Abhijit Naskar, a celebrated neuroscientist and best-selling author, is quoted as saying, “No technology that’s connected to the Internet is unhackable.” Bruce Schneer, an internationally renowned security technologist and author, is quoted as saying, “Amateurs hack systems; professionals hack people.”
So how does one fix people? Through governance, processes and planning.
Governance, processes and planning are all essential components of effective cybersecurity management.
Governance refers to the overall framework of policies, procedures and decision-making structures that are in place to manage and protect an organization’s digital assets. This includes establishing roles and responsibilities, creating standards and guidelines, and ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
Processes refer to the specific actions and procedures put in place to implement and maintain cybersecurity measures. This includes things like incident response plans, vulnerability management and security monitoring. These processes help organizations identify and respond to potential security threats and continuously improve their cybersecurity posture.
Planning refers to the process of identifying potential risks and developing strategies to mitigate them. This includes conducting risk assessments, identifying vulnerabilities, identifying needed training and developing incident response plans. Planning also includes developing and implementing a comprehensive security strategy that aligns with the organization’s overall objectives and priorities.
Together, governance, processes and planning help organizations to effectively manage and protect their digital assets by providing a clear framework for decision-making, establishing clear procedures for incident response and risk management, and developing a comprehensive security strategy that aligns with the organization’s overall goals and priorities. Through governance, processes and planning, your organization can start to fix the people vulnerability.
So how can your organization develop and implement governance, processes and planning countermeasures? ISACA’s CMMI Cybermaturity Platform is a great place to start. The CMMI Cybermaturity Platform will help your organization identify what it does well and where your weaknesses are. The CMMI Cybermaturity Platform also aids your organization in showing where your gaps are in governance, processes and planning, three often overlooked critical countermeasures to hacking.
The CMMI Cybermaturity Platform is an easy-to-use architecture model that simplifies identifying gaps in new or existing cybersecurity programs. It guides your organization through a detailed model that shows areas that must be addressed to reduce your organization’s risk and improve your organization’s cyber resilience and cyber maturity. It then generates a roadmap to help your organization plan and manage limited resources to achieve your organization’s business goals.
The CMMI Cybermaturity Platform updates twice a year to ensure its model continually addresses real-world trends, risks, threats and vulnerabilities. This maintenance aligns the CMMI Cybermaturity Platform with current industry standards, frameworks and best practices. As part of the Winter 2023 update, the CMMI Cybermaturity Platform:
- Addresses common incident patterns and new attack vectors detailed in the latest Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report (DBIR)
- Enhances practices to incorporate privacy concepts more clearly where they align with cybersecurity
- Clarifies practices to ensure cloud-based system implementations are addressed
- Updates practices and maturity levels to address changes in technology, security tools and threats
- Highlights zero-trust architecture concepts to enable users to use the CMMI Cybermaturity Platform security model to start focusing their organization on a zero-trust architecture
- Software and feature updates including enhanced reporting, resources and SSO capability
ISACA’s CMMI Cybermaturity Platform is a valuable tool for organizations looking to improve their cybersecurity posture through governance, processes and plans. By assessing their current maturity level and cyber risk and identifying areas for improvement, organizations can develop a plan to achieve their desired maturity level and better protect themselves against cyberthreats. The CMMI Cybermaturity Platform can aid your organization in achieving its business goals, improving its cybermaturity and reducing risk.
With the help of the CMMI Cybermaturity Platform, your organization can use governance, processes and planning to positively affect your organization’s culture and start to fix the people vulnerability.