Implement Network Access Control (NAC)

Unify endpoint security technology by setting policies based on resource, role, device, and location-based access and enforce security compliance with security and patch management policies, among other controls.

Institute Multifactor Authentication

layered approach to securing data and applications where a system requires a user to present a combination of two or more credentials to verify a user’s identity for login.

MFA increases security because even if one credential becomes compromised, unauthorized users will be unable to meet the second authentication requirement and will not be able to access the targeted physical space, computing device, network, or database.

Take Advantage of Conditional Access

Master the balance between security and productivity by factoring how a resource is accessed into an access control decision.

Implement automated access control decisions for accessing your cloud apps that are based on conditions.

Operate in a Zero-trust Model

Verify the identity of everything and anything trying to authenticate or connect before granting access.

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.

Prioritize Risk

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.

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.

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.

Educate Employees/Sstakeholders

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.

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.

Collaborate with your DevOps Team on policies.

Encryption

Encrypt data at rest and in transitity shifts away from the customer.

Follow Security Best Practices

Ensure your open-source dependencies do not have vulnerabilities

Share the Responsibility

IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS shift the security responsibilities between customer and cloud provider.

Enable Detection for all Resource Types

Azure Security Center has built-in threat detection that supports all Azure resource types.

Integrate Threat Intelligence

Use a cloud provider that integrates threat intelligence.

Modernize Your Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

Consider a cloud-native scalable SIEM that uses AI to reduce noise and requires no infrastructure.

Keep Strong Firewall Protection

Controls need to be in place to protect the perimeter, detect
hostile activity and build your response. A web application firewall (WAF) protects web apps from common exploits like SQL injection and cross-site scripting.

Enable Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Protection

Protect web assets and networks from malicious traffic targeting application and network layers.

Create a Micro-Segmented Network

Virtual networking, subnet provisioning, and IP addressing use micro-segmentation to support zero trust networking.