Why a Cybersecurity Compliance Program is Necessary for Every Business

As a leader, you are responsible for ensuring that your organization’s data remains secure and protected from cyber threats. In today’s digital age, data breaches are a common occurrence, and the costs associated with them are staggering. Cyber-attacks can result in the loss of millions of dollars, loss of customer trust, and reputational damage that can take years to recover from. This is why a cybersecurity compliance program is necessary for every business.

According to a report by IBM, the average cost of a data breach in 2020 was $3.86 million, highlighting the dire financial consequences of inadequate cybersecurity. Furthermore, a study by Ponemon Institute found that 67% of surveyed companies experienced a significant loss of customer trust after a data breach. These statistics underscore the necessity for stringent cybersecurity compliance programs in today’s digital businesses.

In this post, we’ll explore the reasons why your business needs a cybersecurity compliance program and why you should make it a top priority.

Privacy Compliance Regulations are Becoming Stricter

With the increasing sophistication of cyber-attacks, governments and regulatory bodies are becoming more strict when it comes to cybersecurity compliance. This means that organizations are required to implement more robust security measures to protect their data. Compliance regulations, like the GDPR, CCPA or PCI DSS, have specific requirements that must be met to avoid penalties and fines. These cybersecurity compliance programs are designed to keep your organization in compliance with these regulations and to ensure that your data is fully protected.

According to the Cybersecurity Insiders’ 2020 Cybersecurity Compliance Report, an alarming 90% of organizations felt vulnerable to insider threats and data breaches. Furthermore, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has brought about stringent measures, with non-compliance penalties reaching up to €20 million, or 4% of annual global turnover – whichever is higher. In the US, non-compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) can result in fines of up to $7,500 per record for intentional violations. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance statistics reveal that only 27.9% of organizations maintain full compliance, highlighting the need for a cybersecurity compliance program to meet these regulatory requirements.

Furthermore, according to a survey by Verizon, businesses that are fully compliant with the PCI DSS framework significantly mitigate the risk of data breaches. The report states that among organizations that suffered data breaches, over 80% were not compliant with PCI DSS at the time of the breach. This compelling statistic underscores the crucial role that a cybersecurity compliance program plays in safeguarding a company’s sensitive data.

Additionally, a study conducted by the Global Cyber Alliance indicates a close correlation between cybersecurity compliance and a reduction in cyber attacks. The study found that organizations implementing compliance controls reduced their cyber risk by nearly 50%. This further emphasizes the effectiveness of a properly implemented cybersecurity compliance program in protecting businesses from cyber threats.

Protect Your Data and Reputation

Data is one of your organization’s most valuable assets. A data breach can result in the loss of confidential data, such as customer information, employee data, and intellectual property. This can seriously damage your reputation and customer trust and result in significant financial losses.

The 2020 Cost of a Data Breach Report by IBM indicates that the average total cost of a data breach is $3.86 million. Moreover, the report also highlights that companies that experienced a mega breach, where 1 million to 10 million records were exposed, could experience total costs of up to $50 million. Data breaches can also lead to customer churn. According to the same report, businesses in the U.S. that lost less than 1% of their customers due to a data breach faced an average total cost of $2.67 million, while those that experienced a customer churn rate greater than 4% faced an average total cost of $5.74 million. These numbers make it clear that the monetary and reputational costs associated with data breaches can be detrimental to any organization, further underscoring the importance of having a robust cybersecurity compliance program in place.

A cybersecurity compliance program ensures that all data is protected by implementing proper security controls. It creates a secure environment that reduces the risk of data breaches and demonstrates to your customers and investors that you take their data security seriously.

Prevent Cyber Attacks

A cybersecurity compliance program is designed to prevent cyber attacks from happening in the first place. It identifies vulnerabilities and mitigates them before they can be exploited by hackers. It ensures that all employees are aware of potential threats and know how to respond to them. It also includes a disaster recovery plan in case of a breach.

According to a recent report by the Ponemon Institute, 77% of the organizations surveyed stated that they wouldn’t be able to recover from a cyber attack due to the lack of a proper incident response plan. This alarming statistic emphasizes the significance of having a cybersecurity compliance program that includes a solid disaster recovery plan. Moreover, a study by Verizon found that 94% of malware was delivered via email, suggesting that employees, often unknowingly, play a major role in the occurrence of a security breach. This underscores the need for continuous employee awareness and training on cyber threats, a key component of any comprehensive cybersecurity compliance program.

Mitigate Financial Risks

A data breach can result in huge financial losses. The costs associated with a breach include legal fees, fines, IT costs, and a loss of revenue due to reputational damage. A cybersecurity compliance program can help mitigate these risks by implementing proper security controls, conducting regular security audits, and creating a plan for disaster recovery.

The financial impact of data breaches is staggering, and businesses without a proactive cybersecurity compliance program find themselves particularly vulnerable. The 2020 Cost of a Data Breach Report by IBM found that the average total cost of a data breach increased from $3.54 million in 2006 to $3.86 million in 2020, indicating a growing financial threat. Furthermore, the report revealed that companies took an average of 280 days to identify and respond to a data breach, further amplifying the costs involved. The annual study by Accenture also supports this, showing that the cost of cybercrime for companies has increased by nearly 30% over the past seven years. This upward trend in the financial implications of data breaches strongly emphasizes the need for businesses to invest in a robust cybersecurity compliance program.

Stay Ahead of the Competition

With the increasing threat of cyber attacks, more and more businesses are investing in cybersecurity compliance programs. This means that customers are becoming more savvy and are more likely to choose businesses that prioritize data security. A cybersecurity compliance program can give you a competitive edge by demonstrating to potential customers that you take data security seriously and that you’re committed to protecting their data.

Research supports the importance of customer trust in maintaining a competitive edge in business. A study by PwC revealed that 85% of consumers will not do business with a company if they have concerns about its security practices. This is further supported by a study conducted by Cisco, which found that 32% of customers stopped doing business with companies due to data breaches. Additionally, a survey by Experian found that 66% of adults claim that they would be unlikely to do business with organizations responsible for exposing financial and sensitive information. These statistics illustrate customers’ growing awareness and concern over data privacy and the significance of cybersecurity compliance in maintaining customer trust and competitive advantage.

In Conclusion

Implementing a cybersecurity compliance program is essential for every business. It protects your data, your reputation, and your finances. Compliance regulations are becoming stricter, and cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated, so it’s more important than ever to ensure that your organization is protected by a robust cybersecurity compliance program. By staying ahead of the competition and demonstrating your commitment to data security, you can gain the trust and loyalty of your customers and protect your business from cyber threats.

 

 

References

  • Ponemon Institute. (2020). Cost of a Data Breach Report. Link
  • Verizon. (2020). Data Breach Investigations Report. Link
  • Accenture. (2020). Cost of Cybercrime Study. Link
  • PwC. (2020). Global Consumer Insights Survey. Link
  • Cisco. (2020). Cybersecurity Series 2020. Link
  • Experian. (2020). Data Breach Industry Forecast. Link

Cyber-readiness Strategies 9 and 10: Passwords and Insurance

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with the cyber security threats out there. From ransomware and phishing to malicious insiders and business email compromises, there are many dangers lurking in the digital world that can affect your organization. To stay safe, it’s important to have a robust cyber readiness strategy in place. This starts with making sure your employees are aware of the threats and know how to protect themselves, but it also includes implementing technology solutions and procedures that can help you mitigate or prevent attacks. In our prior installment of this series, we touched on Continuous Network Intelligence and Security Awareness Training. Keep reading for strategies #9 and #10; Combating the Password Crisis and Don’t Skip Insurance.

Combat the Password Crisis 

In today’s fully connected world, passwords are the first line of defense against cyber-attacks. However, they are also often the softest target for attacks. This is because many people use weak or easily guessed passwords, and they often reuse them across multiple accounts. This makes it easy for hackers to gain access to your systems if they can just crack one password. To combat this, it’s important to have strong password policies in place. This includes using a mix of letters, numbers, and special characters, as well as changing passwords regularly. This can be managed by policy on many systems so that users are forced to use strong passwords and unique passwords across systems. For some systems, these controls cannot be set, but alerts can be triggered so that IT staff will get notified when users set their passwords poorly. 

When users are forced to use difficult and unique passwords, it’s also critical to use a password manager to help users keep track of all their different login credentials. This will make it easier for your users to comply with the password policies. Some desktop browsers have a basic password manager built-in and third-party software can also be used that provides additional features like secure password sharing within groups. 

Don’t Skip the Insurance 

No matter how well you prepare, there’s always a chance that your organization could be the victim of a cyber-attack. This is why it’s so important to have insurance in place. Cyber insurance can help cover the costs of an attack, including business interruption, data recovery, and legal fees. It can also help with reputational damage control if your organization’s name is dragged through the mud. 

Cyber-insurance is a relatively new area of business insurance, so there are a wide variety of cyber insurance carriers with different underwriting policies. It is important to do your research and find one that fits your organization’s needs and that is cost-effective. It is also helpful to work with cyber experts, who can help you make some small changes to your IT operation that can have a big impact on your cyber insurance costs. Implementing multi-factor authentication across all your applications and using DNS Security can have a positive impact on your risk scoring with an insurance carrier. 

These are just two more of the many things you can do to improve your cyber readiness strategy. Stay tuned for our next, and final installment, where we’ll be covering strategies #11 and #12; Reduce Supply Chain Vulnerabilities and Deploying a Multi-Layer Security Strategy. If you would like more information or have questions about how strong your cyber-readiness is, please contact Montra at sales@montra.io.

12 Cyber Readiness Strategies #7 and #8

In our last blog post, we discussed cyber readiness strategies: #5 Back-Up Everything and #6 Don’t Neglect Compliance. Continuing our series this week are discussing strategies #7 and #8, Continuous Network Intelligence and Security Awareness Training. In 2021 businesses suffered 50% More Cyberattack Attempts per Week in 2021 and as a business owner, it is not only important to continuously monitor your networks for any suspicious activity, but also to prepare employees for any type of cyber attack.  

7. Continuous Network Intelligence

Technology is always changing and advancing, which can mean new vulnerabilities for your organization. Staying on top of these changes is critical to reducing the risk of a cyberattack. This is where continuous network intelligence comes in. By monitoring your network and systems continuously, you can quickly identify and patch any vulnerabilities. In fact, continuous monitoring is one of the best ways to detect a cyber-attack early. One of the strategies attackers will use is ransomware attacks. What is a ransomware attack? A ransomware attack is when an attacker encrypts your data and demands a ransom to decrypt it. These attacks can be devastating to businesses, as they can lose critical data and be forced to pay a ransom. To prevent these attacks, it is important to set up your network to detect access from outside sources. As soon as anyone outside your network enters, you will be able to kick them out before they can cause harm. If you don’t have monitoring tools in place already there are a few ways to start implementing continuous network monitoring: 

  • Use a network security solution that provides real-time visibility into your network traffic and activity. 
  • Keep systems up-to-date by continually watching for OS and application security updates and patching the systems as soon as reasonable. 
  • Conduct regular penetration testing to identify any weaknesses in your system. 

By continuously monitoring your network, you can quickly identify and patch any vulnerabilities. This will help reduce the risk of a cyber-attack and keep your business running smoothly. 

8. Security Awareness Training 

In addition to continuously monitoring your networks, it is also important to prepare employees for any type of cyber attack. This is where security awareness training comes in. Around 91% of breaches started with a phishing attack and 81% of cyber-attacks are related to stolen or weak passwords. By educating employees on the latest cybersecurity threats and how to prevent them, you can reduce the risk of a successful attack. There are a few things to keep in mind when creating a security awareness training program. 

  • Make it mandatory for all employees. 
  • Keep it up-to-date with the latest threats. 
  • Test employees regularly to ensure they are understanding the material. Examples of this include: 
  • Computer-based awareness training 
  • Phishing simulation exercises 
  • Awareness campaigns 
  • In-person security awareness training 
  • Monthly notifications or newsletters 

By following these tips, you can create a security awareness training program that will help keep your business safe. And by educating employees on the latest cybersecurity threats and how to prevent them, you can reduce the risk of a successful attack.  

These are just a few of the many precautions that should be taken to protect your business from a cyberattack. If you would like more information or have any questions, contact Montra at sales@montra.io. 

 

12 Cyber Readiness Strategies #3 and #4

3. Keep Updates – Up to Date

While software updates often introduce new or enhanced features into your apps, programs, and systems, they also install security and performance fixes known as patches. Undiscovered defects or flaws can leave your systems exposed. Cybercriminals will exploit any vulnerability or security gap they find. Keeping your systems updated is vital for keeping your business cyber-ready. 

Failure to Patch systems results in a breach. Of the companies who reported that their business experienced one or more data breaches in the past year, 57% confirmed that these breaches probably occurred because a patch was available for a known vulnerability but not applied. 

Why are Security Patches Important? Security patches address known vulnerabilities within software systems. Once these flaws or weaknesses become known, cybercriminals begin looking for ways to exploit them. The sooner a security patch is installed, the faster your business can restore protection and security against threats associated with vulnerabilities. Below are the five effective elements for applying security patches: 

1. Automate. With an automated system, analyzing and deploying patches can be as easy and provide significant time savings. 

2. Plan your approach. Group systems by department, location, etc. to better handle your environment and more productively manage patches. 

3. Test patches. Don’t just push out patches before testing them. All patches should be thoroughly lab-tested.

4. Know the configurations. Make sure you synchronize and validate your development, test, and development patch configuration settings. 

5. Maintain patch levels. Be proactive and schedule scans on a daily or weekly basis to analyze the environment and deploy all critical patches.  

Learn more about system updates and patches with our infographic, or contact Montra to see how we can automate and optimize your system patching process. sales@montra.io 

4. Enforce Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)

Threat of cyberattack has never been greater. According to the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, nearly 80% percent of all data breaches are due to lost, weak, or stolen passwords. And a recent study by Omdia/Ovum, 76% of employees report experiencing regular password problems. Verifying user identity and managing access to your business data has never been more important. 

One-level security or single-factor authentication is no longer enough. Even the strongest passwords are vulnerable to theft or exposure. Requiring more than one method to authenticate user identity or access permissions can reduce or eliminate the risk of stolen or unauthorized credentials being utilized. 

Using Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) makes gaining access to resources more secure and less vulnerable to credential theft. MFA provides enhanced security to identity management by requiring two or more forms of authentication. Mobile devices which support push notifications or texts, can be used for one-time passcodes, or third-party authenticator applications such as Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator can be used to generate one-time passcodes also. 

MFA must be implemented to meet the security requirements to achieve and prove compliance for most regulatory bodies such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, NAIC, NIST CSF, CMMC, ISO 27001, CCPA, NY SHIELD Act, GBLA, SOX and more. 

Get cyber-ready by setting up all your accounts with MFA today. Download our infographic for more information on MFA and password hygiene. If you want to understand how Montra can help you set up all your accounts, contact us at sales@montra.io. 

12 Cyber Readiness Strategies #1 and #2

Is your business ready to handle a targeted cyber-attack? Maybe you have been attacked and don’t even know it. According to the the 2020 Thales Data Threat Report, 49% of US companies have already experienced a data breach. To help you become more proactive and effective at defending against cyber threats, we are discussing 12 Cyber Readiness Strategies over the next few blogs.

1. Have a Cyber Readiness Plan

It may seem obvious, but to properly address all of the cyber-security threats to your organization, you first need to have a plan – specifically a Cyber Readiness Plan. Your ability to quickly and cost-effectively overcome security threats or breaches determines your business’s success and survival. How you handle and protect your data is central to your business’s security and customers, employees, and partners’ privacy expectations. You need a cyber readiness plan that includes prevention, continuity, and recovery strategies. The Federal Communications Commission provides an excellent planning guide that identifies six critical areas of cybersecurity for companies to address:

1. Privacy and Data Security

2. Scams and Fraud

3. Network Security

4. Email

5. Website Security

6. Mobile Devices

Download the associated cheat sheet as an easy outline to understand each of these areas to help you quickly navigate these best practices and assess your readiness.

2. Establish Strict Policies and Procedures

Cybersecurity policies and procedures help guide secure business operations and are essential for defining the standards of business conduct, system controls, employee awareness, and workplace definitions and expectations. While establishing strict, security-focused protocols is crucial, a system of validation and enforcement is equally important. In fact, all major cybersecurity and privacy frameworks, such as NIST CSF, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and PCI DSS, all require periodic auditing or continuous monitoring to make certain that policies are properly put into operation.

To help you start building your cybersecurity policy and procedure library, we have provided a few policy templates to start. Click to download 12 IT policy templates that are critical to any IT operation.