Is The Cybersecurity Data Breach Really Over?

Capital Markets CIO Outlook | Wednesday, June 12, 2019

FREMONT, CA: Few experts understand that security breaches occur not when the hackers are in the network, but long before. A breach is caused due to a sum of bad security habits like mismanaged mergers and acquisitions, budget scarcity, and by relying on outdated equipment. The breach alerts everyone about the importance of cybersecurity. 

Often, companies appoint a team of cybersecurity professionals to deconstruct the timelines for complete incident response. Since the focus is mistakenly placed on identification and ejection of the adversary, many companies still invest resources in curbing the lasting effects even after years of the attack. These effects include:

• Litigation and legal defense effort.

• Afflicted sales department

• Client management hurdles.

• Increased compliance and regulatory audits

• Cyber insurance is unobtainable

The company transfigures focus on data protection, and budget for security usually rises, creating a “gold rush” for security teams. Following this period of intense security awareness, problems are reborn, and the old ways return. This is not the end but it is again a potential beginning.

How can we Prevent a Security Incident from Occurring?

An effective cybersecurity strategy is imbibed in an organizational culture that respects consistency and has dedicated security protocol and response teams, which understand what is necessary for ironclad cybersecurity strategy coupled with conviction on how to manage risks. What the company needs is a security experience as an integral part of the organization's DNA for efficient incident detection, analysis, and response.

Lastly, the features should be bundled together into a three-year security plan, even in case of insufficient funds. The company must include strategies that can best identify, disrupt, and respond to a cyber attack, ideally based on real insights, not auditors’ notes.

Effective plans can be coordinated to incident response teams for mitigation of damage along with cross-functional teams for critical steps such as the public response of an organization. When it comes to protecting the brand, sales, and customers’ loyalty, organizations are judged more on their response than on the breach itself.

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