Category Archives: Cyber Security

What Critical Role Does Cyber Defense Have With Cyber Security?

Cyber security is a term that most people recognize and have a reasonable understanding of what it means.

What may not be as familiar to many is the term cyber defense, which is a critical part of an overall cyber security strategy.

For businesses in need of developing or improving their cyber security plan, cyber defense companies stress the importance of understanding these two terms and how they work together to not only stop security breaches but to efficiently prevent them, too.

What Makes Up Cyber Defense?

The easiest way to explain cyber defense is to first define cyber security as the continuous process of defending against cyber threats that bombard a network with a variety of different types of attacks.

In this sense, cyber security is the process, whereas cyber defense is the methods used to defend against those attacks.

Cyber security addresses the identification and understanding of incoming, offensive threats and attacks, while cyber defense addresses protecting the network by locating security flaws and patching them before they can be exploited. 

Why Is Cyber Defense More Challenging?

While both processes perform collectively under the overall title of cyber security, cyber defense is actually more challenging, as it involves greater research and analysis of a network’s current operations as opposed to just understanding how a threat works.

Therefore, it should be undertaken by experienced professionals with a much broader knowledge of cyber security and networking.

Cyber defense professionals point out that it is the goal of this part of the process to inspect and analyze business networks to understand their weaknesses, then find the most appropriate ways to resolve them so they can withstand an incoming attack. 

Total Security Requires Cyber Defense Along With Cyber Prevention

For businesses to achieve the highest levels of network security, their cyber protection strategy must look not only at how to prevent offensive cyber threat attacks but also at how to protect against threats that might still reach their networks.

Based on how it operates, cyber defense is especially important for protecting against threats like ransomware, infected web pages, and malware attacks of various types using methods like firewalls, antivirus protection, and strong network architecture that reduces vulnerabilities. 

What Is Your Cyber Security Strategy?

By treating each network as its data castle, businesses partnering with a cyber defense company can stay safe using a general cyber security strategy that offers both offensive and defensive methods to prevent access by malicious programs.

A strong defense, paired with an effective offense, is the best army a company can have to protect its sensitive data fortress and avoid becoming the next victim of a cyber threat!

Effective Cyber Security Involves Much More Than Just Your IT Department!

A primary focus of cyber security and the prevention of cyber attacks revolves around investing in the right hardware, software, and personnel to promote a secure network that is not vulnerable to attack.

What many business owners do not understand is that there is much more involved in keeping their networks secure than simply paying for cyber security services.

Cyber security companies stress the importance of looking at threat prevention from outside of the IT room and how other players add to the vulnerabilities that make networks less secure.

Only by addressing these issues can any company achieve the level of cyber security required with everyone acting together. 

Problem – A System of System Risk

The biggest issues increasing risk in many cases include a cultural disconnect between the IT department and everyone else.

Those outside of the IT department frequently do not understand how their actions can negatively affect cyber security, increasing risk.

This system of systemic risk should be identified and addressed within a company to ensure that all employees fully understand the risks they create and how to reduce risky actions that can threaten the network. 

Need for an Accountability Policy

To enforce these policies and make employees aware of the risks they create and acknowledge the policies being put in place to prevent cyber attacks, cyber security services recommend putting an accountability policy in place.

This policy must be carefully developed to reward those making the best decisions, yet without creating a culture that unintentionally becomes so restrictive that it slows job efficiency. 

Above All – Communicate

An important part of all of these methods is communication and building a company culture that can talk to each other.

Non-IT executives must be willing and able to discuss cyber security with the IT department, then translate that information to everyone else in the building and enforce cyber security protocols.

Executives must also be vocal about balancing these protocols to everyone’s benefit, rather than allowing an environment that is either too restrictive or not restrictive enough, then placing blame when cyber threats become a problem. 

Cyber Security Involves Everyone

Ultimately, cyber security companies can only stress that effective cyber security is a company-wide effort that all personnel must be aware of and take part in.

While implementation of cyber security services may lay in the hands of the IT department, making use of those protocols is everyone’s responsibility.

With good communication, awareness, training, and good communication, businesses can ensure that all employees do their part to promote a safer network environment.