Why is cybersecurity important? As the global IT landscape rapidly evolves, organizations must invest in cybersecurity to safeguard their sensitive digital assets. Identifying the appropriate cybersecurity tools and processes to implement will help your organization minimize the risk of cyberattacks and mitigate data breaches.
Why is Cybersecurity Important For Any Organization?
There are many ways to answer the question: why is cybersecurity important?—each industry has its own unique threats, and the best way to approach cybersecurity is to better understand the threat landscape and which security controls work best in various scenarios.
To that end, this blog will discuss the:
- Importance of cybersecurity for any organization
- Role of cybersecurity in safeguarding your sensitive information
- Types of cybersecurity threats
- Practical implementations of cybersecurity controls
As you learn about the importance of cybersecurity, keep in mind that partnering with a managed security services provider (MSSP) is often the most effective way to bring your security controls up to industry standards.
The Importance of Cyber Security
The importance of cybersecurity in business is to mitigate data breach-related operational disruptions that could affect the availability of services to customers. However, cybersecurity is not just about technical security controls. The importance of cybersecurity awareness is to help employees be informed about potential threats and become empowered to actively prevent these threats from becoming full-blown attacks.
For organizations in industries at high risk for cybersecurity threats like healthcare and education, poorly implemented security controls can increase the risk of data breaches.
Hence the importance of cybersecurity for students is to keep them abreast of the types of cybersecurity risks to look out for, should the students become targets.
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What is Cyber Security?
Cybersecurity refers to controls and processes that protect an organization from IT-related security risks and threats. The oversight of cybersecurity implementation is typically based on a cybersecurity framework, ensuring streamlined management of security risks to prevent them from becoming full-blown threats.
Cyber Security Vs Information Security
On the other hand, information security refers to the controls that protect information and the systems that handle it from unauthorized access, misuse, or compromise.
Per the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), there are three reasons for implementing information security:
- Maintaining the confidentiality of information so that personal and proprietary information remains private
- Preventing the loss or modification of information such that its owners can access it in its original state
- Keeping information available for authorized access at any time and from anywhere
Leveraging robust cybersecurity technology will help you maintain and optimize information security in the short and long term.
Common Cyber Attack Threats
The strength of any cybersecurity program lies in swiftly identifying cybersecurity risks before they can materialize into serious threats.
Cybersecurity threats typically come in a variety of forms, but the most common include:
- Social engineering threats (e.g., phishing, water holing, and tailgating)
- Access control gaps (e.g., use of weak passwords, theft of credentials)
- Web application vulnerabilities (e.g., cryptographic failures)
In most cases, the best way to catch cyberattack threats early on is to measure cyber risk, which then guides the optimization of cyber network security.
How is Cyber Risk Measured?
Cyber risk is measured via risk assessments. The importance of risk assessment in cyber security is to help you understand the types of security risks you face when protecting your organization from cyberattacks. Cybersecurity risk assessments are designed to evaluate your security posture in its entirety, ensuring that digital, technical, or physical risks are identified.
Once threats are known, you must then implement controls to reduce the impact of the risks.
How to Implement Security Effectively
For your organization to remain secure from cybersecurity threats, you must implement robust security using several tools and resources:
- Documentation – Cybersecurity documentation helps define which processes individuals must follow when implementing security controls and maintaining information security. The most important cybersecurity documents include:
- An information security policy
- Disaster recovery and business continuity plans
- Incident management plan
- Training – Even with effective security controls in place, a lack of security awareness creates cybersecurity gaps and vulnerabilities that put you at risk for threats such as phishing attacks. Security awareness training helps to increase the cyber vigilance of employees.
A cybersecurity management plan will help optimize the processes, tools, and frameworks that protect your organization from security risks.
The Benefits of Investing in Cyber Security
Cybersecurity is considered one of the most important investments for any organization, regardless of size or industry. The benefits of cybersecurity include:
- Greater confidence in your data security
- Streamlined compliance with regulatory standards
- Minimal risks of business disruption
Working with a leading MSSP will help you realize your cybersecurity ROI and help you remain confident in your security posture.
Prepare for the Future of Cyber Security
So, why is cybersecurity important? At RSI Security, we believe that every organization should benefit from robust security controls that protect its sensitive digital assets. Organizations should remain fully operational without worrying about disruptions to business continuity.
Our suite of cybersecurity services includes, but is not limited to:
- Penetration testing
- Cybersecurity infrastructure management
- Regulatory compliance
- Identity and access management
- Security training and awareness
To learn more and get started optimizing your security infrastructure, contact RSI Security today!