How to remedy cyber security shortcomings?
The volume of data managed by organizations doubles every two years. At the same time, the cyber threat landscape is constantly evolving. 45% of French organizations were victims of at least one successful cyber attack in 2022.
The consequences of these cyber criminal acts are dramatic: they are estimated to have caused losses of €2.8 billion in sales for French organizations and are forcing 60% of SMEs that fall victim to close shop.
To carry out their attacks, many cyber criminals exploit security vulnerabilities. So how to quickly identify and correct these?
The different categories of vulnerabilities
There are several categories of vulnerabilities that can be exploited by cyber attackers. Among them are passwords that are too simple and can easily be cracked.
The lack of endpoint protection (desktop PCs and laptops, tablets, smartphones) is another opportunity for cyber criminals, who can use these endpoints as a gateway to infiltrate the organization's information system.
A network that is not sufficiently protected constitutes another security threat. This is particularly true of networks that do not provide end-to-end data encryption or secure web browsing.
Gaps in application and data access policy are a recurring source of security incidents. In the event of stolen identifiers or the departure of a disgruntled employee, the organization's most sensitive data can be exfiltrated.
It is important to note that vulnerabilities often have a technical origin. Inadequate system configuration by a service provider or the IT team, zero-day vulnerabilities in enterprise applications...
Finally, failure to comply with the ISSP (Information Systems Security Policy) by employees inevitably leads to security incidents.
How can these vulnerabilities be quickly remediated?
Several actions can be taken to correct these.
To protect your applications from vulnerabilities, remember to update them regularly in order to install the latest patches. The same applies to your security solutions: antivirus, firewall, VPN...
Implementation of a restrictive data access policy is an excellent practice for protecting your most sensitive data. The objective is simple: each user should only be able to access the data they need... no more, no less.
Performing regular backups and having data replicated in different datacenters ensures the availability of your data in the event of an attack or incident.
Conducting security audits is a good way to identify the vulnerabilities related to networks, application configuration... These audits can be performed in-house or outsourced.
Investing in cyber security solutions such as EDR (Endpoint Detection & Response) helps protect endpoints from advanced threats and remediate security vulnerabilities remotely.
Finally, if you haven't already done so, you should create security policies and train employees about best practices to be observed: using strong passwords, checking attachments before opening them, etc.
In 2023, organizations can no longer afford to ignore cyber security. Identifying and correcting vulnerabilities significantly reduces the attack surface for cyber criminals and ensures an excellent level of protection for your business.
