Technology, for its immense evolution, has now become a significant driver of the economy—both digital and global. Along with developments and innovations such as cloud-based computing and Internet-connected mobile devices, however, cybercrime lurks in the shadows.

Here are some of the facts:

• The total damage caused by cybercrime is expected to reach US$6 trillion per year by 2021.
• Almost half of businesses have succumbed to a cyber attack in 2018, leading researchers to declare that “cyber attacks have become the new normal.”
• Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are likely to shut down no later than six months after a cyber attack.

In light of this, being truly cyber secure became more of a utopian ideal than a real possibility. Since cyber attacks can’t be avoided, organizations need to become cyber-resilient instead. In short: They need to be able to bounce back after suffering from the consequences of a cyber attack.

What Does It Take to Become Cyber-Resilient?

Here are three ways to achieve cyber resilience:

Allocate the Right Budget for Cybersecurity

Despite the unimaginable advancements in IT, it seems that security still sometimes gets left behind. Despite innovations, as evidenced by the development of threat intelligence platforms (TIPs), security information and event management (SIEM) software, and other cybersecurity technologies, organizations still do not prioritize and allocate enough budget for threat prevention and mitigation.

While there is no rule of thumb as to the exact amount or percentage a company has to set aside for cybersecurity, most only allocate 0.2%—0.9% of their IT budget. Chief information security officers (CISOs), thus, have no choice but to develop cybersecurity strategies with limited funds.

Implement the Zero-Trust Security Framework

The logic behind the zero-trust framework goes beyond the age-old reminder not to talk to strangers. In fact, zero trust implies organizations to avoid communicating with anyone until that person has been thoroughly verified.

All users who request access to company resources, even those within the network, should be cleared based on variables such as the device used, project type, geographical location, and role. If anything is amiss, advanced verification has to be done.

Once verification is done, user access is further limited using the least privilege concept. Users can only access the resources they have been authorized for; everything else remains inaccessible.

Aside from authenticating network users, organizations also need to keep their networks secure against suspicious domains. To fully implement the zero-trust framework, security teams continuously need to perform domain reputation assessment to block out unreputable domains.

Develop and Simulate Incident Response Plans

As attacks are no longer a question of “if” but “when,” security teams need to formulate detailed action plans for different types of vulnerabilities. The formulation of such plans often require:

• Actionable threat intelligence that can be gleaned from comparisons between internal log data and known indicators of compromise (IoCs) from various external sources to respond to incidents, notably by blocking.
• An incident recovery team that may range from security professionals and other IT specialists to lawyers and press communication officers responsible for online brand protection.
• A business continuity plan such that the organization can continue despite the chaos a cyber attack can cause to some business functions.

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These days, organizations need to treat cyber attacks as inevitable because they are. Defending your organization against them entails allocating enough budget for security tools and solutions. It also means keeping malicious sites, emails, and files out of corporate networks by employing a zero-trust framework. Last but not least, security teams need to develop detailed and tested incident response plans to mitigate risks and reduce costs.