In today’s digital age, one of the biggest fears of any company is falling prey to cyber attacks.
These attacks can be detrimental to any organization, with stolen data, destroyed networks, and loss of funds being major consequences that few businesses ever recover from. There are multiple types of cyber attacks, including distributed denial of service, phishing, pharming, and ransomware. Such attacks aim to disable, destroy, delete, or steal data and intellectual property from an organization.
One of the best options to manage the prevention and protection of cyber attacks is cyber security as a service (CSaas). In this article, we will educate you on what exactly cybersecurity as a service is, and how you can monitor it for a secure future of your business.
What is Cybersecurity As a Service?
Before we dive into what cybersecurity as a service is, we must first understand what cybersecurity is itself. Cybersecurity isn't a state. It's a process of securing electronic devices.
Cybersecurity is an umbrella term encompassing all strategies that contribute to the protection of an organization’s employees and assets from digital attacks. This includes the defense of computers, servers, mobile devices, networks, and data from malicious threats like data breaches, theft, and leaks.
Cybersecurity as a service, often stylized as CSaaS is a subscription-based model that outsources cybersecurity resources and management to different organizations and businesses, no matter their size or scale. CSaaS is usually customizable, with companies able to pick and choose the services that they require the most for the best protection of their organization. Businesses of all sizes and types can subscribe to cybersecurity as a service platform to ensure adequate protection against cyber attacks, as well as prevention monitoring and resource management.
Why Do I Need Cybersecurity As a Service?
Cybersecurity is an essential practice for any modern-day company, with digital attacks becoming rampant in recent years. In fact, statistics show a 1000% increase in cyber-attacks and threats over the past twenty years. Common cyber attacks include the implantation of malicious viruses that infiltrate and destroy company records, phishing scams that target unsuspecting employees, and ransomware that locks company records unless a fee is paid.
From employee records to customer data to product designs, the majority of an organization’s data is stored in a digital manner. This could be offline on hard drives or online on the cloud. The protection of this data is extremely important, as any data breach or leak can be disastrous to both internal employees and external customers. Database corruption, identity fraud, and intellectual property theft are all consequences of cyber attacks and are enough to send a company into a legal and financial crisis.
However, not every company is equipped with the proper personnel and software to do cybersecurity management on their own and thus may find themselves more susceptible to cyber-attacks. For such organizations, cybersecurity as s service is a great solution, as they can get the proper protections they need as much as they require. The subscription model of a CSaaS is also attractive, offering services on a pay-as-you-go basis, making it much less expensive than hiring a full team of cybersecurity management employees. Overall, cybersecurity as a service is a great option for companies of all kinds that are in need of help against cyber threats.
Services Offered by CSaaS
There is a multitude of services offered by cybersecurity as a service, and they all work together to reduce the risk of falling prey to a cyber attack. The following are some of the solutions CSaaS provide organizations.
Preliminary Cybersecurity Consultation
The very first service a CaaS provider will typically do is an in-depth cybersecurity consultation of your organization. This is where the team will analyze the current state of affairs of your company and identify the problems and potential vulnerabilities. Evaluation of security measures, risk assessment, and solution drafting are some of the services that a cybersecurity consultation will include. The main purpose of this service is to get a heads-up on how the organization is actively implementing cybersecurity practices and subsequently devise a comprehensive plan on how to move forward.
Continuous Monitoring
Continuous monitoring is another key service provided by cybersecurity as a service. Simply stated, it is the constant watch on an organization’s networks and IT systems so that potential problems and threats can be identified ahead of time. It is an automated process that is always functioning in the background and is installed by CaaS professionals to provide an additional layer of security that employs a proactive approach. With continuous monitoring implemented, any action that is out of the ordinary will be flagged by the system, allowing for vulnerabilities to be identified before damage is caused.
Advanced Email Filtering
Advanced email filtering is a cybersecurity measure that targets the prevention of phishing attacks, where email is used to persuade employees of an organization to click a bogus link. Clicking on this link may result in the implantation of a malicious virus or the coaxing of personal details which can cause a data breach. Cybersecurity as a service tackles this by offering advanced email filtering, where emails are automatically scanned and filtered using tools like machine learning and AI to prevent illegitimate ones from entering an employee’s inbox.
Advanced Endpoint Protection
Also known as AEP, advanced endpoint protection is a cyber security tool that employs the use of AI and machine learning to detect and prevent cyber threats. This is an advanced version of the traditional method of using firewalls and anti-virus software. With AEP, behavioral analysis is done on potential threats to classify them as malicious. It is an effective tool to protect systems against ransomware, data breaches, and malware.
Endpoint Encryption
Endpoint encryption is a security measure where encryption algorithms are used to protect files that are stored at a specific endpoint. This is done to protect data that is at these endpoints against any unauthorized access. This is especially useful to protect in cases where a device may be lost or stolen, discarded, or left unattended in public.
Endpoint encryption can be done on either the entire system or on specific files that the user chooses to encrypt. For an organization that gives its employees devices like laptops or mobile phones to take home, endpoint encryption is a necessary preventative measure.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication is one of the most commonly used methods in cybersecurity to reduce the risk of an unauthorized person gaining access to someone’s account. This security measure prompts the user to provide at least two methods of verification to prove their identity before allowing access to an account. Common examples of multi-factor authentication methods include security questions, one-time codes sent on your mobile phone or email, and biometric verification like fingerprint or voice recognition.
Dark Web Monitoring
The dark web is a part of the web that is not generally accessible, requiring special software to get to, and thus can be a place where criminal activities can continue without being detected. Dark web monitoring is a specialized cyber security service that is done to identify if sensitive information has been stolen and published on the dark web. This information could be compromised passwords, intellectual property, or personal details.
Provision of Cybersecurity Awareness Training
Even in today’s digital age, employees are often not well-versed in cyber etiquette and threat awareness. Cybersecurity as a service will provide much-needed training to your organization’s employees and staff so that all members can identify common cyber-attack methods and be educated on how to avoid them. Human errors are what many cyber attackers rely on to get ahold of the system, so it is imperative that there are corporate-wide initiatives being taken to reduce such insider mishaps.
Regulatory Compliance
Regulatory compliance is a process that focuses on making sure the actions of an organization are in line with industry regulations and legal mandates. Data breaches can often cause many legal disputes to arise from affected parties, and as a business, it is important that compliance is done beforehand so that there is no significant damage to finances or reputation. Compliance will also improve the security of an organization and build customer trust.
How To Monitor Cybersecurity
Monitoring is arguably the most important aspect of cybersecurity, as it is what will keep your organization away from potential risks and threats. Just like with any good habit, cyber security also needs maintenance and monitoring to thrive. Here are some steps you can take to monitor cybersecurity effectively:
Change passwords regularly
Make sure the passwords of you and your employees are regularly changed. This includes passwords to both internal systems and devices your employees take home. Frequent password changing is one of the first rules of cybersecurity monitoring and is not to be taken lightly, as having just one password breach can be disastrous to your organization.
Keep your software and hardware updated
All software and hardware that is used in your organization must be properly updated on a timely basis. This is essential to monitoring cybersecurity as it has an effect on system performance and compatibility. Newer versions of software and hardware are often equipped with better security measures, and it is just good practice to have them up to date.
Have data fully backed up
Data backup is a golden rule when it comes to monitoring cybersecurity. Data-targeted attacks can be some of the most damaging things that can happen to a business, with statistics showing the average cost of a data breach as $4.35 million in 2022. This is why an organization should back up to a secondary source such as a hard drive or cloud storage in case of any compromising situation.
Proper management of new installations
New installations are an inevitable procedure with new products and software being launched every year. However, management of these new installations is key to maintaining cyber security. There should be a list of software installed as well as its date of installation so that any new or unfamiliar installation is immediately flagged by management. This is because third-party installation of malicious software is a form of cyber attack that can be avoided if all organization installations are recorded and managed.
Regular logging of systems
In the event of a data breach, retracing your steps will be the first task to figure out where the system was exposed. This is only possible if there is regular logging of system downloads, accesses, and activities. Make sure your IT department is tracking these activities across the entire system by not only logging everything but also having an alert system in place to flag suspicious activity. In this way, cybersecurity will be effectively monitored.
