Cyber risk remediation, the process of actively identifying, remediating, and mitigating cybersecurity risks, is particularly critical for the technology industry. With its characteristic enthusiasm towards adopting the latest trends in innovation, without a cyber threat remediation product, tech companies are unknowingly increasing their risk to a swatch of data breach risks.
If you’re in the tech industry, and in the market for a cyber risk remediation solution, this post lists the key features to look out for to maximize the efficacy of your cyber risk mitigation efforts.
Learn how UpGuard protects the tech industry from data breaches >
A Cyber Risk Remediation Model for the Technology Industry
For the highest chances of success, the tech sector’s approach to cyber risk remediation should be based on a cyber risk management model with a proven track record, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF). While there are slight nuances between NIST CSF and other cybersecurity frameworks, at a high level, all cyber frameworks share the same primary functions - Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover.
Though Cyber Risk Remediation processes have some overlap across Identification and Protection functions, the bulk of its security controls sits within the Response function of the NIST CSF lifecycle.
Learn how to meet the third-party risk requirements of NIST CSF >
3 Must-Have Features in a Cyber Risk Remediation Product for the Tech Sector
To maximize the ROI of your choice of risk remediation tool, make sure it contains the following capabilities as a minimum.
1. Interoperability Between Security Products
Cyber attack tactics are multi-dimensional, and you cannot contend with a multi-dimensional problem with a single-dimensional solution. This complex state of our threat landscape calls for a novel security approach known as Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture (CSMA).
A concept originally proposed by Gartner, a CSMA calls for a defense strategy in which devices are protected by their own dedicated Information Security perimeter as part of a holistic cybersecurity program. In other words, a principal IT security function like risk remediation should integrate with other security posture improvement methodologies and risk management processes.
But this goes beyond just protecting your devices with firewalls and Multi-Factor Authentication; to reduce your potential impact, your entire risk profile should be treated like a single entity.
The need for greater alignment with CSMA is highlighted in complex information technology ecosystems like remote working environments. The rise of the remote working revolution exposed the limitations of siloed risk management strategies for protecting remote endpoints from unauthorized access and dangerous cybersecurity threats like ransomware.
Defense architectures like Zero Trust are an effective solution to this problem of security disparity. Zero trust reduces overall risk by binding security operations in one centralized security policy.
An ideal cyber risk remediation product should support a centralized risk remediation policy and extend interoperability further by integrating with other security posture improvement methodologies across internal and third-party risk management.
Here’s how such a relationship works in the context of the response function of NIST CSF.
- Response Planning - Threat intelligence data based on security posture impact projections from internal and third-party vendor risks are fed into Incident Response Plans.
- Communications - Vulnerability management efforts are shared with stakeholders through cybersecurity reports. Because these reports also address service provider security risk management, they also touch upon a topic with increasing emphasis in board meetings - supply chain attack risks.
- Analysis - Real-time scanning for emerging attack vectors and the impact of their remediation improves risk assessment efficiency for internal and Third-Party Risk Management.
- Mitigation - A centralized remediation solution means internal and vendor risk can be shut down faster, reducing the risk of successful malware, phishing, and social engineering attacks.
- Improvements - By improving the efficiency of all surrounding cybersecurity initiatives, including data security and data protection, a centralized risk remediation product allows more resources to be dedicated to reducing impacts on risk tolerance levels.
Some of the above processes feed into the cybersecurity field of Attack Surface Management, which, in keeping with the principle of interoperability, should be managed from the same platform used for cyber risk remediation.
Learn the features of the best attack surface management solution for the tech sector >
How UpGuard Can Help
UpGuard combines the essential features of attack surface management and Vendor Risk Management in a single intuitive solution. With advanced features like Shared Profiles for certification sharing and risk assessment automation, UpGuard streamlines workflows mapping to essential risk management strategies, helping security teams work more efficiently and intelligently
Watch the video below for a quick walk through the UpGuard platform.
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2. Cyber Risk Prioritization
Security teams must constantly filter through a thick fog of noisy data to locate threat indicators requiring their attention. An ideal cyber risk remediation product will help sift through this noise, indicating where security teams should focus their attention.
Cyber risk prioritization is only possible if the potential impact of security risks on an organization’s security posture can be determined, which, in turn, is only possible through the quantification of security postures.
Security Ratings sit at the peak of this problem sequence, with its cascading impacts making cyber risk prioritization a possibility. Security ratings are objective, unbiased quantification of an organization’s security posture based on an analysis of multiple attack vectors threat actors are known to exploit.
Ranging from 0 to 950, security ratings make it possible to instantly understand an organization’s degree of data breach resilience, which is why this feature is predicted to be as ubiquitous as credit scores for evaluating a company’s cybersecurity program.
Cybersecurity ratings will become as important as credit ratings when assessing the risk of existing and new business relationships…these services will become a precondition for business relationships and part of the standard of due care for providers and procurers of services. Additionally, the services will have expanded their scope to assess other areas, such as cyber insurance, due diligence for M&A, and even as a raw metric for internal security programs.
- Gartner
How UpGuard Can Help
UpGuard’s security rating feature accurately evaluates security postures by assessing six categories of attack vectors - 1) website security, 2) network security, 3) email security, 4) phishing & malware risk, 5) brand & reputation risk, and 6) questionnaire risk.
This feature integrates with UpGuard’s remediation workflow, indicating the projected impacts of selected risks to support the most efficient remediation decisions.
3. Third-Party Cyber Risk Remediation
A cyber risk remediation product should extend its security risk mitigation capabilities to the external attack surface. Without this functionality, tech organizations only have partial awareness of their risk exposure.
In the tech industry, the following cyber threats pose risks to sensitive data integrity:
- Leaked internal credentials - Either due to human error or insider threats, or phishing attacks.
- Third-Party Vendor risks - Operating system vulnerabilities exposing sensitive information the vendor has been entrusted to process.
- Third-Party Vendor Leaks - Compromising data leaked on the dark web that could facilitate third-party breaches.
A single remediation tool for addressing internal and external security risks will prevent excessive attack surface bloat caused by integrating multiple different remediation solutions to form a holistic cybersecurity program.
How UpGuard Can Help
UpGuard’s cyber risk remediation feature addresses security risks across the internal and external cyber attack surfaces of technology companies. By also providing complex insights into an organization's third-party attack surface, UpGuard offers the most comprehensive protection against cyber threats.
Watch the video below for an overview of UpGuard’s remediation requests feature.
