Your path to success: A cybersecurity roadmap

The damage caused by cybercrime is predicted to reach an annual figure of $6 trillion annually by the end of next year1 — this is DOUBLE the figures we were seeing in 2015¹. This alarming increase in the cybersecurity threat level demands a new approach to risk management.

A roadmap brings a level of clarity, discipline and cohesion to IT risk management that is all too often absent. It also brings concepts that are familiar to senior management and boards, such as schedules, capability targets and budgets to achieve them. However, many organizations fail to develop a roadmap because they are too busy putting out fires to step back and consider the bigger picture.

Developing a security roadmap helps you align security processes with business goals and optimizes your overall cybersecurity posture. With a solid roadmap, you’ll know where you stand today, where you need to go to be more effective, and what you need to do to get there.

The hardest question to ask – “where are we?”

Given the constantly evolving nature of the threat landscape, determining where you are is no easy task. Two key questions can bring clarity:

• What’s the business risk associated with the data to be protected?

• What is the maturity level of our current defences?

Budgets for cybersecurity are always limited, which means that resources must be carefully allocated so that vulnerabilities posing the greatest business risk receive the highest levels of protection. Sometimes, the level of risk can be quantified eg. Regulatory compliance fines, but sometimes the numbers are a little harder to anticipate. For example – how do you put a value on the reputational damage from a global data breach? We’ve all seen it happen before – the 2018 Facebook breach comes to mind.

Once you’ve got a handle on these risk levels and they’re firmly established, the next step is determining the maturity level of the defences currently deployed against those risks. A system that assesses beyond just technology and extends to people and organisational processes aswell will be the most effective.

Make your journey iterative, inclusive and measurable

Building a roadmap is not a one-and-done project; it should be part of a continuous program strategy and operations cycle. As your organization’s priorities shift along with the threat and regulatory compliance landscape, so must the course you’ve set – this means regularly re-evaluating your risks and plans.

Your approach should incorporate all stakeholders, including IT, HR, legal, and business unit leaders. This way, you gain comprehensive visibility into your organization’s security and business objectives, as well as any ongoing technology-related projects, to ensure the roadmap is in alignment.

And of course, before you begin executing projects in your roadmap, make sure your success is measurable. Extract key deliverables from each project and use these as milestones. Also, be prepared to regularly communicate the value of each project through security metrics developed during its progression.

The destination

In short? A fully-implemented, comprehensive cybersecurity strategy that has 3 core characteristics. It must be proactive, cost-effective, and resilient. Cybersecurity professionals must learn to back out of ‘firefighter mode’ – instead of putting out the fires that’ve already been started, the focus must now shift to anticipating where they’re likely to start. The organisation is then ready to fight back and ensure business continuity.

Take the first step and assess your business’s security posture and maturity and determine whether your strategies, roadmaps and plans are really relevant to your business. You don’t have to go it alone, there are many skilled cybersecurity professionals who can help you to either develop this capability in-house or provide expert consultancy on a one-off or longer-term basis to support your business as it develops its cybersecurity strategy and takes away the worry.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3110467/cybercrime-damages-expected-to-cost-the-world-6-trillion-by-2021.html