Beyond Cybersecurity: Building a Cyber Resilient Organization
The CrowdStrike outage has proven that while we must continue to focus on preventing and mitigating cybersecurity risks, we must also embrace cyber resilience. Cyber resilience not only encompasses security but also addresses the full spectrum of digital risks that are vital for business continuity. With the increasing reliance on third-party technologies, the need for cyber resilience becomes even more critical. As an industry, we must refine our strategies for multi-faceted risk mitigation.
In today’s interconnected, digital world, a robust cyber resilience stance is not just a technical necessity but a fundamental business priority. It isn’t a one-time effort but a continuous process of adapting and improving. By adopting a proactive approach, companies can enhance system resiliency and recovery processes and safeguard their operations.
As the IT world recovers from the major outage caused by CrowdStrike’s update, companies have an opportunity to reassess their processes and systems, address current vulnerabilities, and better position themselves for potential future disruptions. The incident underscores critical lessons, including:
Vendor Management
Companies must have a robust process for vetting vendors, including security, business continuity, and resilience. Reliance on third-party vendors for vital infrastructure requires effective risk management, including clear security requirements in vendor contracts, ongoing assessment of security practices and performances, and continuous monitoring. Companies must regularly review and update vendor risk management programs to consider evolving threats and regulatory requirements.
Regular Risk Assessments
To defend against disruptions, a company must understand the weaknesses and risks in its IT environment. Routine risk assessments must be incorporated into change management processes to identify potential vulnerabilities and prioritize remediation.
Update Management
Companies must implement extensive pre-deployment testing to identify any potential issues. Utilizing staging and phased deployments with automated, manual, and regression testing ensures thorough testing and mitigates risk.
Communication is Key
During disruptions, channels of communication and support are critical. Providing timely updates for both internal and external users can help mitigate the impact. Fostering a communication culture and having incident communication strategies and processes in place are crucial to keeping stakeholders informed.
Contingency Planning and Rapid Incident Response
Robust contingency plans, also accounting for vendor-related disruptions, are essential for companies to handle any situation. Regular testing of the plans via simulated drills can identify vulnerabilities and areas for improvement. Considering this incident, companies should thoroughly evaluate and reinforce their disaster recovery strategy and enhance incident response strategies to incorporate real-time monitoring and immediate corrective action. Documenting actions to take during an incident and continuously refining the plan are vital.
Redundancy and Diversification
To mitigate the impact of disruptions, companies must give top priority to implementing redundant systems, backup measures, and alternative suppliers. Diversifying providers and building in-house capabilities can ensure continuity even if a vendor faces issues. In addition, diversifying cloud providers and implementing hybrid and multi-cloud strategies can mitigate risks associated with single points of failure.
Enhanced System Resiliency
Companies must implement system resiliency measures, including automated rollback mechanisms and comprehensive, multi-tiered backup solutions, to mitigate disruption risks.
Leverage AI and Automation
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) security tools are critical for detecting and responding to threats quickly by analyzing large volumes of data to identify patterns and anomalies. These technologies can also predict and manage potential outages, which can significantly improve incident response.
Tighten Up Technical Resources
The CrowdStrike outage emphasizes the importance of having a robust team in place or the capacity to rapidly scale to address resource gaps, especially those with specialized skills and government clearances. In addition to ensuring preventative measures, the ability to quickly build a team that can efficiently handle emergencies will minimize downtime and mitigate damage.
Here at ClearBridge, we understand the critical need for top-notch talent to prevent and manage disruptions. We provide our clients with the ability to scale, building teams extremely quickly to support all aspects of cyber resilience. Contact us to learn more.
Recent Comments