The Elephant in the Room: Cybersecurity Can be Expensive
By Rob Jansen, Chief Executive Officer
8 Steps to Evaluate New Cybersecurity Proposals
It is time to address the elephant in the room: cybersecurity can be expensive. Choosing new or expanded coverage will always include decisions on platform, product & scope selection, the price of the program and the company you trust to implement. This article outlines eight key considerations to a confident and informed decision on the next iteration of your cybersecurity program.
Alignment with Business Objectives
Consider the threat landscape in your industry and the sensitivity of the data your firm will protect. Vulnerability analysis (the current state of your security program), pen testing, remediation priorities and overall resilience round out a comprehensive risk assessment framework. With this clarity, validation will ensure that protection materializes as designed and other assets that maintain or re-establish operations are in place.
Technology Stack Compatibility
Ensure the new program is compatible with your current technology stack, including network infrastructure, cloud services and ERP. Leverage technologies like SIEM and SOAR to streamline processes and reduce manual workload. Automation and orchestration decisions at inception will save time later, so consider their ability to integrate with your stack.
Incident Response Planning
In the event of a breach, successful recovery is dependent upon adhering to well-designed plans that invoke validated backups. Ensure the new program includes playbooks with detailed incident response plans for use cases like ransomware, insider threats and the like. Regular tests and simulated breaches can ensure the team is prepared. And a post-incident review protocol ensure learning and improvement will occur. This ongoing planning and refinement is practice for the event you hope never happens.
Monitoring and Threat Intelligence
How does the new cybersecurity program implement tools and processes for real-time detection of suspicious activities? Chiefly, actionable intelligence is collected to stay ahead of emerging threats and refine defenses proactively. Managing a cybersecurity portfolio to deliver point-in-time resilience requires clear policies, plans, processes and capabilities that protect against the most recent evolution of threats. The managed services provider you choose will be key to your threat intelligence success.
Program Metrics and Continuous Improvement
Metrics matter. Track KPI’s such as incident response time, mean time to detect (MTTD), and mean time to resolve (MTTR) for performance clues. Use the metrics in feedback loops among the team and use the lessons learned to continuously refine processes, policies and technologies. Equipping the team with success metrics and enabling them to improve and enhance in real time builds stability and loyalty.
Ask potential MSPs about their shift left focus, as this will indicate the value they place on speed, preparation and early detection. By shifting efforts earlier in development to find “pre-attack behaviors” using the MITRE ATT&CK matrix, your cybersecurity will be proactive and not reactive. Advanced providers view this as a vital investment up front. Your DevOps team will be glad to integrate this posture into their new and developing applications.
Future-Proofing
Stay informed about advancements in cybersecurity, such as zero-trust architectures, AI-driven threat detection and quantum-resistant encryption. Emerging technology can help your security team adapt to new trends and challenges, such as remote work or edge computing. Your cybersecurity program must have a view of the future to be successful in the present, and the ability to modernize in step with technological advancements insures for changes in the future.
Vendor and Partner Relationships
An advanced-skill managed service provider will implement any cybersecurity program on time and within budget. That skill is earned over time, and often not about any relationship with the sales team. A record of successful deployments and proven technical expertise will be demonstrated in their approach to data ingestion, configuration time, ready-to-use correlation searches and automated playbooks.
A true partner will show willingness to collaborate with your team using clear communication protocols established at onset. Training, shared workloads and resource allocation will be flexible and will meet your needs, not theirs. The best MSP’s share the workload with your experienced team, and train to match. Look for the best implementation partner in the industry, and make sure their credentials are validated with the software firm in consideration.
Cost Management
And that brings us back to the elephant in the room. Your firm will incur license and ingest expenses. The combination of platform and partner will influence total cost of ownership significantly. Best in class cybersecurity can be affordable when the MSP effectively and efficiently configures your data and your protocols. Cheap programs beget cheap security; knowing where gaps exist and weighing low data security against the risks your firm is willing to take can aid in your provider selection.
Breaches will happen. The ability to quickly detect, respond and remediate them is the difference between successful cybersecurity and a costly, public incident. Repairing your systems and your reputation will be more expensive if your cybersecurity program isn’t properly implemented. The investment you make in your cybersecurity platform will determine how expensive any breach will be.
Cybersecurity is an expense on your income statement, but it doesn’t have to be burdensome. Your firm can afford best-in-class security when coupled with detection/response/remediation work from the most experienced MSP you can find. The categories presented here will help you determine if their combined experience and capabilities are a true fit for your firm.
Read more about TekStream Security Services.