How To Use Threat Modeling to Reduce Your Cybersecurity Risk
As cyber threats increase in scope and complexity, businesses must take proactive steps. Companies need to protect their sensitive data and assets from cybercriminals. Threats to data security are persistent and they come from many different places.
Today’s offices became quite digitally sophisticated. Nearly every work activity relies on some type of technology and data sharing. Hackers can breach these systems from several entry points. Entry points include computers, smartphones, cloud applications, and network infrastructure.
It’s estimated that cybercriminals can easily penetrate 93% of company networks.
One of the approaches to help organizations fight these intrusions is threat modeling. Threat modeling is a process used in cybersecurity. It involves thinking through carefully to identify potential threats and vulnerabilities to an organization’s assets and systems.
Threat modeling helps businesses correctly prioritize their risk management and mitigation strategies. The goal is to reduce the risks of falling victim to a costly cyber incident.
Here are the steps businesses should follow to conduct a threat modeling session.
Identify Assets That Need Protection
The first step is to identify whichever assets that are most critical to the business. Assets include sensitive data, intellectual property, or financial information. What is it that cybercriminals will most likely go for?
Remember to include phishing-related assets, such as company email accounts. Business email compromise is a fast-growing attack. It capitalizes on breached company email logins gotten by phishing.
Identify Potential Threats
The next step in threat modeling is to identify potential threats to these assets. Some common threats include cyber-attacks such as phishing. Other common ones would be ransomware, malware, or social engineering.
Another category of threats that pop up include physical breaches or insider threats. These happen where employees or vendors have access to sensitive information.
Remember, threats aren’t always malicious or intentional. Human error causes approximately 88% of all data breaches. So, ensure you take mistake-related threats into account too, such as:
- The use of weak passwords
- Unclear cloud use policies
- Lack of employee training
- Poor or non-existent BYOD policies
Assess Likelihood and Impact
Once you’ve identified potential threats, assess the likelihood and impact of these threats. Businesses must understand how likely each threat is to occur in order to effectively defend from it. Companies must also calculate the potential impact on their operations, reputation, and financial stability. This step helps rank the risk management and mitigation strategies.
Base the threat likelihood on current cybersecurity statistics in addition to a thorough vulnerability assessment. This part of the assessment should come from a trusted 3rd party IT service provider. If the company does the assessment with only internal input, the team is bound to miss something.
Prioritize Risk Management Strategies
Prioritize risk management strategies next. Base these priorities on the likelihood and impact of each potential threat. Most businesses simply can’t tackle everything at once due to time and cost constraints. So, it’s important to rank solutions based on the biggest boost to cybersecurity.
Some common strategies to consider include implementing:
- Access controls
- Firewalls
- Intrusion detection systems
- Employee training and awareness programs
- Endpoint device management
Businesses also should determine which strategies are most cost-effective. These strategies must also align with their business goals.
Continuously Review and Update the Model
Threat modeling is not a one-time process because cyber threats are constantly evolving. Businesses need to continuously review and update their threat models. This scheduled, regular work helps ensure that security measures remain effective and aligned with their business objectives.
Benefits of Threat Modeling for Businesses
Threat modeling represents an essential process for businesses to reduce their cybersecurity risk. Identifying potential threats and vulnerabilities to their assets and systems has always been important. Threat modeling helps management teams rank risk management strategies, as well as reduce the likelihood and impact of cyber incidents.
Here are just a few of the benefits of adding threat modeling to a cybersecurity plan.
Improved Understanding of Threats and Vulnerabilities
Threat modeling helps businesses gain a better understanding of specific, current threats. It also uncovers vulnerabilities that will impact their assets. It identifies gaps in their security measures and helps discover new risk management strategies.
Ongoing threat modeling also helps companies stay out in front of new threats. Artificial intelligence births new types of cyber threats every day. Companies that fall into complacency fall victim to new attacks.
Cost-effective Risk Management
Addressing risk management based on the likelihood and impact of threats reduces costs across the board. It helps optimize company security investments. This cost management ensures that businesses divide resources effectively and efficiently.
Business Alignment
Threat modeling ensures that security measures align with the business objectives. When done well, this reduces the potential impact of security measures on business operations. It also helps management teams coordinate security, goals, and operations.
Reduced Risk of Cyber Incidents
By implementing targeted risk management strategies, businesses reduce risk, including the likelihood and impact of cybersecurity incidents. Better security protects the company’s assets. It also reduces the negative consequences of a security breach.
Why Is This Published By A Business Phone Company?
Here at NoContractVoIP, we believe that your success creates our success. And, since we specialize in business communication, we work to help you communicate better while staying safe. We create the cutting edge communication systems that modern companies need. And we geek out on tech stuff, so we study it for you.
To talk to a business phone system specialist and never worry about any of this again, call 866-550-0005 or contact us today.
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