leader, staying abreast of the latest cybersecurity developments is essential to maintaining the security of your organization. But with threats coming from everywhere and hackers coming up with new exploits every day, how do you create proactive and agile cybersecurity strategies? And which cybersecurity approach gives you the best value for money, mitigating risks and maximizing the value of your cybersecurity investments?
Let’s take a closer look at the trends that are impacting organizations today, including the growing scope of data breaches and rising spending on cybersecurity, and explore how to get the most out of your cybersecurity resources, effectively protecting your digital assets and maintaining your assets. the integrity of the organization in the face of ever-evolving cyber threats.
Successful data breaches
In 2022, the number of people affected by data breaches has increased significantly. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center’s 2022 Data Breach Report, more than 1,800 data breaches were reported in 2022 – 60 fewer reports than the previous year – but the number of people affected by data breaches increased by a huge 40% to 422.1 million.
And data breaches can cause real, lasting effects, as demonstrated by some of the most infamous data breaches in history:
- eBay: Hackers stole the login credentials of just a few eBay employees and then pulled off a massive data breach that stole the personal information and passwords of more than 145 million users. Experts believe that the hack had consequences for users outside of eBay: since people tend to reuse passwords across multiple sites, there is a good chance that the hackers were able to log in to other online services using the stolen credentials.
- Yahoo: In one of the largest data breaches in history, Yahoo estimated that hackers compromised more than three billion accounts. Even if the hackers didn’t get the passwords, they were still able to access the answers to users’ security questions, increasing the risk of identity theft. The company ultimately paid $35 million in regulatory fines and had to provide nearly 200 million people with credit monitoring services and other reimbursements worth $117.5 million.
- Marriott: Hackers managed to spend nearly four years accessing Mariott’s Starwood system, stealing data from more than 500 million hotel customers. Cybercriminals stole everything from customer names and contact information to passport numbers, travel information, and financial information, including credit and debit card numbers and expiration dates. In addition to the blow to its reputation and loss of consumer trust, the company faced large fines, including a £99 million fine from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for violated the privacy rights of British citizens under the GDPR.
Considering the growing scope and impact of data breaches, it’s clear that CISOs and IT teams have their work cut out for them to ensure their organization is ready for anything.
IT spending trends
Not surprisingly, with the growing problem of cybersecurity, organizations are spending more money to strengthen their cybersecurity resources.
Get the most out of your cybersecurity resources
Clearly, there is no shortage of cybersecurity threats. So, how can an IT professional ensure they maximize the value of their cybersecurity assets and get every ounce of protection from their cybersecurity investments? A risk-based approach, in which you identify and prioritize key vulnerabilities and correlate threat exposure with business impact, will help protect organizations and optimize spending decisions.
To take a risk-based approach, implement the following strategies:
- Focus on your external attack surface. Your company’s external attack surface includes all of your company’s accessible digital assets, making them an attractive target for bad actors. You can’t solve a problem if you don’t know it exists; uses a proven external attack surface management (EASM) solution to regularly scan and monitor your assets for potential security gaps.
- Prioritize the protection of end-user credentials. As eBay discovered, gaining access to even a handful of user credentials can actually give hackers an open invitation to your network and data. Make sure you provide employees with regular, ongoing security training to help them become more skilled at identifying and appropriately responding to cyber risks. Deploy robust identity and access management protocols across your organization. And use a password auditor to make sure your employees aren’t using passwords that have already been cracked or compromised.
- Prioritize remediation of vulnerabilities in networks and cloud services. Invest in a risk-based vulnerability management solution that will help you prioritize threats based on the highest reported risks (based on exploit likelihood and availability), rather than wasting time and resources on vulnerabilities that pose minimal threat .
- Integrate a threat intelligence solution. To proactively adapt your organization’s defenses against emerging threats and attack vectors, you should invest in a threat intelligence solution that provides real-time intelligence on evolving threats to your organization and industry. By focusing your attention (and spending) on high-impact, potentially exploitable vulnerabilities, you can strategically deploy resources to address the most pressing security issues.
Prioritize a risk-based approach to increase cybersecurity ROI
Today’s digital landscape requires IT professionals to prioritize a risk-based approach to cybersecurity, ensuring their investments address current and future threats. By strategically deploying your organization’s resources, using robust solutions, and focusing on high-impact vulnerabilities, you will take steps to protect your organization, maintain operational integrity, and increase cybersecurity ROI.