How To Create an Effective Cyber security policy

"As cybersecurity leaders, we have to create our message of influence because security is a culture and you need the business to take place and be part of that security culture."

- Britney Hommertzheim, Global BISO at Cardinal Health.

"As cybersecurity leaders, we have to create our message of influence because security is a culture and you need the business to take place and be part of that security culture."  - Britney Hommertzheim, Global BISO at Cardinal Health

Cybersecurity is the need of the hour and it has become extremely crucial for organizations to build cyber security policies and protect their data. Cyber-attacks have surged since the pandemic and so have the hackers. Many organizations have fallen prey to various kinds of cyber-attacks and it has become important that organizations invest in long-term cybersecurity protocols to ensure they safeguard their assets.

Building a strong cyber security policy is an effective solution for securing the privacy standards of the organization. A cyber security policy is a written document containing technical guidelines for all employees to ensure maximum protection from cybersecurity ramifications and ransomware attacks. The policy lists information about the company, their security policies, operations, and safety measures in case of a cybersecurity incident.

A cyber security policy lets your IT team:

• Utilise the correct tools for cybersecurity and constant estimation of the firm's readiness in case of a cyberattack.
• Implementing best practices of cybersecurity and structuring a document with cybersecurity incident response measures and frequently putting these measures to test with cybersecurity tabletop exercises.
• Communicating with every team of the organization to ensure they are maintaining healthy

security hygiene and following the necessary protocols to eliminate potential perils.

Why is a cyber security policy vital for any organization?

A cyber security policy is vital so that each department in an organization is following a standardized set of cybersecurity rules to maintain healthy practices of cybersecurity.

Security policies in cybersecurity ensure that firms are running ahead of the fast-paced threat actors who are trying to breach into systems. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a paradigm shift in the workforce; the remote working model is the reason behind the increase in cyberattacks since not everyone can deploy sophisticated cybersecurity services and this gives threat actors the chance to penetrate the systems. Irrespective of the size of your company, being vigilant against cyberattacks is very necessary. According to Cybersecurity magazine, 43% of cyberattacks are made against MSMEs and the major type of attack they face is phishing. This proves that a cybersecurity policy for small businesses too is necessary.
Methods to accurately curate a cyber security policy

An accurate cyber security policy is what is required by organizations irrespective of their size to follow a regime which suits each firm's security requirements. The security policies in cybersecurity must state clearly what actions a firm should take in case of a cyber breach, apart from that it must also contain a detailed plan for incident response. Here are a few points which will help you easily document a cybersecurity policy:

1) Comprehending Cybersecurity: The first step is always to understand why cybersecurity is crucial for your company. Identify which category your business falls under, whether it's Sales, Technology or anything else. Once identified, it becomes easier to enlist guidelines catering to your organization. Implementing cybersecurity crisis management exercises is a good practice to follow even with your employees to ensure they also understand the severity behind cybersecurity protocols.

2) Identify vulnerabilities: Cyberattacks and attackers can mould themselves to any scenario since such malware attacks can take place from anywhere at any time. As per PurpleSec's stats, 50% of IT professionals believe that their organizations aren't prepared enough to defend themselves from such attacks. You must prioritize the assets which could be vulnerable and what are the dominating risks. To better identify vulnerabilities, professionals must ask these 3 key questions;

1. What are the risks and threats your organization could face?
2. What are the key cybersecurity concerns?
3. What kind of risks/threats could harm your firm the most?

3) Ensure the policy aligns with company compliance: While curating cyber security policies, you must ensure it is in tandem with company compliance. It is not always necessary that the policies you set will align with the compliance, hence it is imperative to set your guidelines which do not tamper with your business compliance.

4) Test your policy: Being forewarned is being forearmed. The last and final step will be to test your policy if it's effective and if it would be helpful during a crisis. Conducting regular assessments will help your organization modify the policy if necessary or at least be assured that these policies will be worthy when/if required.

About CCoE
A joint effort between the Government of Telangana and DSCI, the Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence (CCoE) aims to create safe and secure cyberspace in India and create reliable cybersecurity solutions. Our objective is to boost India's IT ecosystem and develop applications & privacy domains by incubating start-ups, conducting workshops, and training programmes, participating in local, international and national initiatives and much more.

Visit our website: https://ccoe.dsci.in

Download our intuitive resources: https://ccoe.dsci.in/resources/

Source Links:

https://cybersecurity-magazine.com/10-small-business-cyber-security-statistics-that-you-should-know-and-how-to-improve-them/

https://purplesec.us/resources/cyber-security-statistics/

https://www.cm-alliance.com/cybersecurity-blog/how-to-create-an-effective-cybersecurity-policy