Tag Archives: Cyber Security

Cybersecurity, Essential Eight, MSP

10 Benefits of Performing a Cyber Security Risk Assessment

10 Benefits of Performing a Cyber Security Risk Assessment

You’re not alone if you feel concerned about the security of your business. In today’s digital age, cyber threats are a constant concern for businesses of all sizes. One way to protect your business is by performing a Cyber Security risk assessment. While it may seem like a chore, especially when you have plenty of other business issues or projects to work on, there are many benefits of conducting a risk assessment, and completing one can actually save your business.

What is a Cyber Security Risk Assessment?

Before we delve into the benefits of a Cyber Security risk assessment, let’s define what it is. A Cyber Security risk assessment is the process of identifying, evaluating and prioritising potential security risks to your business’ technology systems, networks and data. This assessment is crucial in understanding the vulnerabilities of your business’s digital assets and how they could be exploited by malicious actors.

The Benefits of Performing a Cyber Security Risk Assessment

Performing a Cyber Security risk assessment can provide many benefits to your business. Here are 10 of the most significant advantages of conducting a risk assessment:

Identifying Vulnerabilities

A risk assessment can help identify vulnerabilities in your business’s technology systems, networks and data. By identifying these vulnerabilities, you can take proactive steps to mitigate them before they’re exploited by cybercriminals. This also allows you to improve the Cyber Security stance of the business and create a Cyber Security culture within your company.

Prioritising Risks

Conducting a risk assessment can help prioritise risks to your business’s technology systems, networks and data, and allows your business to introduce the appropriate response strategies to the vulnerabilities you have identified. By doing so, you can allocate resources to address the most significant risks first, ensuring that your business is protected where it matters most.

Complying with Regulations

Many industries have regulations that require businesses to perform Cyber Security risk assessments regularly. By complying with these regulations, you can avoid hefty fines and penalties, and safeguard your business from legal troubles. In Australia, all businesses need to comply with The Privacy Act 1988, meaning they need to have some sort of measures in place to protect consumers’ information. For public sector organisations, the Australian Government has also brought in Essential Eight, a Cyber Security framework that they must implement. This is highly recommended for all other businesses in Australia too, and we predict it will be mandated for everyone soon.

Reducing Downtime

Cyberattacks can cause significant downtime for your business, resulting in lost productivity and revenue. Downtime can cause customers to go elsewhere and can cause staff to halt projects or start working manually which they will then have to fix later on when IT issues are resolved. By performing a risk assessment, you can identify potential threats and implement preventative measures to reduce the likelihood of a cyberattack and minimise downtime.

Protecting Your Reputation

A data breach can damage your business’s reputation and erode customer trust. When customers lose trust in your business’ ability to protect their information or even just in your ability to protect yourself, they will stop using your business or bypass your services altogether even if they’ve never used them before. As for stakeholders like suppliers, they may be hesitant to work with an organisation that has suffered a security breach, especially as this will disrupt the rest of the supply chain. By performing a Cyber Security risk assessment and implementing preventative measures, you can safeguard your business’ reputation and show customers that you take their data security seriously.

Improving Security Posture

A risk assessment can help you understand your business’ security position and identify areas for improvement. By addressing these areas, you can improve your business’ overall security posture and better protect against cyber threats in the future. You may find your position is actually better than you thought, giving you the reassurance that your IT team or managed service provider is doing their job and looking after the interests of your business. Overall, a risk assessment allows you to ease your fears about cyberattacks as well as the potential loss of your business.

Keeps Stakeholders Informed

A comprehensive Cyber Security Risk Assessment allows you to keep your stakeholders informed and educated on vulnerabilities as well as allows you to inform them of how you’re going about protecting the business and their interests. It also allows you to provide an executive summary to help executives and directors make informed security decisions.

Reduces Long-Term Costs

A Cyber Security risk assessment allows you to fully understand the justification behind costs being made around security, which, as a business owner or decision-maker, you need to fully comprehend just how important this additional expense is. By knowing the vulnerabilities in your IT systems, you can then spend the proper amount of time and money in fixing these issues and mitigating risks, which will ultimately save your business the costs of downtime and of dealing with cyberattacks when they occur. That’s not to say that they won’t occur even with a fantastic Cyber Security posture, but the majority will be able to be prevented and you should be able to stop the worst of the attack in its tracks when one does. You will also be able to get your business back up and running quickly and seamlessly with data recovery responses.

Prevents Data Loss

Data loss can and has destroyed businesses. It has both financial and emotional impacts on businesses of all sizes, not just large enterprises. This includes stress and anxiety due to losing customer records, financial information and key documents; financial impact surrounding the cost of lost business, lost reputation with customers and suppliers as well as with data recovery and breach response; the impacts surrounding legal consequences of not complying with data protection laws.

Improves Communication

This benefit comes from different avenues. First, a risk assessment requires information from different parts of an organisation, so this improves communication between both leaders and departments. It also breaks down barriers between management and IT staff, whether that be internal and/or external, as it allows the two groups to come together to make decisions that relate to the implementation of security requirements for systems, data and access, while also thinking about the security of the organisation as a whole.

Performing a Cyber Security risk assessment is a crucial step in protecting your business from cyber threats. It allows you to safeguard your business’ digital assets and ensure its long-term success. So, don’t wait until it’s too late. Invest in a Cyber Security risk assessment today and reap the benefits of a secure and successful business.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How often should I perform a Cyber Security risk assessment?

It’s recommended that businesses perform a Cyber Security risk assessment at least once a year or whenever there’s a significant change to their technology systems or infrastructure.

  • What are the key components of a Cyber Security risk assessment?

A Cyber Security risk assessment typically includes identifying assets, threats, vulnerabilities and controls. It also involves assessing the likelihood and impact of potential threats and prioritising risks.

  • Who should perform a Cyber Security risk assessment?

All businesses need to conduct a Cyber Security risk assessment, not just large enterprises. It’s also recommended that businesses hire a qualified Cyber Security professional to perform this assessment as it ensures the assessment is thorough and accurate and that all potential risks are identified and addressed.

  • How long does a Cyber Security risk assessment take?

The length of a risk assessment depends on the size and complexity of the business’s technology systems and infrastructure. Typically, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to complete a comprehensive risk assessment.

  • What happens after a Cyber Security risk assessment?

After a risk assessment is completed, a report is generated that outlines potential risks and recommended actions to mitigate them. The business can then take these actions to improve its overall security posture and protect against cyber threats.

  • Is a Cyber Security risk assessment worth the investment?

Absolutely. The benefits of performing a cyber security risk assessment far outweigh the cost. By identifying vulnerabilities and implementing preventative measures, you can protect your business from cyberattacks, reduce downtime, comply with regulations and safeguard your reputation.

Cybersecurity

All You Need to Know About the IRAP Certification

All You Need to Know About the IRAP Certification: The Key to Securing Your Organisation’s Data

If you’re a business handling sensitive information, you know how important it is to keep that data safe. With data breaches becoming more and more common, it’s essential to have a reliable system in place to protect your organisation’s data from being compromised. This is where the IRAP certification comes in.

What is the IRAP Certification?

IRAP stands for the Infosec (Information Security) Registered Assessors Program. It is a security assessment program that helps businesses evaluate their security controls against the Australian Government’s Information Security Manual (ISM). The ISM is a comprehensive guide to protecting sensitive information and is used by Australian government agencies and organisations that handle sensitive information.

It essentially endorses individuals from the private and public sectors to provide security assessment services. IRAP is monitored by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), the same entity responsible for releasing and adapting Essential Eight.

IRAP helps increase the standard and consistency of Cyber Security in Australia by endorsing qualified Cyber Security professionals. These professionals then help businesses achieve accreditation by improving their business’ Cyber Security measures.

Who Needs the IRAP Certification?

Any company that handles sensitive information can benefit from getting the IRAP certification. This includes government agencies, businesses and non-profit organisations. The certification is particularly important for organisations that deal with information that is critical to national security or the country’s economic prosperity, as they may require you to have this certification to then work with you. If you didn’t have it, you wouldn’t even be on their radar.

The Benefits of the IRAP Certification

Getting the IRAP certification has several benefits for your organisation. Here are some of them:

  • Enhanced Security

The IRAP certification helps you identify any weaknesses in your security controls and provides recommendations for improvement. This way, you can enhance your organisation’s security posture and minimise the risk of data breaches.

  • Increased Credibility

Having the IRAP certification can help increase your business’ credibility as it shows that you take information security seriously and are committed to protecting sensitive information.

  • Competitive Advantage

Having the IRAP certification can also give you a competitive advantage over other companies that don’t have it. It can help you win contracts with government agencies and other organisations that require a high level of security.

  • Compliance with Regulations

If your organisation handles sensitive information, you may be required to comply with certain regulations, which the IRAP certification can help you demonstrate compliance with.

How to Get the IRAP Certification

Getting the IRAP certification involves several steps. Here’s a brief overview of the process:

Choose an IRAP Assessor

The first step is to choose an IRAP assessor. This is a person or organisation that is registered with the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to provide IRAP assessment services.

  • Conduct a Security Assessment

Once you’ve chosen an IRAP assessor, they will conduct a security assessment of your business’ information systems. This assessment will involve a review of your organisation’s policies, procedures and technical controls. The assessor will dig deep into your IT systems, where they interview personnel, check for Cyber Security implantation, conduct audits and check if these match your risk assessment and subsequent plans.

  • Receive a Security Assessment Report

Based on the assessment, the assessor will provide a security gap analysis and risk assessment report. This report will identify any weaknesses in your organisation’s security controls and provide recommendations for improvement.

  • Implement Recommendations

Once you receive the security assessment report, you will need to implement the recommendations provided by the assessor. This may involve updating policies and procedures, implementing new technical controls or improving existing ones.

  • Apply for Certification

After you’ve implemented the recommendations, you can apply for the IRAP certification. The assessor will then conduct a final assessment to ensure that your organisation meets the requirements for certification.

Pronet and IRAP

While Pronet Technology isn’t certified in IRAP, we are incredibly dedicated to Cyber Security and have been for many years now. We implement Cyber Security measures within our and our clients’ businesses to protect and monitor them from cyber threats and are constantly updating our processes to be up-to-date with changes in the industry.

Due to this knowledge and experience, we have helped and worked with clients along their journey to reach the IRAP certification. So, while we don’t have the certification, we can help your business achieve this accreditation.

The IRAP certification is an important certification for organisations that handle sensitive information. It helps identify weaknesses in your company’s security controls and provides recommendations for improvement. Getting the IRAP certification can enhance your business’ security posture, increase your credibility, give you a competitive advantage and help you comply with regulations. If your organisation handles sensitive information, it’s worth considering getting the IRAP certification.

All in all, the IRAP certification is an essential step for securing your organisation’s data and protecting sensitive information. Remember, the security of your business’ data is too important to leave to chance, so it might be in your best interests to try to obtain this certification. If your small or medium-sized business does not deal with other organisations that require you to have such a high level of security, still make sure you’re implementing the Essential Eight Cyber Security measures so that you are adequately mitigating all cyber threats. This framework is highly likely to be mandated soon for all businesses, so make sure you’re implementing these in the near future.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about the IRAP certification:

  • How long does it take to get the IRAP certification?

The length of time it takes to get the IRAP certification depends on the size and complexity of your organisation’s information systems. It can take anywhere from a few months to a couple of years.

  • How much does the IRAP certification cost?

The cost of the IRAP certification varies depending on the assessor you choose and the size and complexity of your organisation’s information systems, but the cost is typically in the range of several thousand dollars. The cost of the assessor, however, is only a small component of the costs. The majority of the cost will be on the resources and tools you need to put in place to meet the ISM and maintain it.

  • Do I need to renew the IRAP certification?

Yes, the IRAP certification needs to be renewed periodically. The exact renewal period depends on the type of certification and the level of risk associated with your organisation’s information systems.

  • What happens if my organisation fails the IRAP certification?

If your organisation fails the IRAP certification, you will need to address the weaknesses identified in the security assessment report before applying for certification again.

  • Can I use the IRAP certification to comply with other security standards?

Yes, the IRAP certification can be used to demonstrate compliance with other security standards, such as ISO 27001. ISO 27001 Certification is essentially parallel with IRAP, however, it is slightly easier to achieve and is a certification recognised globally, whereas IRAP is an Australian certification. If your business does not require to work with the government or government agencies, ISO 27001 is generally a better option.

  • How does the IRAP certification benefit my customers?

Having the IRAP certification can give your customers peace of mind that their sensitive information is being handled with the utmost care and security. This can help build trust and confidence in your organisation.

Cybersecurity, Essential Eight, Strategy

How to Restrict Who Accesses Certain Folders or Programs in Your Business

How to Restrict Who Accesses Certain Folders or Programs in Your Business

If you’re concerned about the security of your business’ data and want to restrict access to certain folders or programs in your organisation, keep reading.

As businesses become more digital, the need for data security has increased. It is crucial to prevent unauthorised access to sensitive information and protect it from potential cyberattacks. Restricting access to certain folders or programs is an effective way to secure your data as it allows you to control who has access to what data and ensures that only authorised personnel can access sensitive information.

Certain users or teams within your business may need a higher level of access than others, as giving someone access to change permissions and install updates to apps and the device is necessary, but when someone within or outside your business gets access to this, they can accidentally or intentionally cause immense damage.

By restricting who has access, it makes it difficult for malicious users to affect certain applications, obtain sensitive information or change privileges to prevent staff from being able to work effectively.

Restricting administrative privileges is also one of the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s (ACSC) Essential Eight mitigation strategies against cyber threats, so if you’re currently looking at implementing this framework, keep reading to learn about how to do this.

How to Restrict Who Accesses Certain Folders or Programs in Your Business

To restrict who accesses certain folders or programs in your business, you can follow these steps:

  • Identify Tasks: Start by identifying the tasks that require administrative privileges, then work out which staff members are required and authorised to carry out these tasks as part of their roles.
  • Create User Accounts: Create user accounts for each employee in your organisation. Each employee should have a unique username and password to access the system.
  • Assign Access Rights: Assign access rights to each user account. You can set permissions to read, write or execute files in specific folders or programs. Make sure users have the least amount of privileges needed to carry out their roles.
  • Use Encryption: Use encryption to protect sensitive data from unauthorised access. Encryption ensures that only authorised personnel can access the data, even if it falls into the wrong hands.
  • Implement Access Control Policies: Implement access control policies to restrict access to certain folders or programs. You can set policies based on job roles, departments or projects.
  • Monitor Access Logs: Monitor access logs to identify any unauthorised attempts to access sensitive data. This can help you identify security breaches and take corrective measures to prevent future incidents. Make sure to revalidate staff requirements to have a privileged account frequently so that when their role changes or they leave the business, you can remove these privileges.

What is Not Effective?

The ACSC advises that there are a number of approaches that do not qualify as restricting administrative privileges and which can actually increase the risk to an organisation.

  • Only minimising the total number of privileged accounts
  • Allowing for shared non-attributable privileged accounts
  • Allocating administrative privileges to users temporarily
  • Placing non-admin users in groups with users that have administrative privileges

Benefits of Restricting Access to Certain Folders or Programs in Your Business

Restricting access to certain folders or programs in your business can provide several benefits, including:

  • Improved Data Security: Restricting access to sensitive information can improve data security and prevent data breaches.
  • Compliance with Regulations: Restricting access to certain folders or programs can help you comply with regulations and standards, such as The Privacy Act and Essential Eight.
  • Reduced Risk of Cyber Attacks: Restricting access to sensitive data can reduce the risk of cyberattacks and protect your business from potential threats.
  • Increased Control: Restricting access to certain folders or programs can give you increased control over who has access to what data.

Restricting access to certain folders or programs in your business is a crucial step in ensuring the security of your data. By creating user accounts, assigning access rights, using encryption, implementing access control policies and monitoring access logs, you can prevent unauthorised access to sensitive information and protect your business from potential cyberattacks. Don’t neglect this important aspect of your business security, act today and protect your data!

Remember, the security of your business data is essential to your success and you must take all necessary measures to protect it from unauthorised access. With the right security measures in place, you can rest assured that your data is safe and your business is protected.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the best way to restrict access to certain folders or programs in my business?

The best way to restrict access to certain folders or programs in your business is to create user accounts, assign access rights, use encryption, implement access control policies and monitor access logs.

  • What are the benefits of restricting access to certain folders or programs in my business?

The benefits of restricting access to certain folders or programs in your business include improved data security, compliance with regulations, reduced risk of cyberattacks and increased control over who has access to what data.

  • Can I restrict access to certain folders or programs based on job roles or departments?

Yes, you can restrict access to certain folders or programs based on job roles or departments by implementing access control policies.

  • How can I monitor access logs to identify unauthorised attempts to access sensitive data?

You can monitor access logs to identify unauthorised attempts to access sensitive data by using software tools that track user activity and notify you of any suspicious activity. This can help you identify security breaches and take corrective measures to prevent future incidents.

  • What are the consequences of not restricting access to sensitive data in my business?

Not restricting access to sensitive data in your business can result in data breaches, cyberattacks, financial losses, legal liabilities and damage to your business’ reputation.

Cybersecurity, Essential Eight, MSP

What to know about Cyber Insurance

What to know about Cyber Insurance

Back when cyber insurance first became available in the 1990s, there wasn’t much need for it, but in today’s business and digital landscape, cyber insurance has taken on greater urgency.

Why do I need Cyber Insurance?

Many small and medium-sized business owners have the idea that their business is not worth a cybercriminal’s time since they don’t have valuable data. Your business holds much more data than you think and what’s more, your business might be one link in a supply chain that if it gets hit, the rest of the chain’s data is at risk of being compromised.

Since many business owners think this way, it makes their businesses easy targets for cybercriminals to hit them with malware or ransomware that can potentially ruin their business, and it makes the statistic of 43 per cent of all cyberattacks being on SMEs not at all surprising.

The knowledge that any incident can compromise sensitive data or put an organisation at risk of lost business should be enough to make cyber insurance look appealing.

While strategies put in place are to prevent IT risks, there is always a chance that they will still happen and unfortunately, with so many variables outside your control, it’s no longer a matter of if, but when. This is why cyber insurance provides another way to reduce risk to your business.

So, if you have a large customer base, handle customer data or store information about your business, you should have Cyber Security Insurance.

What Does Cyber Insurance Cover?

Since there’s no guarantee you will never be breached, you need to insure against the costs that are involved with a data breach and theft, system hacking, ransomware demands and other attacks. Claims under a Cyber Security policy are often broad but typically include:

  • Liability: privacy lawsuits and regulatory defence.
  • Internal Financial Loss: extortion, notification expenses, data recovery, business interruption, theft.
  • Emergency Incident Response: costs incurred from responding to a Cyber Security attack.

Check the policy, but generally, cyber insurance covers your business for expenses related to the following:

  • Business interruptions like loss of profits and operational expenses
  • Recovering or replacing records or data
  • Liability and loss of third-party data
  • Hiring negotiators and paying a ransom
  • Defence of legal claims
  • Crisis management and monitoring
  • Media liability

It’s important to note that Cyber Security does not cover property damage that occurs due to a cyberattack, such as if hardware becomes fried during an incident. It also doesn’t cover intellectual property losses, businesses charged with committing a crime or self-inflicted cyber incidents, or costs associated with avoiding future attacks, like employee training, or working with a managed service provider.

Am I eligible for Cyber Insurance?

Being eligible for cyber insurance requires your business’ Cyber Security processes to meet certain standards and these must be maintained to continue to be covered.

Too many organisations have become complacent with their Cyber Security though as attacks become even more complicated, and while premiums are increasing, insurance companies are becoming more selective in what they will pay. As cybercriminals change their methods, it’s harder for organisations to put the best protections in place, which then impacts how insurance companies shape their policies.

As government regulations continue to be implemented to maintain a set of minimum standards for businesses, as cyber insurance does, this forces companies to strive to upgrade their defences from only virus protection and firewall. This only forces companies to reach their minimum standards though and does not provide the incentive to do better, which is where cyber insurance can produce better security.

When filling out a cyber insurance questionnaire, make sure you consult with your MSP so you know how to answer the questions the insurer is asking you. If you input the wrong information and take out a claim, you might find that you’re not covered for certain things that you haven’t told the insurer about. If your business then is hit by a cyberattack, the insurance company will not honour your cover.

Keep in mind that premiums for ransomware — paying a large sum, often in multiple stages, to a cybercriminal who has either stolen data or locked you out of your systems — policies have increased as the number of claims for ransom and extortion has increased. Cyber insurers often cover ransomware protection but since there is no standard policy surrounding this, cyber insurers are starting to rethink their coverage, so this varies significantly depending on the insurer. You might have to pay a separate, standalone cover for ransomware coverage that is outside of your standard Cyber Insurance.

The Australian Government advises to never pay a ransom as there is no guarantee you will gain access to your information, nor that the cybercriminals won’t sell or leak the data online. If you’re hit by a ransomware attack, call the Australian Cyber Security Centre 24/7 Hotline on 1300 CYBER1 (1300 292 371) for assistance, or contact your IT service provider so that they can guide you through the next steps forward.

The good thing about Cyber Insurance

The good thing about cyber insurance is that it forces your company to examine its risk levels in depth, such as in areas like security issues commonplace in your industry, the type of information your company stores and shares, your formal Cyber Security processes and tools, auditing procedures, backup and data loss protection, compliance regulations as well as your security history, such as whether you have had a breach in the past and how the business responded.

By doing this, businesses can develop an understanding of what Cyber Security truly encompasses and be better aware of everything within their network.

As with any insurance, no business wants to deal with cyber insurance claims. What having insurance does though, is allow organisations to survive serious cyber incidents while also changing the way businesses build and improve their Cyber Security programs.