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The public sector organizations deal with a mass of sensitive data, from private medical records to social security numbers to military intelligence records. Protecting this data constantly is their foremost priority, which means their IT teams are trusted with employing the most efficient security measures to avoid attacks or internal misadventures. Hackers know this and have turned more focus towards local and state government agencies.

These public sector organizations face more pressure while developing software to reinforce the security of essential citizen services. These organizations have their own challenges for delivering secure enough applications to protect national records. The timeframe for delivering applications is short, skills are scarce, and they are usually tight on their budgets. To overcome the limitation of workforce and skills in their security team, they needed extra hands of managed application security professionals.

Changing how the public sector thinks of security to enable everyone to fight cyber criminals more proactively is the most crucial and necessary change to make. Here are some critical steps that public sector organizations need to consider;

Develop a consistent DevSecOps Environment:

Employing a shift left approach in the development cycle of applications is the best approach. Set up the development environment to include security testing by using a security testing platform. This will run in the background of all activities developers do and send alerts to instances of vulnerable lines of code. With this security testing employed to the core of application development, you will identify vulnerabilities earlier and easier. Plus, this is a less costly and less time-consuming way to fix security issues.

Address the Human Factor with Security Training:

The employees working in an organization bring the most significant risk to data compliance. Even low-level employees have access to so much sensitive data in the course of their day-to-day duties. Employees who use a weak password or click on a malicious link can unintentionally expose thousands of records. Companies need their employees to conduct regular cyber security training sessions to prevent this. They also need to avoid scams of phishing and identify irregularities that might indicate a security incident.

Choose solutions that fully integrates into CI platforms:

No developer writes vulnerable code intentionally but often lacks empowerment. Using platforms that provide automation and guidance for developers on how to fix vulnerabilities will give them more ownership for security. This will allow them to enhance their skills and fix the issues in real-time. Contact your managed application security provider to deliver the AppSec platform that has the flexibility to integrate with whichever environment the developer is using.

Create an Incident Response Plan:

In this cyber climate, organizations should expect data security incidents at any time. Knowing this, different data privacy laws need organizations to implement cybersecurity incident response plans. With this plan in place, organizations can act quickly to minimize damage in case of an incident. The plan must outline instant response steps, along with recovery plans. It’s imperative to implement data compliance best practices with the help of cybersecurity consultancy & advisory services.

Choosing the right application security platform is crucial in building secure applications without compromising the way developers want to work. Remember that risk management is a continuous process and demands frequent review as new risks and vulnerabilities emerge.

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What Is a Network Security Plan?

A network security plan is a living document required to review the maintenance of your network security at specific intervals. This helps ensure that your network security is up to date with regulatory requirements and changes in the network’s topology. 

Having consultancy & advisory services as your security partner is always best. It will work as a helping hand with your IT team to implement network security more effectively. 

Steps to Develop a Cyber Security Plan for Your Company

Following are the key steps that are involved in developing and implementing a solid network security plan:

1- Assessment of Your Network Assets:

This is the first and most crucial step in developing a secure network security plan. A cyber security consultant company will help you evaluate all your network’s software and hardware components. This allows businesses to focus on the project and ensure the right assets are protected. Network assets may comprise network hosts like the systems used by employees or the data they have stored. It may also involve networking devices like routers or switches.

2- Establish a Threat Assessment:

The next step in the process is to identify and analyze the impending risks to the security network. A third party usually performs the assessment process of potential risks and threats. Many cyber security solutions companies offer threat cloud assessment services on your behalf. This process may take a weeks-long time, depending on your security infrastructure. 

Once the threat assessment is completed, the cyber security solutions company will compile a detailed report with identified vulnerabilities and recommendations to remediate them based on the severity of the findings.

3- Develop a Security Policy and Procedures:

The outcomes of the threat assessment will be used to define and develop a detailed set of rules and regulations to be implemented within the organization. This is the most crucial step in cyber security solutions for your company. In this step, the consultancy and advisory services expert will create a network topology diagram and set the rules to secure the different assets correctly.

4- Raise awareness and educate your employees:

Once you have outlined all the security policies, the next step is to educate your employees on using systems safely. Training your staff is vital to confirm that they understand the risks of a cyber-attack and can apply these policies to lessen their effect when they occur.

5- Implement Security Controls:

Now when you have all the set rules & policies for your team to follow, the next is to make sure that all these rules and implemented or not. Hiring a third-party cyber security company in USA is the best option to augment your security staff. They have experience working with many companies and handling different network infrastructures and technologies. Partnering with a cyber security service company can help your company implement your Network Security Plan more efficiently.

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Cybersecurity has become one of the key concerns for business owners due to the growing dependency of businesses on technology these days. We are not saying that technology is evil. But some bad actors are always looking for some loopholes to steal others personal and valuable data. As per research by security experts, “companies have experienced 148% spike in ransomware attacks after the wave of Covid-19 global pandemic.”

To protect your business assets and reputation, getting ready with an effective incident response process is the first step to combat any bad event. We all know that without having a proper cyber security incident response plan can expose your business badly. Similarly, it is also very much essential to test its effectiveness and validity on regular basis. Cyberattack simulation exercises are crucial for the safety of any business today.

What are Tabletop Exercises for Cybersecurity?

Availability of a good cyber security incident response plan in hand tells you what to do in case of a potential cybersecurity incident. This plan needs to be properly documented with specified roles and responsibilities of every individual in the team.

On the other hand, an incident response tabletop exercise is a cost-effective way to test the validity and efficiency of an IR plan. These exercises are the safest way to conduct simulation attack drills. One of the key objectives for these is to create intense pressure on stakeholders. This way they will be forced to act and think as they are under a real cyber-attack.

Key Benefits of IR Tabletop Exercise:

Here are some of the key benefits of running incident response tabletop exercises;

Identify the right stakeholders:

This might sound like a basic first step for any exercise, but it turns to a whole new dimension when we talk about cybersecurity tabletop exercises. While identifying the participants in these workshops, the management is trying to make the larger decision of finalizing key stakeholders in the process of cybersecurity process making. The process of finalizing the participants of a cyber tabletop exercise is a long-term and more strategic decision for the business than may seem otherwise.

The Scenario:

This is essential to have a cyber security consultant company on your side with CISO experts for a successful cybersecurity tabletop exercise. They will come up with the relevant scenario and are capable to create actual anxiety and pressure in the minds of participants. The scenario must be specific to the business model and its framework and based on threats and risks that are real for the business.

The Real Exercise:

Throughout the exercise, your cybersecurity consultancy partner will create an atmosphere of pressure on the participants to simulate the environment they may face during a real cyberattack. The scenario will unfold itself in quick stages so that stakeholders are forced to think proactively and collaborate with the right person accordingly.

Evaluation and Reporting:

The next and final phase of the tabletop exercise is the evaluation and reporting at the end of the workshop. The report will bring the actual face of your cybersecurity infrastructure, IR plans & processes, and inter-departmental coordination to respond to an attack and mitigate the damage to a minimum.

You cannot ignore the importance of an effective tabletop exercise. The above reasons are enough to change your mind if you are not aware of its benefits. CSI offers top-notch cyber security solutions in USA providing all-inclusive cybersecurity solutions.

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