How can you protect your organization against cyberthreats?

Every company must integrate a cybersecurity plan into both its short-term and long-term risk management strategies. An antivirus is no longer enough!

Cyberthreats (or information security threats) are becoming increasingly widespread and represent a direct risk to all organizations and businesses. This has become a substantial challenge for managers, who must integrate this reality into their short, medium and long-term strategies.

Manage the systemic risk of cyberthreats

Cyberthreats have evolved beyond computer viruses and unusable workstations. They are now a systemic risk that threatens the very existence of organizations. They can no longer be countered by antivirus software so cyberrisk defence and management strategies must be put in place.

Risk management is an integral part of any business, from the initial investment stage to strategic decisions regarding market changes. It is an essential dynamic element for every organization. This principle also applies to individuals.

However, certain risks are contextual and not influenced by the choices made or the business plan process. They cannot be easily managed using an insurance policy or static mitigation measures.

Accept this new operational reality

The first step in ensuring your organization is protected involves accepting this new reality. Modern organizations are constantly online, which allows for unrivalled productivity, fast service and unparalleled responsiveness.

However, this reality gives cybercriminals an ongoing opportunity to exploit vulnerabilities. This constantly available attack surface is an opportunity for criminals to access networks or data and manipulate people.

The reality is that entry points will be pinpointed, cyberattacks are inevitable, systems will be vulnerable and people will be manipulated in order to misappropriate information or money.

While you may not be able to avoid attack attempts, you can manage the risk, understand it and integrate it into your organization’s strategy.

Risk management is a critical element of an organization’s protection that allows you to:

Work with the management team to analyze risk

An essential element of risk analysis is an indepth understanding of the organization. This is why the management team must be involved in every stage of the process.

Indeed, introducing a risk reduction strategy must take into account not only the current operational situation, but also the future strategic direction.

As part of risk management, you must, among other things, consider:

Understand your organization and relevant legislation

An awareness of the legislative environment that could potentially affect an organization’s activities is also important. Cyberrisk management also involves ensuring compliance with existing standards, laws and regulations that govern your company’s activities.

Furthermore, reducing the risk of negligence in data governance is as important as reducing the risk of a service disruption. Indeed, certain regulations set out the consequences that could call an organization’s operations into question (Law 25 in Québec and the GDPR, NIS2 and DORA in the EU, depending on the sectors in which the company provides goods or services).

Adopt a formal cybersecurity plan

The risk analysis process allows organizations to identify risks and create a list of mitigation measures to be implemented.

This is essentially the basis of a formal cybersecurity plan that can enable a company or organization to define and apply policies and standards which are adapted to its reality.

The cybersecurity plan outlines the organization’s strategy from the risk analysis stage to business continuity measures. It also takes into account the integration of legislative and contractual constraints in addition to performance objectives.

This document will be revised regularly to ensure it remains relevant on a long-term basis.

Make cybersecurity an integral part of business performance assessment

The next step after the adoption of a cybersecurity plan is the implementation of security controls and assessing their performance to ensure that adjustments are made based on recent developments and following any changes within the organization.

Compliance with security measures is increasingly becoming a component of employee performance evaluations and an integral part of the overall results.

As more organizations are integrating cybersecurity policies into their architecture, they expect their teams to take the same approach to project management.

Together, these actions can serve to develop a positive cybersecurity culture that facilitates compliance with laws and standards. As a result, companies can more easily grow partnerships with third parties, while improving their own resilience.

Call on specialist support

Managing cybersecurity threats on an ongoing basis cannot be the core activity of any company or organization.

Since the process is often complex, it’s important for organizations to seek the support of specialists who offer consulting and managed cybersecurity services.

As a result, you can also leverage your efforts by informing your partners, customers and suppliers that you’ve adopted best practices while contributing to your sector’s ongoing economic development.