As organizations rely on technology ever more for day-to-day operations, the need for robust information security measures has become more critical than ever. Cybersecurity risks have risen, and it’s essential for CISOs to implement strategies that ensure real-time monitoring of threats to prevent data breaches.
This is where continuous monitoring can help. Continuous monitoring for compliance and risk management provides organizations with a bird’s eye view of their entire IT infrastructure. This helps them to identify potential issues before those issues become major problems. Continuous monitoring allows organizations to track changes in their IT environment, discover potential configuration errors or unauthorized changes, and implement corrective actions.
In this article we’ll discuss what continuous cyber risk monitoring is, the advantages of continuous monitoring, and how continuous monitoring can improve your overall security posture.
Continuous Cyber Risk Monitoring, Explained
Continuous cyber risk monitoring automates the process of examining and assessing an organization’s security measures. This approach aims to help your organization discover vulnerabilities and address them before intruders exploit them.
Because vulnerabilities can emerge at any time, consistent monitoring of the entire network allows organizations to detect those issues promptly. In short, continuous cyber risk monitoring is a crucial process for all stakeholders involved in an organization’s IT infrastructure, including providers and vendors. It also gives security team members the capability to stay ahead of cybercriminals.
Advantages of Continuous Cybersecurity Monitoring
The cybersecurity threat landscape has witnessed significant changes in the past two decades. Traditional security measures like firewalls and anti-malware software are no longer adequate to prevent sophisticated cyberattacks from skilled cybercriminals.
Moreover, focusing on data security is not sufficient to tackle contemporary threats. To deal with these threats effectively, it is essential for businesses to anticipate attacks and prevent them from breaching their systems. The most effective approach for achieving this is through continuous monitoring.
Continuous security monitoring also gives you real-time visibility into your IT security data, offering advantages such as:
- Identifying and addressing vulnerabilities;
- Maintaining a strong risk posture by constantly monitoring for potential threats, including ransomware, phishing, and other cyber incidents;
- Improving incident response by quickly identifying and responding to potential threats;
- Providing cybersecurity metrics that can assess the state of security at all levels of an organization;
- Managing third-party risks by monitoring vendor risk management security practices;
- Monitoring the overall effectiveness of all security controls;
- Using threat intelligence to identify emerging threats and trends.
Implementing continuous security monitoring into your cybersecurity plan can reduce cyber risks from the start, as well as the potential harm from cyberattacks and data breaches if those events occur.
What Is Cyber Risk Management?
Cyber risk management is the process of identifying, assessing, and prioritizing potential threats to an organization’s sensitive data, networks, and information systems, and implementing a risk management program to prevent security incidents. Cyber risk management aims to drive better, more informed decision-making processes, by offering a comprehensive understanding of an organization’s security posture and potential vulnerabilities.
Cyber risk management involves four core steps:
- Risk assessment. This involves determining the potential cyber threats and vulnerabilities that could affect your organization’s systems and data.
- Risk analysis. Once the potential risks are identified, they should be examined to understand their likelihood and potential impact.
- Risk mitigation. After analyzing the risks, organizations must implement strategies to mitigate them, such as implementing security controls, training employees, and developing incident response plans.
- Risk monitoring and review. Lastly, organizations must continually monitor their systems to ensure that the implemented controls are efficient and regularly review and update their risk management strategies to keep up with emerging cyber threats.
Overall, effective cyber risk management is critical for protecting an organization’s sensitive information and assuring business continuity during a cyberattack. To achieve this, organizations need to develop an active approach toward cybersecurity, which can be realized through implementing various initiatives and risk rating methodologies that are aligned with industry best practices.
ROAR Platform Helps You Track Security in Real-Time
Many organizations don’t have an accurate view of risks to their assets across endpoints and networks. To assess your vulnerabilities, prioritize risks, and get complete visibility into your digital environment, you need a reliable risk management solution. The Reciprocity® ROAR Platform gives you a unified and real-time view of risk and compliance that is framed around your business priorities. It also reduces intricacy and allows you to remain proactive against potential risks by continually monitoring for changes that might negatively affect your risk posture.
Schedule a demo now and see how Reciprocity ROAR can simplify your approach to cyber risk management and compliance.
