October 2, 2024 - The demand for robust cybersecurity defenses is at an all-time high. Cyberattacks, regardless of their origin, can be incredibly costly. According to research conducted by Citrin Cooperman, 32% of business leaders surveyed have experienced a cyber incident or breach in the past 24 months. Beyond the severe financial impact cyberattacks can inflict on organizations, they can also severely tarnish an organization's reputation. Equally concerning is the potential risk to customers if their personal information falls into the wrong hands.

As a result, companies are adopting proactive measures to prevent cyberattacks. This approach proves to be significantly more cost effective than dealing with the aftermath of a data breach or cyber incident stemming from unaddressed vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. Our findings show that the three most common preventive cybersecurity initiatives implemented by respondents are:

• Active monitoring: 57%
• Cybersecurity training: 54%
• Cyber assessments: 54%

With this in mind, it is essential for business leaders to explore the concept of security posture, what it safeguards against, how to evaluate an organization’s cybersecurity posture, and steps that can be taken to strengthen it.

Understanding security posture

Security posture refers to an organization's overall state of security, encompassing the protection of its networks, information, and systems. It reflects the effectiveness of the security resources and capabilities—such as security policies, teams, software, and hardware—that the organization has implemented to defend itself and adapt to evolving threats.

Security posture as an umbrella term that covers a wide range of security controls, including:

• Vendor risk
• Information security (InfoSec)
• Penetration testing
• Security automation and artificial intelligence (AI)
• Data breach prevention
• Vulnerability management and remediation

By evaluating their security posture, organizations can assess the effectiveness of their cybersecurity strategy. This evaluation helps determine how well they can identify, prevent, and respond to cyber threats as they evolve. Understanding and improving security posture is crucial for maintaining solid defenses and ensuring an organization's resilience against potential attacks.

Is security posture the same as security compliance?

The short answer is no; security posture and security compliance are distinct concepts. Although they are closely related, they serve different purposes. Security compliance involves implementing specific measures to meet contractual or regulatory requirements. In contrast, security posture refers to an organization's overall approach to safeguard its IT assets, data, and customers.

In essence, security compliance is focused on adhering to the rules established by security frameworks and regulations while security posture reflects the organization's broader ability to defend itself against external threats.

How to evaluate cybersecurity posture

Evaluating an organization's security posture is crucial for identifying potential weaknesses and taking actionable steps to address them. By assessing the company’s business needs and objectives, a comprehensive understanding of its security posture can be achieved. This approach enables organizations to determine their desired level of cybersecurity and pinpoint areas that require improvement.

A proactive cybersecurity posture involves identifying and mitigating risks or vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. Understanding potential threats is essential for protecting the organization. Thorough analysis of these threats, contingency plans can be developed to prepare for potential cyberattacks or data breaches.

Assessing a company’s security posture involves four key steps:

1. Planning
2. Gathering data
3. Analyzing the data
4. Providing a report

This process includes conducting risk assessments, identifying vulnerabilities, and reviewing existing security controls to uncover gaps and areas for improvement. By adopting a risk-based cybersecurity posture, organizations can prioritize the protection of critical IT assets and implement additional security measures as needed based on the potential impact of a security breach.

Steps to strengthen a cybersecurity posture

While every organization's security strategy is unique to the data it protects, there are a few valuable tips to help assess security posture.

1. Understand where data is stored

   It is vital for organizations to know where data is stored, how it is managed, and who has access to it. Maintaining an up-to-date inventory of information assets is essential, regardless of an organization's size. Once this inventory is established, monitoring data access is crucial. By reviewing how information is stored and accessed, the organization can identify any vulnerabilities that might lead to breaches or attacks.

2. Conduct a thorough risk assessment

   Perform a comprehensive risk assessment to identify vulnerabilities, potential threats, and their impact on an organization. This assessment should cover all aspects of the IT infrastructure, including hardware, software, networks, and human factors. Understanding the specific risks can help to effectively prioritize security efforts.

3. Educate employees

   An organization's most vulnerable point is often its least secure employee. IBM reported that companies that incorporate security AI instead of relying solely on human intervention save an average of $2.22 million. Human error can be incredibly costly if the right thing goes wrong.
   
   Effective training on security best practices is imperative to reduce the risk of data breaches caused by employee mistakes. This training should be part of the onboarding process for new employees and should continue with ongoing, on-the-job training. Ideally, the training program should incorporate interactive methods such as quizzes, demonstrations, and simulated security scenarios to make the lessons more memorable.
   
   Additionally, a business should have a clear offboarding protocol in place. This includes collecting company devices and revoking access to company email and servers.

Discover customized security solutions from Citrin Cooperman

At Citrin Cooperman, we aim to offer tailored advice based on your organization’s unique needs and industry requirements so you can achieve and maintain an optimal security posture. As a certified Microsoft Partner, our Digital Services Practice delivers comprehensive Microsoft solutions, including its industry-leading security solutions like Microsoft Defender.

For more insight on assessing your current cybersecurity position and identifying potential vulnerabilities, check out our on-demand webinar, Outage to Opportunity: Learning from the CrowdStrike Outage. Learn about best practices, actionable strategies, and comprehensive security solutions to enhance your disaster recovery plans and strengthen your defenses against future cyber threats.