Cyber threats are increasing due to the rapid pace at which attackers evolve each year. As new vulnerabilities emerge, businesses must maintain strong cybersecurity practices. The best way to prepare? Regular Security Assessments. By conducting these assessments at recurring intervals, you can thoroughly scan for current vulnerabilities that could potentially harm your business if exploited. It may seem minor, but without visibility into your weaknesses, the likelihood of an attack greatly increases. Are you as safe as you think?
You guessed it—with the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in recent years, vulnerabilities are almost guaranteed, not just possible. However, IT and security assessments help businesses ensure that as the cyber landscape evolves and threats increase, they are well-equipped to withstand any attempts to penetrate their environment.
WHAT IS A SECURITY ASSESSMENT?
A security assessment aims to identify, evaluate, and implement critical security controls in applications. The primary objective is to proactively detect and address security flaws and vulnerabilities within an organization’s suite of applications. By adopting the perspective of a potential attacker, IT professionals can verify the correct implementation of security controls, ensure their optimal functionality, and achieve the desired security outcomes.
You Should Conduct a Security Assessment If You:
- Looking to update or strengthen your security policies and procedures?
- Need to identify budgeting or training needs?
- Want to ensure nothing is undermining your cybersecurity efforts?
- Haven’t reviewed your security in 2 or more years?
While a security assessment offers valuable insights into your IT environment, it is not a cure-all solution. If you are already aware of security issues within your system, consulting with an IT expert would be the best step to identify the most effective solutions for your business.
BENEFITS OF A SECURITY ASSESSMENT
Much like backups, security assessments need to be conducted regularly. Whether you already know which assessments your business requires or seek the assistance of a knowledgeable IT consultant to identify them, maintaining a routine security assessment schedule can benefit your business in many ways, such as:
- Staying ahead of security threat trends
- Addressing the demands of both remote and in-person workforces
- Meeting compliance requirements, even if not mandated
- Managing the software and application lifecycle
- Facilitating cloud transformation for hybrid environments
- Ensuring business continuity by protecting critical data and systems
- Providing a roadmap to maintain operational efficiency
Staying Ahead of Security Threat Trends
New cyber threats emerge daily. To stay ahead, ensure your software and applications are up to date, your cybersecurity measures are robust, and your environment is free of easily exploitable weaknesses. A security assessment can help detect and address vulnerabilities that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Keeping Up with Remote and In-Person Workforce Demands
No one could have foreseen that a global pandemic would lead to such a dependence on remote work, or that its popularity would continue to rise even after the peak of the pandemic. As life evolves, changes in the remote workforce are inevitable. This is why Employee Security Awareness Training is now just as crucial as security assessments for maintaining a secure IT environment. The last thing you want is for your business to become an easy target for the continually evolving threats to the remote workforce.
Meeting Compliance Requirements
In some industries, there are stringent compliance requirements and restrictions for the IT environment, while in others, such regulations may not exist. Organizations lose an average of $4 million in revenue due to a single non-compliance event. A security assessment helps align your business with compliance requirements, saving you time, money, and protecting your reputation.
The most effective way to ensure compliance is by partnering with a CMMC-AB Registered Provider Organization (RPO) that conducts security assessments. This allows you to collaborate with experts who understand what to look for in your environment and how to ensure you meet your industry’s compliance requirements.
Lifecycle Management
Managing multiple programs, applications, and software can make it difficult to keep track of expiration dates. Security assessments allow you to thoroughly examine your environment, catching these expirations before they cause disruptions or bottlenecks in your daily operations. By managing the lifecycle of your applications, you ensure that your system runs smoothly and that all defenses provided by your software are offering continuous security.
With ransomware, viruses, and other malicious software targeting weak entry points, application whitelisting becomes crucial in the overall lifecycle management of your environment.
Cloud Migrations
Cyber-attacks on cloud environments are continuously increasing. While transitioning to the cloud offers numerous benefits compared to a traditional IT setup, it’s crucial to ensure your cloud environment remains secure. Conducting a security assessment facilitates cloud migration by helping you identify any additional tools needed to enhance security in your environment.
Roadmap for Operational Efficiency
Few IT consultants provide a comprehensive blueprint of your IT environment. However, having one allows you to gain a bird’s-eye view, ensuring operational efficiency throughout. At Cervisys, we offer this to every customer during the onboarding of our Secure Managed Services.
HOW DO I GET A SECURITY ASSESSMENT?
Fortunately, a thorough scan of your environment is as simple as reaching out to our IT consultants at Cervisys. We offer a comprehensive security assessment with detailed documentation that highlights existing problems and how to address them.
For those who prefer to focus on immediate actions, we also provide a streamlined IT security and infrastructure assessment that zeroes in on actionable items. Ready to take the first step towards a secure environment? Contact us today!