In today’s digital age, creating a robust cybersecurity program is essential for protecting your organization’s data and reputation. Developing a cybersecurity program from scratch can be a significant undertaking, but with careful planning and management, it can be done effectively. Here is one pathway to consider:

Plan Your Approach
Before getting too far into planning, you will need to clearly understand what is driving your program. This will help you to ensure that you cover all relevant areas and can measure your end goal. Ask yourself:

• Are there compliance requirements (e.g., HIPAA, PCI, etc.) for your industry or company?
• Is there a specific customer requirement you need to meet?
• Are there any unique areas that must be considered when laying out the pieces of the plan?

Once you establish a baseline of requirements, choose a reference framework. A simple yet effective framework is the NIST CSF (National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework). Many resources are available to tailor the framework and keep the program manageable. A good framework will provide clear direction.

Set the Rules

With the framework as the compass, the next phase is creating critical policies and standards. These help not only the information security leadership, but also serve to train employees, guide developers, and hold executives accountable to the requirements set. In other words, these are the rules of the game.

For example, if the company standard for encrypted data transmission is TLS 1.3, and a solution does not meet that, you have an exception scenario. Creating a risk acceptance policy that includes management acknowledgment of risk is valuable. The standards and framework present the optimal security path, but an acceptance policy makes risks transparent when there is divergence from set standards.

Other key policies to consider include incident response, data classification, and disaster recovery. Depending on specific requirements, other policies may take precedence, but each plays a crucial role in any cybersecurity program.

Implement the Controls

The tactical components of a business are where the rubber meets the road. This is where implementations occur. Applying appropriate controls and governance, having good oversight, and setting both long- and short-term goals are important. An ideal cybersecurity program should complement technology implementation and deliver clear procedures. Strong and clear guidance reduces risk by limiting errors and missteps.

Conclusion

For a program to be successful, a balanced approach is needed. Too much policy may result in too little process, and without a framework, there will be no cohesiveness or end goal. If you need a cybersecurity program or need to revise your existing one, contact us today for expert guidance. We are here to help.