In today’s world where nearly everything and everyone is connected to the internet, businesses can’t setup a layer or two of defense and expect to be safe. While antivirus software, firewalls, and protocols like multifactor authentication provide a good baseline of protection, there are always ways around them. 

Meeting your industry’s security standards isn’t enough either. Maintaining compliancy is important, but industry-based guidelines are hardly comprehensive, and they fail to capture your business’s unique risks and challenges. 

Hackers, bots, and malicious programs are constantly trying to enter your systems from all angles. The more ways you have into your system, the more exposed you are. Staying protected and maintaining security is an on-going process that involves monitoring, detection, and response. 

In an ideal world, you could control and monitor all things at all times at the maximum level, but the truth is, you can’t. Your resources are limited. That’s why successful cyber security requires prioritization and execution of strategy. In order to do that, you’ll need to establish your risks and vulnerabilities. 

Establishing Vulnerabilities and Measuring Risk 

Cyberthreats are prone to attack the areas where businesses are weakest. In order to understand your weaknesses and security gaps, an in-depth audit will need to take place. 

You need to look at all of the ways your systems can be accessed. Devices in the Internet of Things, software programs, cloud connections, vendor tools, and more all need to be considered. Who is using these? What information is being accessed. 

It’s important to remember that you face risks from both the outside and within. Internal threats are some of the highest risks companies face, breaking through even the strongest of defenses. It’s important that threats from both sides are properly analyzed and documented.  

While exposure and vulnerability are critical in determining your priorities, they need to be weighed against value. What systems would cause your business the most damage if they were breached? 

Risk-based management takes all factors into account, identifying weaknesses and providing the information needed to create actionable goals and improvements. This allows you to efficiently utilize your resources to increasing your security.  

But this isn’t end. If anything, it’s actually the beginning. 

On-Going Monitoring and Adjustments 

Cyberthreats are constantly evolving. At they change, your vulnerabilities can change with them. Assessing risk and fixing gaps is not a one-time action. It’s an ongoing process of refinement and adjustment. You need to stay current with modern threats. You also need to measure the effectiveness of your current strategies and make changes accordingly.  

Proper risk-based management is about leveraging data, both from inside your company and the world around you. 

Though it might sound like extra work and therefore extra cost, the opposite is actually true. By monitoring risk and prioritizing vulnerabilities, businesses can not only better protect themselves, but they can reduce IT costs.  

Avoiding the cost of a breach is worth the investment alone.  

The best way to implement and leverage risk-based management is with an experienced IT partner by your side. At Expedient Technology Solutions, we utilize cutting-edge vulnerability management tools to protect your business from today’s threats. 

For network security in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, contact ETS today!