• Support
  • Login
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Support
  • Login
  • Contact
  • Blog
SecurityScorecard SecurityScorecard
  • Products
    PRODUCTS
    • Security Ratings
      Identify security strengths across ten risk factors.
    • Security Data
      Get actionable, data-based insights.
    • Security Assessments
      Automate security questionnaire exchange.
    • Attack Surface Intelligence
      NEW
      On-demand contextualized global threat intelligence.
    • Automatic Vendor Detection
      Uncover your third and fourth party vendors.
    • Cyber Risk Quantification
      Translate cyber risk into financial impact.
    • Reporting Center
      Streamline cyber risk reporting.
    • SecurityScorecard Marketplace
      Discover and deploy pre-built integrations.
    SERVICES
    • Active Security Services
      Test your security controls.
    • Cyber Risk Intelligence
      Partner to obtain meaningful threat intelligence.
    • Digital Forensics & Incident Response
      Prepare to respond to any threat.
    • Third-Party Risk Management
      Reduce risk across your vendor ecosystem.
    BUY NOW
    • Compare All Plans
      Choose a plan that's right for your business.
    • Try Free Account
      Make informed decisions with confidence.
    • Buy Pro Now
      Add automated event responses.
    • Buy Business Now
      Expand on Pro with vendor management and integrations.
    • Request Enterprise Demo
      See the capabilities of an enterprise plan in action.
    icon__SSClogoMark icon__SSClogoMark

    Understand and reduce risk with SecurityScorecard.

    Free account sign up
  • Solutions
    BY USE CASE
    • Compliance
    • Cyber Insurance
    • Digital Forensics
    • Due Diligence
    • Enterprise Cyber Risk
    • Executive-Level Reporting
    • Incident Response
    • Regulatory Oversight
    • Third-Party Risk
    BY INDUSTRY
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Financial Services
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Insurance
    • Retail & Consumer
    • Technology
    Help your organization calculate its risk
    View All Solutions
  • Customers
    OUR CUSTOMERS
    • Customer Overview
      Trusted by companies of all industries and sizes.
    • Peer Reviews
      Find out what our customers are saying.
    SUCCESS AND SUPPORT
    • Customer Success
      Receive award-winning customer service.
    • Support
      Get your questions answered by our experts.
    COMMUNITY
    • SecurityScorecard Connect
      Engage in fun, educational, and rewarding activities.
    • Connect Login
      Join our exclusive online customer community.
    icon__SSClogoMark icon__SSClogoMark
    Understand and reduce risk with SecurityScorecard.
    Free account sign up
  • Partners

    Partner Program Overview

    Partner with SecurityScorecard and leverage our global cybersecurity ratings leadership to expand your solution, deliver more value, and win new business.

    Learn more
    • Locate a Partner
      Access our industry-leading partner network.
    • Value-Added Resellers
      Enter new markets, deliver more value, and get rewarded.
    • Managed Service Providers
      Meet customer needs with cybersecurity ratings.
    • ISAC Partner Program
      Learn more about the industries we support and ISAC member benefits.
    • Technology Alliances
      Access innovative solutions from leading providers.
    • SCORE Portal Login
      Use the SCORE Partner Program to grow your business.
    • SecurityScorecard Marketplace
      Find a trusted solution that extends your SecurityScorecard experience.

    Understand and reduce risk with SecurityScorecard.

    Free account sign up
  • Resources
    RESOURCES
    • Resource Center
      Explore our cybersecurity ebooks, data sheets, webinars, and more.
    • SecurityScorecard Blog
      Read the latest blog posts published weekly.
    • Research & Insights Center
      Access our research on the latest industry trends and sector developments.
    • SecurityScorecard Academy
      NEW
      Complete certification courses and earn industry-recognized badges.
    TOOLS AND DOCUMENTATION
    • Free Security Rating
      Get your free ratings report with customized security score.
    • Product Release Notes
      Visit our support portal for the latest release notes.
    • Free Account Signup
      Start monitoring your cybersecurity posture today.
    • Chrome Extension
      NEW
      Show the security rating of websites you visit.
    • Assessments ROI Calculator
      Calculate the ROI of automating questionnaires.
    Trust begins with transparency. Take a look at the data that drives our ratings.
    Learn more
  • Company

    Working at SecurityScorecard

    Committed to promoting diversity, inclusion, and collaboration–and having fun while doing it.

    Join our team
    • About Us
      SecurityScorecard is the global leader in cybersecurity ratings.
    • Leadership
      Meet the team that is making the world a safer place.
    • Press
      Explore our most recent press releases and coverage.
    • Events
      Join us at any of these upcoming industry events.
    • Policy Insights
      Raising the bar on cybersecurity with security ratings.
    • Careers
      APPLY TODAY
      Come join the SecurityScorecard team!
    • Contact Us
      Contact us with any questions, concerns, or thoughts.
    • Trust Portal
      Take an inside look at the data that drives our technology.
    • Help Center
      We are here to help with any questions or difficulties.
Request a demo
SecurityScorecard SecurityScorecard
  • Support
  • Login
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Support
  • Login
  • Contact
  • Blog
SecurityScorecard SecurityScorecard
  • Products
    PRODUCTS
    • Security Ratings
      Identify security strengths across ten risk factors.
    • Security Data
      Get actionable, data-based insights.
    • Security Assessments
      Automate security questionnaire exchange.
    • Attack Surface Intelligence
      NEW
      On-demand contextualized global threat intelligence.
    • Automatic Vendor Detection
      Uncover your third and fourth party vendors.
    • Cyber Risk Quantification
      Translate cyber risk into financial impact.
    • Reporting Center
      Streamline cyber risk reporting.
    • SecurityScorecard Marketplace
      Discover and deploy pre-built integrations.
    SERVICES
    • Active Security Services
      Test your security controls.
    • Cyber Risk Intelligence
      Partner to obtain meaningful threat intelligence.
    • Digital Forensics & Incident Response
      Prepare to respond to any threat.
    • Third-Party Risk Management
      Reduce risk across your vendor ecosystem.
    BUY NOW
    • Compare All Plans
      Choose a plan that's right for your business.
    • Try Free Account
      Make informed decisions with confidence.
    • Buy Pro Now
      Add automated event responses.
    • Buy Business Now
      Expand on Pro with vendor management and integrations.
    • Request Enterprise Demo
      See the capabilities of an enterprise plan in action.
    icon__SSClogoMark icon__SSClogoMark

    Understand and reduce risk with SecurityScorecard.

    Free account sign up
  • Solutions
    BY USE CASE
    • Compliance
    • Cyber Insurance
    • Digital Forensics
    • Due Diligence
    • Enterprise Cyber Risk
    • Executive-Level Reporting
    • Incident Response
    • Regulatory Oversight
    • Third-Party Risk
    BY INDUSTRY
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Financial Services
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Insurance
    • Retail & Consumer
    • Technology
    Help your organization calculate its risk
    View All Solutions
  • Customers
    OUR CUSTOMERS
    • Customer Overview
      Trusted by companies of all industries and sizes.
    • Peer Reviews
      Find out what our customers are saying.
    SUCCESS AND SUPPORT
    • Customer Success
      Receive award-winning customer service.
    • Support
      Get your questions answered by our experts.
    COMMUNITY
    • SecurityScorecard Connect
      Engage in fun, educational, and rewarding activities.
    • Connect Login
      Join our exclusive online customer community.
    icon__SSClogoMark icon__SSClogoMark
    Understand and reduce risk with SecurityScorecard.
    Free account sign up
  • Partners

    Partner Program Overview

    Partner with SecurityScorecard and leverage our global cybersecurity ratings leadership to expand your solution, deliver more value, and win new business.

    Learn more
    • Locate a Partner
      Access our industry-leading partner network.
    • Value-Added Resellers
      Enter new markets, deliver more value, and get rewarded.
    • Managed Service Providers
      Meet customer needs with cybersecurity ratings.
    • ISAC Partner Program
      Learn more about the industries we support and ISAC member benefits.
    • Technology Alliances
      Access innovative solutions from leading providers.
    • SCORE Portal Login
      Use the SCORE Partner Program to grow your business.
    • SecurityScorecard Marketplace
      Find a trusted solution that extends your SecurityScorecard experience.

    Understand and reduce risk with SecurityScorecard.

    Free account sign up
  • Resources
    RESOURCES
    • Resource Center
      Explore our cybersecurity ebooks, data sheets, webinars, and more.
    • SecurityScorecard Blog
      Read the latest blog posts published weekly.
    • Research & Insights Center
      Access our research on the latest industry trends and sector developments.
    • SecurityScorecard Academy
      NEW
      Complete certification courses and earn industry-recognized badges.
    TOOLS AND DOCUMENTATION
    • Free Security Rating
      Get your free ratings report with customized security score.
    • Product Release Notes
      Visit our support portal for the latest release notes.
    • Free Account Signup
      Start monitoring your cybersecurity posture today.
    • Chrome Extension
      NEW
      Show the security rating of websites you visit.
    • Assessments ROI Calculator
      Calculate the ROI of automating questionnaires.
    Trust begins with transparency. Take a look at the data that drives our ratings.
    Learn more
  • Company

    Working at SecurityScorecard

    Committed to promoting diversity, inclusion, and collaboration–and having fun while doing it.

    Join our team
    • About Us
      SecurityScorecard is the global leader in cybersecurity ratings.
    • Leadership
      Meet the team that is making the world a safer place.
    • Press
      Explore our most recent press releases and coverage.
    • Events
      Join us at any of these upcoming industry events.
    • Policy Insights
      Raising the bar on cybersecurity with security ratings.
    • Careers
      APPLY TODAY
      Come join the SecurityScorecard team!
    • Contact Us
      Contact us with any questions, concerns, or thoughts.
    • Trust Portal
      Take an inside look at the data that drives our technology.
    • Help Center
      We are here to help with any questions or difficulties.
Request a demo
SecurityScorecard SecurityScorecard
BLOG

6 Ways to Improve the Security Posture at Your Organization

01/09/2020

In today’s world, businesses are constantly at risk of being compromised in a cyberattack.

Easily obtainable malware has significantly lowered the barrier to entry for carrying out attacks, resulting in increased cybercrime activity. For this reason, organizations must have a strong cybersecurity posture as this will enable them to adequately detect and manage intrusions across networks.

When working to improve your organization’s security posture, there are several best practices that you can implement to help identify gaps in security controls and quantify risk. Following these best practices will not only help improve your organization’s ability to protect valuable assets, but will also ensure that your cybersecurity posture can be continually monitored and enhanced moving forward.

What is security posture and why is it important?

Cybersecurity posture measures how prepared your organization is for an attack and the effectiveness of your overall cybersecurity efforts. Simply put, it’s a collective security status of all networks, systems, hardware, services, and information.

Cybercriminals are finding smarter and better ways to exploit the weaknesses in a company’s infrastructure. As such, strengthening your security posture and recognizing where you stand regarding online threats should be top-of-mind. Understanding where the security gaps and vulnerabilities are within your organization can motivate your team to be more proactive in creating a more secure environment.

How to evaluate your security posture

A strong security posture suggests your organization has the appropriate measures in place to protect your IT systems and networks from threats. Evaluating your security posture starts with identifying your organizational needs and objectives. This information will help you build a security framework and implement processes tailored to your organization. There are a variety of security tools available to help organizations automatically evaluate their security posture. These evaluations often help detect hidden risks and vulnerabilities so you can prioritize remediation efforts accordingly.

8 steps to improve your security posture

Below are eight best practices you can use to improve your organization’s security posture.

1. Conduct a cybersecurity risk assessment

Improving your security posture begins with assessing the strength of the controls you currently have in place. One way to do this is by conducting a cybersecurity risk assessment. This assessment identifies the level of vulnerability across various assets within your organization. The results of the assessment will help you determine which actions need to be taken to enhance your security posture as well as inform the security controls you put in place to protect against future attacks.

When conducting risk assessments, it is also important to evaluate your organization’s third-party vendors so you can identify and address any vulnerabilities they may have in their systems. A vulnerability anywhere in your supply chain can escalate risk and cost your organization in lost revenue and reputation, so it is recommended that you periodically audit high-risk vendors.

2. Prioritize risk by business impact

Once asset vulnerabilities have been identified, it is important to then rank them based on the overall risk they pose to your organization. This will help you determine what to prioritize when working to improve your security posture, as well as inform the risk benchmarks you set for future evaluations.

Security ratings help prioritize risk by assigning a letter grade to your security posture based on how well it protects critical data and information. The letter grade assigned provides your organization with a clear understanding of which areas require focus within your security architecture. These ratings can also be used in third-party risk management efforts, helping to prove your due diligence during the onboarding process or as part of ongoing vendor monitoring.

3. Track security metrics

Security metrics provide your organization with a way to accurately measure the effectiveness of your security practices. These metrics can also help identify ways to mitigate risk and guide future risk prioritization. With that in mind, the efficacy of your metrics program relies heavily on what you decide to measure, so it is crucial that you are tracking metrics that affect your company from both an operational and strategic standpoint.

In order for your security metrics to add value, you need to ensure that they align with your security goals while not being overly complex. These metrics should be used to identify, track, and report on key performance indicators (KPIs), so it is important to ensure that the data they analyze is reliable and easy to understand. This way, your security metrics can be leveraged to accurately inform future security decisions.

The effectiveness of a metric can vary based on the maturity of your organization’s security programs. For this reason, it is essential that you set scaleable goals for each metric you track so that it can be used to continually assess your security posture as it develops.

4. Implement automated cybersecurity solutions

Implementing automation into your organization’s network environment is imperative when working to mitigate risk and improve security practices. Using automated cybersecurity solutions to monitor your network gives time back to IT teams, allowing security professionals to focus their efforts on high-risk threats.

Additionally, automated cybersecurity solutions can help cut down incident response times and stop attacks from spreading across networks. If set up correctly, automated resources can also be used to assess security metrics. For this reason, we recommend that you track metrics that allow for the automated collection of data.

5. Educate your employees

A lack of security training can expose your organization to a variety of cyber risks, so it is essential to prioritize employee training as a means of protection against external cyber threats. Security training should be administered to every employee during the onboarding process, with curriculum varying based on job function and seniority. Regular testing of employees’ cybersecurity literacy will allow you to evaluate the effectiveness of the education programs you have in place.

6. Create an incident response plan

In the event of a breach, you need to have a response plan in place as this can help reduce potential damage and allow for a quick return to normal operations. A good place to start is by establishing response teams who will be responsible for guiding your organization’s actions should your systems be compromised. You should also create a checklist of action items that should be prioritized during an attack to ensure no time is wasted. This plan will vary depending on the severity of the attack and the size of your organization.

Once the plan has been developed, carry out a mock attack to ensure that each employee understands their role and can execute it effectively. Response plans should be updated at least once per year, or whenever new technology is implemented at your organization.

7. Implement regular updates as needed

Outdated security tools and practices can hurt your security posture and allow cybercriminals to infiltrate your systems. For that reason, IT teams should form a habit of implementing regular changes and adjustments to stay ahead of new advancements in security technology and modern threats.

8. Eliminate silos

IT and security teams that operate within silos are more at risk due to the lack of communication amongst each other. Fostering a collaborative and strong security culture can help teams understand the importance of cybersecurity, the role each person plays in prevention, and the possible consequences of an attack. Furthermore, reinforcing a collaborative culture enables teams to realize how working together can help mitigate risks more effectively and efficiently.

How SecurityScorecard can benefit your security posture

The cyber threat landscape’s rapid and ongoing evolution has made it very difficult for organizations to accurately determine the strength of their security posture. Additionally, new technologies can make identifying network vulnerabilities very challenging for security teams.

With that in mind, SecurityScorecard’s security rating platform is an excellent resource for organizations looking to assess their cybersecurity risk. Continuous data-driven monitoring of your security practices will provide you with a snapshot of your organization’s overall cyber health, as well as identify any areas of common or critical risk within your company. SecurityScorecard’s analytics capabilities give your security team comprehensive visibility into your network and system vulnerabilities, allowing you to mitigate risk in real-time. Third-party risk is also evaluated through the use of vendor security scores, allowing you to monitor how your business ecosystem is performing at all times.

In the digital age, continually monitoring your security posture has become a necessity, so it is important that you are able to implement these best practices into your business operations as they will help you stay protected. Get your free rating today.

Return to Blog
Join us in making the world a safer place.
FREE ACCOUNT SIGN UP
Products
Solutions
Customers
Marketplace
Partners
Resources
Company
Trust Portal
Security Ratings
Login
Blog
Contact
Careers

SecurityScorecard
Tower 49
12 E 49th St
Suite 15-100
New York, NY 10017

[email protected]

United States: (800) 682-1701
International: +1(646) 809-2166
Social-linkedin Social-facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube