Data breaches, ransomware incidents and large IT outages concern many businesses more than supply chain disruption, COVID, and natural disasters, according to the Allianz Risk Barometer. While security teams undoubtedly work hard to protect corporate networks and thwart cybercriminals’ attempts to break in, it’s also true that many common errors continue to be committed. Here we discuss three common errors that many IT security teams still make:
1. Piecemeal Patch Management Strategy
The worldwide global patch management segment is expected to expand from US$589 million in 2019 to $979 million by 2024. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 10.7% over the forecast period.
Patch management is essential, and IT security teams must be strategic about it. Rolling out the best software for employees and customers is a smart move, but if your IT security team doesn’t have the procedures to ensure hackers don’t compromise your tools, the results could be disastrous.
Your IT security team must have a strategy. Ask yourself the following key questions:
- Are your applications and operating systems up to date?
- Have updates and patches been rolled out?
It doesn’t take overwhelming resources to do this but your IT security team must make sure it’s done. A patch management strategy will help address vulnerabilities that would otherwise raise your risk profile.
2. No Incident Response Plan
Even if your IT security team is firing on all cylinders, bad things can still happen. Cybercriminals and hackers never seem to sleep; they’re always seeking to compromise corporate networks.
If bad actors succeed in their attacks and breach your network, your IT security team ought to have an incident response plan that can be activated instantly. You should be able to answer questions such as the following:
- What should you do if ransomware hijacks your corporate network?
- How do you respond if a virus is wreaking havoc on the system?
- What’s the plan if a corporate computer has been lost or stolen
The incident response plan should include clear measures for various types of cyberattacks. If your IT security team has to scramble to decide what to do, you’ve probably lost the battle.
Everyone on the team has to know what to do, when to do it, and how. Action must be taken immediately to minimize potential damage and restore working order.
It’s worthwhile to hold drills to practice your incident response plan. Discuss performance metrics after a mock test to gauge what was done well and what might require improvement.
Your IT security team will also want to update the incident response plan when it’s appropriate.
3. No Round-the-Clock Monitoring
Another misstep among IT security teams is failure to implement round-the-clock monitoring. There isn’t a time of day when cyberthreats aren’t possible.
Your IT security team must ensure the corporate network is monitored seven days a week and 24 hours a day. If the team isn’t monitoring the system 24-7, cybercriminals could infiltrate your network.
What may compound this problem is that cybercriminals can cause a lot of damage before your IT security team realizes your network has been breached. Just as you might require fleet management software to manage your fleet of vehicles and CRM software to manage customer relationships, you need monitoring tools that will keep an eye on your network.
This will help your IT security team in instances when there isn’t the manpower to monitor the network around the clock.
These are just a couple of the mistakes IT security teams can make. The fallout from any of them has the potential to be disastrous, so it’s essential for you to take the necessary steps to avoid them.
IT security teams face rising expectations in the current threat landscape. The right processes and tools can make things easier.