It's easy to fall in the trap of doing too many things, making mistakes, and getting overwhelmed. Here's how to implement defences you can maintain.
By Chris Odogwu, Effective Inbound Marketing
As cyberattacks continue to rise, experts are doing a good job of developing tools and strategies for people to secure their systems. While this is commendable, one could get carried away trying to implement techniques they don’t even understand let alone have the capacity to maintain.
Effective cybersecurity isn't about deploying the most sophisticated tools but securing your system in the simplest ways. So, how can you simplify your cybersecurity efforts for maximum benefits?
1. Leverage Standard Cybersecurity Frameworks
The easiest way to complicate your cybersecurity efforts is by trying to develop security systems from scratch. Even if you had the technical skills and knowledge to do that, you would be wasting a great deal of time and resources.
Credible standard cybersecurity frameworks such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and ISO 27001 have been in existence for years. Developed by world-renowned organisations and professionals, they offer you a blueprint for securing your systems. Take advantage of them and save yourself the unnecessary hassle.
2. Understand Cybersecurity Basics
Black Lady Working on a Laptop at Home
Many people view cybersecurity as a complex field. They’d rather outsource it to someone else than implement it themselves. There’s nothing wrong with engaging cybersecurity professionals to secure your system. After all, they are experts on the job. But it helps to at least understand the basics.
The most basic tasks in cybersecurity may seem like rocket science to you just because you have no idea about them. If you could bring yourself to learn the fundamentals, you would be able to perform some tasks yourself.
Learning the various kinds of cyberattacks and how to prevent them is a great place to start. Take phishing scams for instance. Even if you have access to the most skilled cyber experts, that won’t stop you from clicking infected links or opening contaminated documents. But if you understand how phishing works, you’ll be more conscious of your online interactions.
3. Automate Your System
Automation has blurred several grey lines in cybersecurity. You can now perform activities that would ordinarily require so much time and manpower by pressing a few buttons. With advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning, cybersecurity automation is more effective than ever.
Human errors cause a significant amount of cyberattacks. The more you try to do those tasks manually, the more you expose your system to risks. Hard work may get the job done, but smart work gets it done better and faster. Automation is the key to working smarter in your cybersecurity efforts.
4. Choose Proactive Security Over Reactive
It’s somewhat human nature to lay back until the heat is on. Why try to fix something that isn’t broken? That isn't prudent advice in cybersecurity. If you wait until attackers break your system before you fix it, you may have nothing left to fix.
Proactive security empowers you to be several steps ahead of attackers. It allows you to plan your defence and attack techniques while you aren’t under any pressure. That way, you can think clearly and see things that you wouldn’t see if you are reacting to an attack.
5. Eliminate Redundancy
In an effort to enhance your security, you may end up creating redundant strategies and processes. Having more resources creates an illusion of competence. But in the actual sense, the more procedures you have in your strategy, the more complex it becomes.
Every second counts in cybersecurity. The delay caused by the extra procedures in your defence strategy could allow a threat vector to manifest. Aim to secure your system with the least number of resources and shortest processes to prevent hindrances from redundancies.
6. Integrate Your Tools
Implementing a strong cybersecurity infrastructure requires more than a single tool. But you don’t want to be working with various stand-alone tools. Not only will that cost you more money to acquire, but it’ll also demand more of your attention.
Integrating your cybersecurity systems allows you to use them in one-fold, saving you time, money, and resources.
Empower Yourself by Simplifying Your Cybersecurity
The presumption that cybersecurity is difficult to implement is one of the reasons many people shy away from learning how to secure their systems. Cybersecurity engineers are in the business of helping people secure their systems. It’s okay to seek their expertise. However, you can get the most out of their services when you have an idea of what they are doing.
Chris Odogwu is a freelance writer with many years of experience in creating premium content for organisations around the world. He is the head of content at Effective Inbound Marketing, a digital agency with locations in London, Africa and America.
Article originated in Make Use Of
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