Can your business survive a cyber attack?

In an increasingly hostile cyber-threat environment, business leaders must prepare for the worst by building resilience in their organisations. This can be achieved through initiatives such as crisis-simulation exercises.

Businesses across the economy are in an “arms race” with increasingly sophisticated cyber-attack groups. These groups aim to create profit from causing disruption and harm. “Their business model is to cause as much pain as possible,” says CyberCX education consultant Marie Knights.

According to Knights, the best defence to an attack starts at the top, with board directors committing to upskilling and crisis simulation exercises to be combat ready. “Once a breach occurs, it’s how people respond and the decisions they make that determine the length of downtime and the effects of an attack, including customer exposure and reputational damage.”

CyberCX, an end-to-end cyber-resilience provider, has grown to become the country’s largest dedicated cyber security services firm, with a comprehensive strategic presence across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and US. CyberCX works with company executives to assess and understand their current cyber-resilience baseline and where they need to get to. “Every organisation has a different cyber-risk profile depending on their industry and the standards and regulations they need to comply with,” says Knights.

Based on this assessment, CyberCX can make expert recommendations to strengthen people, process and technology in the face of a potential cyber attack. According to Knights, training executives in the experience of a cyber attack is one of the most effective ways to guide staff. CyberCX uses immersive learning, such as participating in realistic exercises, to stress-test incident responses and devises business continuity plans. “Ongoing education of employees is critical to ensuring that your people become the human firewall for your organisation. Most breaches occur as the result of human actions.”

However, even with the best systems, processes and people in place, Knights emphasises that on the wrong day, in the wrong environment, the right threat actor can breach even your best defences. You just need to be ready.

“Put simply, there is no way to completely remove all cyber risk from your business. The key is to build resilience through regular crisis-simulation exercises, partnering with an operationally informed cyber expert like CyberCX.”

Learn more at cybercx.com.au/resilience