How to Implement a Cybersecurity Program for Your Business

Even if your business doesn’t operate in the critical infrastructure sectors, a robust security posture is essential to maintain business continuity and compliance. Properly securing enterprise infrastructure comes down to formulating and executing a robust cybersecurity strategy. In fact, companies must first perfect a few steps before embarking on a cybersecurity implementation plan. 

For instance, first, they must conduct a comprehensive risk assessment of their current cybersecurity posture. Next, they must meticulously create a cybersecurity strategy to ensure a resilient future.

Critical elements of a cybersecurity strategy are multifold. You have to understand the cyber threats you're facing and the methods you can use to address security vulnerabilities successfully. You also need to have a good grasp of threat detection mechanisms, incident response plans, and remediation playbooks for data breaches and other security events. 

Your security strategy must also consider physical security, for example, how well entry and exit points to the building and data center are secured. Security best practices for overall protection must always consider physical space and cyberspace. Once an organization has a good grasp of complex cybersecurity risks and has created a security strategy with security measures and risk management actions to reduce potential risks, it can establish a holistic cybersecurity program.

When a good plan comes together, it should enable the proactive optimization of cybersecurity tools, practices, and personnel. For example, it should include information and initiatives that help everyone seamlessly work toward the goal of securing the business.

A cybersecurity strategy is only as good as its implementation. Even a solid cybersecurity plan falls apart during an active cybersecurity incident if it isn't implemented with precision.

For example, according to IBM, automation can save businesses as much as $1.76 million per breach. However, there is always a risk of companies suffering significant losses if they fail to deploy security automation tools properly. 

This guide will demonstrate practical steps to developing a robust cybersecurity strategy that defends against rapidly advancing threats, regardless of available budgets.

Why Is Cybersecurity Program Implementation So Important?

In recent years, cybersecurity has become and remains a top priority. From governments to businesses to citizens, everyone is under threat. From an organizational perspective, implementing a cybersecurity program is crucial to mitigating the risk of financial losses, with data breaches costing an average of $4.88 million globally.

Cybersecurity programs are critical as organizations are experiencing an average of 1,636 cyber attacks per week, representing a 30% year-over-year increase. It also goes a long way toward averting potential compliance violations, fines, and potential disruptions. An unexpected detail is that small businesses are particularly vulnerable, with 60% closing within six months of a cyberattack due to inadequate security measures.

The following section will provide a comprehensive overview of establishing cyber defenses, protecting your information technology ecosystems, and establishing a cybersecurity program. 

Cybersecurity Program Implementation: A Step-By-Step Guide

Here is a step-by-step guide to implementing a robust cybersecurity program. 

Step 1: Form a Proactive Cybersecurity Team 

Implementing a security program that works isn't straightforward. Businesses will need top security talent to secure and defend the organization proactively. However, the global skills gap may not always make tech talent accessible to everyone. 

Whenever this is the case, it's worth looking into cybersecurity automation tools or partnering with a Managed Security Service (MSS) provider to access expert support without hiring full-time staff. Companies should also consistently invest in upskilling IT staff through accessible certifications like CompTIA. 

Step 2: Install Cybersecurity Tools 

Once a cybersecurity team is ready to start working on this task, it's time to give them the necessary tools. These include the following:

• Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to protect your privacy and security

• Firewalls to block unauthorized network access with real-time monitoring

• Antivirus software to protect devices from viruses, malware, ransomware, and other threats

• Password managers to allow for the creation, management, and storage of strong passwords 

• Encryption and decryption tools to help secure sensitive data while enabling seamless access

• Network security tools to help secure enterprise networks from cyber threats like unauthorized access and other malicious activity.

• Multifactor authentication (MFA) to provide a security layer to prevent unauthorized access to accounts when passwords are stolen and sold on the dark web

• Data management tools to enable access to large data volumes, allowing for seamless organization, storage, data security, quality, and analysis.

• Patch management applications to help automatically identify, download, test, and install software updates (patches) across the network 

Companies can procure these tools from a single provider or multiple providers. However, choosing tools that integrate well with your infrastructure is important while matching your budget and threat profile. Avoiding tool sprawl (too many disjointed tools) is also crucial. Finding and implementing holistic, easy-to-use security tools is the best way forward.  

Step 3: Weave In Cybersecurity Frameworks

Once the cybersecurity team and unified tools are in place, it's time to choose cybersecurity frameworks. Security frameworks aim to streamline the implementation process while ensuring that they align with regulatory requirements. Security frameworks represent a baseline for the organization to follow. You don’t have to be part of the federal government for these cybersecurity standards to work for you. It applies to everyone from federal agencies to the private sector.

Examples of cybersecurity frameworks include:

• Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT)
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• ISO 27001 and ISO 27002
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS)
• The Center for Internet Security (CIS) Controls

Not sure what framework or cybersecurity standards to use? Cybersecurity frameworks serve similar yet different purposes. If you are a small and medium-sized business, use NIST for flexibility. It’s also supported by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). If you have a global clientele, choose ISO 27001 for international compliance. 

Step 4: Configure Cybersecurity Policies

Configuring cybersecurity policies can be overwhelming. If you haven't done it before, where do you start? The good news is that there are some free resources you can look into. For example, the SANS Institute offers free and customizable information security templates.

The organization's security policies must dictate how it secures its IT infrastructure. For example, it can be as simple as instructing all employees to enable MFA for system access or automating the encryption of sensitive data at rest and in transit.

Enterprise cybersecurity policies should cover the following:

• Credential management
• Information security
• Incident response and remediation 
• Management of sensitive data and data protection
• Protection of endpoints and IoT (Internet-of-Things) devices
• Threat detection or intrusion detection

The security policies you implement shouldn't be overly specific. As a rule of thumb, make sure that they strike a healthy balance between general guidelines and technical security controls.

Step 5: Document All Implementation Processes

It's critical to document all activities during the implementation phase. These include audit logs, security policies, and incident response plans. Businesses can use tools like Google Docs or Confluence for centralized storage and regular updates.

Meticulous documentation of the security program implementation helps organizations prepare for future auditing needs. Whenever companies lack documentation, they run the risk of compliance failures and fines. This is the reality in specific industries where data privacy is strictly enforced. As such, it's crucial to inform key personnel and stakeholders about the importance of documentation.  

Step 6: Introduce Threat Detection Mechanisms

A robust cybersecurity plan will have threat detection and incident response protocols. Threat detection helps to derail hackers before they cause damage. Companies can fortify enterprise ecosystems by using security information and event management (SIEM) tools to centralize logs and automate alerts for a quick response from the incident response team.  

Without a threat detection system, organizations risk falling victim to malware, ransomware, phishing, and supply chain attacks.

To detect and respond to threats early, businesses should address the following:

• Endpoint security
• Network security
• Vulnerability management
• Email security
• Managed detection and response (MDR)

Step 7: Set Up Incident Response 

While threat detection is proactive, incident response is reactive. Security events are inevitable in a hyper-digital world. All the security tools and policies can only help mitigate risk; they don't guarantee ironclad security. That's why businesses must actively prepare for the worst. With robust incident response capabilities, you can limit the damage of data breaches and cybercrime.

Critical characteristics of incident response include:

• Pinpointing compromised systems
• Reducing the blast radii of attacks
• Calculating the extent of damage
• Remediating compromised systems
• Informing key stakeholders about cyber incidents
• Documenting exploited vulnerabilities 
• Analyzing root causes and updating policies to prevent recurrence 

Step 8: Train Teams and Key Personnel 

For any cybersecurity strategy to work, all stakeholders must buy in. Security teams alone can't consistently defend the organization. It demands a collective effort. Prioritization is key. All stakeholders must prioritize the organization's cybersecurity program and best practices. This approach helps improve security awareness, making everyone alert to potential threats. It makes cybersecurity a shared responsibility. 

It's important to conduct engaging training and awareness campaigns. For example, training sessions should focus on phishing recognition, safe password practices, and incident reporting. Staff can better understand cyber risks and mitigation strategies by conducting workshops regularly and simulating social engineering attacks. Organizations should also enable seamless access to available cybersecurity tools, capabilities, and information. 

Step 9: Proactively Refine the Cybersecurity Program 

During and after implementation, it's critical to conduct penetration tests to identify potential weaknesses within the enterprise environment to mitigate the risk of data breaches and compliance violations. 

During this phase of the process, companies must analyze the number of detected threats, incident response times, and training completion rates. These numbers can help security teams refine their strategy while conducting regular security audits and pen tests. 

It's important to proactively analyze, refine, and update security protocols to keep pace with a rapidly evolving threat landscape. It's the only way to counter rapidly advancing threats that often catch companies off guard. Optimizing IT security proactively helps enterprises stay a step or two ahead of threat actors.

Once the organization successfully conducts a cybersecurity requirements assessment and develops a cybersecurity strategy and roadmap, it's time to implement the security program. If the company fails to implement the program properly, all previous steps will come undone.

To ensure successful implementation, enterprises can do the following:

• Create a powerful cybersecurity team
• Deploy robust security tools
• Weave in relevant cybersecurity frameworks
• Configure policies
• Document all activities
• Establish threat detection mechanisms
• Establish incident response plans
• Engage in extensive security training
• Revisit and refine the cybersecurity program proactively

It's a game of cat and mouse in a rapidly evolving threat landscape. As such, organizations must follow these steps to stay one or two steps ahead of threat actors.

When organizations don't have the resources to develop and deploy a strong cybersecurity program, partnering with an established MSS provider will help. Such partnerships allow businesses to identify and rectify potential gaps in their infrastructure and fortify it.