A Checklist for IT Security to Safeguard Your Company

It was reported that cybercrime soared by 600% during the COVID-19 Epidemic. Cyberattacks have increased as the world has grown increasingly dependent on technology, whether for personal or professional use. Sadly, a lot of common misconceptions about cybersecurity prohibit companies from appropriately preparing for and responding to these assaults.

"Consider that many companies currently spend the same amount of time, effort, and money every year to keep the electronic inventory of cleaning supplies secure as they do to safeguard their most sensitive corporate information," said Catherine Pitt, a vice president in charge of information security at Pearson. Protecting this important information requires more time and effort.

When it comes to protecting your organization's data and technological assets, IT security is of the utmost significance. To assist you in getting started, we've included a high-level summary of an IT security checklist. But first, let's talk about the significance of security risk assessment.

Security risk assessment's importance

By doing an IT security risk assessment, you (or a third party) can examine your systems, procedures, and technologies to find vulnerabilities in your environment that a threat actor could exploit.

Tools are utilised throughout the examination to examine your network's vulnerabilities. Pen testing, user behaviour audits, and phishing simulations are all part of this examination. A report listing such vulnerabilities is produced once those vulnerabilities have been found. Your company can then correct them. The IT security risk assessment report gives specific information and proof of the cybersecurity gaps in your company.

What benefits does adopting an IT security checklist provide?

Making sure that everything is taken care of and that your IT environment is secure by using an IT security checklist. You may ensure that every aspect of your system is safeguarded against cyberthreats by attending to every component. To find out what fundamental components to include in your IT security strategy, look over this IT security checklist:

List of IT security measures

The wide concept of IT security includes safeguarding all an organization's systems, data, and devices. Knowing how to effectively safeguard each part of your IT system might be difficult. How can you be confident that all your IT assets are properly safeguarded or which cybersecurity tools do you need?

Sounil Yu developed the Cyber Defense Matrix to aid in streamlining an otherwise intricate procedure. Our checklist will be based on the framework, which aids organizations in understanding their security environment and security posture.

The first five columns in the matrix are the five NIST framework functions: identity, protect, detect, respond, and recover. The matrix's first dimension is made up of these operating processes. The primary asset types that need to be protected in an IT environment are listed in the matrix's second dimension. Devices, apps, networks, data, and users comprise the assets.

The dependency level is listed below the grid. This shows a scale of how much each function depends on people or technology. The identify function is the one that uses technology the most. On the grid, each function becomes less dependent on those around it as you move to the right, whereas the dependence of each succeeding function on humans increases. The process is constantly needed in the context of the continuums of technology and people.

Ensure that you have the resources—people, technology, and procedures—necessary to carry out each of these tasks.

Your assets come first; what are you seeking to protect?

1. Endpoint and device security

Your systems and assets on the devices or endpoints are protected by device or endpoint security. If these assets were compromised or exposed in any manner, it might have a significant effect on your organization. Controlled access, drive encryption, password management, managed AV, and device approval is examples of endpoint security controls. More visibility, a prerequisite for good security, is another benefit of endpoint management software, which enables you to identify intrusions early.

2. Security on networks

Implementing strong network security is essential since your company's network gives users access to all components of the IT infrastructure. Things like network segmentation, access control, sandboxing, and zero trust are used to achieve this.

3. Security for applications

Setting up security mechanisms to thwart attackers at the application level is known as application security. Authentication, authorization, encryption, and logging are elements that enhance application security.

4. Data protection

Data security is the discipline of safeguarding your computer assets for the duration of their useful lives. This covers data storage, data access, data transfer, and data disposal is done properly. Data segmentation, data backup and recovery, data encryption, data segmentation, data finding, and classification are some examples of common data security solutions.

5. User security

Human error is at blame for 95% of cybersecurity breaches, according to IBM. Humans are not machines, and because of their unpredictable nature and propensity for distraction or deception, threat actors find it simpler to infiltrate and compromise systems. Phishing simulators, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and background checks are security measures to safeguard users.

Then, you have your security functions or capabilities – what you need to invest in to really secure these assets.

These activities are categorized as being either left of "boom" or right of "boom" in the Cyber Defense Matrix, indicating that they normally take place before or following a cybersecurity event.

Identify

The activities required to inventory all your assets and comprehend your present security environment are included in the identify function. This may entail assessing your attack surface or doing a vulnerability assessment. Investing in appropriate testing and assessments will boost your understanding of where gaps exist and what could require more attention.

Protect

Measures including hardening, patching, and vulnerability management are used to protect your assets. It may also involve activities conducted after malware has been discovered, such as the isolation of a virus to prevent it from infecting other Computer assets. Applying secure Windows configurations and installing EDR/AV are two examples of the protect function in action.

Detect

After a cyberattack has started, humans and technology are deployed for detection. When behavior in the IT environment deviates from normal patterns, the detect function is used to identify threat actors or cybersecurity incidents. This can be done manually, through active search, or automatically through alerts.

Respond

How you handle the situation depends on how you eliminate the cyber threat. The outcome of the event will depend on how soon you can react and whether you can successfully eliminate the threat, thus it is crucial to have a well-thought-out strategy with efficient reaction techniques in place. This function also deals with how you evaluate the harm that has been done.

Recover

The ultimate function is to recover. You'll need to figure out how to survive a cyberattack to restore and resume your regular business operations. All five roles are crucial, but the final one—recovery—will demonstrate the effectiveness of your IT security plan as you repair damaged property and resume normal operations. After experiencing an assault, maybe you'll be able to identify and note methods to enhance your IT security approach going forward.

While doing a risk analysis of your IT environment, use the Cyber Defense Matrix as a checklist for IT security. This matrix displays potential security measures and safeguards that may be applied to every asset in each of the five operating functions:

Be sure to bear these best practices in mind while you conduct your IT security assessment or audit:

Guidelines for performing an IT security audit.

To safeguard and secure your IT environment, a thorough cybersecurity audit must be conducted. For conducting an IT security audit, Crash Test Security offers the following best practices:

Set your IT security objectives.

What precise goals do you hope to achieve with your IT security? Outline the business's IT goals and the specific things the audit will be looking for to start. Determine whatever vulnerabilities, openings, or problems you're seeking to control or prevent.

Create security guidelines.

IT security policies define the guidelines and requirements for how employees access and use technology within your organization. To ensure that everyone is on the same page, develop and review these policies.

Notify all business workers.

Every employee of the company who has access to any technology must have a basic understanding of the cybersecurity regulations in force.

Please refer to the relevant security standards.

There are different data protection laws in force based on the industry your company is in. Choose the security framework that is best for your company, and then during the IT security audit, refer to the related security standards.

Accounting for all resources

Make a careful inventory of all your IT resources. Making a network diagram is advantageous since it is useful to understand how all the assets relate to and interact with one another throughout the IT audit.

Set roles and duties for security.

Describe who oversees what cybersecurity duties. As a result, it is easier to create an escalation matrix and know who to call at what level in the event of a cybersecurity crisis.

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