The overlooked reality of cyber security
It is not always the case that cyberattacks are sophisticated. Inadequate cyber hygiene and the exploitation of vulnerabilities that are already known to exist are frequently the reasons why attacks are successful. Each and every highly complex cyber attack, such as SolarWinds or NotPetya, is accompanied by hundreds of thousands of low-level attacks, including ransomware, phishing, and denial of service.
In order to protect against cyber attacks, the first line of defense is to strengthen cyber resilience throughout the supply chain. This includes even the most fundamental aspects of good cyber security hygiene. The concept of cyber resilience cannot be reduced to whether or not data is protected or whether or not the most recent technology is acquired. Identification of essential components within a supply chain, evaluation of the potential vulnerabilities of those components, verification that the required mitigations and systems are in place, and the establishment of a governance structure that is supportive are all aspects of this process.
This begins at the very top.
Advocates need to come from the highest levels of an organization in order to bring about a shift that will be long-lasting in the way that organizations manage their cyber risk and increase their levels of resilience. In order to offer organizations with a clear motivation to raise their investment in cyber defense methods, it is necessary to have a genuine grasp of the possible business impact that a cyber assault could have. A research on the true cost of cyber attacks that was published by the United Kingdom Government in 2021 found 41 distinct ways in which a company could incur financial damage as a result of being the victim of a cyber attack.
Cyber attacks are increasingly affecting organizations through weaknesses in their suppliers, whether it be through products, services, or any mode of communication and connection. This is the case regardless of the type of vulnerable supplier. Recent high-profile cyber incidents, in which attackers have utilized weaknesses in the supply chain as a means to target corporations, serve as a sharp reminder that "small players" in an organization's supply chain can bring disproportionately high levels of cyber risk. These cases have received a lot of attention in the media.
Based on the findings of the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021 conducted by DCMS, it was shown that only 12% of organizations had conducted a review of the cyber security risks posed by their suppliers, and only 5% have done so for their entire supply chain. A widespread misunderstanding is that the amount of sophistication and severity of a cyber assault is proportional to the level inside a supply chain vertical. This is a misperception that is all too common. To put it another way, sophisticated cyber attacks on a huge scale often target large organizations, whereas basic cyber attacks that are carried out on a smaller scale typically target smaller companies. Not true!
Certainly, this is relevant to you!
Every company is both a supplier and a customer to at least one other company. These days, businesses are being targeted for no other reason than the people with whom they are associated or the people with whom they do business. Cybercriminals that are interested in causing damage to huge corporations that are located "at the top of a supply chain vertical" are far more likely to focus their attention on vulnerabilities that are located "much further down" in the supply chain. As a result, there is no such thing as a provider that is too small or inconsequential to be ignored. As a matter of fact, the truth is that the situation is precisely the reverse!
The beginning is not too late (or too tough) to begin.
This new era of cyber attacks raises the question of how businesses can appropriately prepare themselves for them. To begin, it is of the utmost importance to comprehend that every single business, regardless of its size, industry location, or any other factors, is a potential target of a cyber attack. It is of the utmost importance to begin by addressing the fundamentals and acquiring a comprehensive understanding of the strengths and vulnerabilities that are present within your current security posture.
A framework that can be used to guide one's work can be provided by a number of different cyber security standards, each of which vary in terms of how comprehensive they are. When it comes to small organizations, the fundamentals of cyber security that are stated in Cyber Essentials should be done first. The implementation of security best practices should be expanded upon for larger enterprises, with ISO 27001 serving as a foundation.
As was already discussed, ensuring the safety of your own network is just one component of a comprehensive safeguarding strategy. Having an awareness of the external threats is the next step. Establishing a digital twin of your supply chain and determining which providers are essential and could potentially be a single point of failure are two important steps. Ensure that those vendors are functioning at the degree of security that you anticipate by following up with them and confirming that they are.
Because of the advent of the digital era, the world is becoming more interconnected than it has ever been before, and the level of complexity of cyber threats is increasing at a rate that is significantly faster than the degree of resilience displayed by all enterprises. An understanding of cybersecurity, awareness of its importance, and a proactive attitude to it will not only save time, money, and resources, but it will also provide a competitive advantage to businesses that are looking to expand their product or service offerings.
Taking the mystery out of cyberattacks to make them safer – social engineering
