Cyber threats evolve rapidly, making it critical to regularly re-evaluate security priorities. Defining clear cyber security goals aligned to business risks provides a strategic foundation. Goals help focus limited resources on the most impactful defenses while measuring improvement over time.
Defining clear cyber security goals aligned to business risks is essential with today’s sophisticated threats. This article outlines the key objectives like safeguarding critical assets, accelerating response, ensuring resilience, zero trust access, managing third parties, and security culture that organizations should prioritize.
With executive alignment on security objectives, organizations can make incremental progress even within tight budgets. Here are the essential cyber security goals and objectives every company should target.
Safeguard Your Digital Crown Jewels
The first priority is identifying your most valuable data, applications, and infrastructure – your digital “crown jewels.” These privileged assets power operations and carry the highest risks if compromised. Analyze which systems and data stores are most critical to daily functions and long-term success. Catalog all crown jewels and their specific vulnerabilities. Then, harden protections around those vital assets accordingly.
For example, implement strong access controls, encryption, multi-factor authentication, network microsegmentation, and enhanced monitoring. The more security layers surrounding crown jewels, the better. Make them extremely difficult for attackers to reach and exploit. Continuously assess emerging risks to prized assets as technology and the business evolve. Prioritize securing newly adopted systems that become vital. Your crown jewels require constant care and fortification.
Accelerate Threat Detection and Response
Despite robust defenses, some threats will evade them. Rapid detection and containment of incidents is thus essential. Limit attackers’ ability to spread laterally and the time they have to exfiltrate data. Key areas to focus on include 24/7 network monitoring, automating alerts on high-risk events, having detailed response plans, retaining outside forensic experts, and conducting “fire drill” simulations. Cutting just minutes off your response time can significantly reduce breach impacts. Ensure in-house teams and partners are ready to react swiftly when threats strike.
Maintain Resilience Through Disruptions
The goal of resilience is to prevent cyber incidents from halting critical operations and revenue. Even if systems get compromised, the business must deliver on obligations to customers. Define maximum tolerable downtimes for essential functions through recovery time objective (RTO) analysis. This helps devise plans that maintain continuity via redundancy, alternative processing, and workarounds. Regularly test restoration from backups to confirm prompt data availability. Build in capacity cushions like cloud bursting for traffic spikes during outages. With resilience, your organization can stay online digitally even in worst-case attack scenarios.
Adopt a Zero Trust Security Model
Workforce mobility dissolved the network perimeter. Employees now access systems and data from anywhere. This demands a zero-trust approach. Zero trust means never trusting any user or device by default, even if already “inside” the network. Every access attempt must be validated via strong multi-factor authentication, device health checks, and least privileged access. Microsegmentation and encrypted connections prevent lateral threat movement. The keys are granting restricted access to only authorized users and devices while securing remote connections. Zero trust erects identity-based barriers to repel attacks.
Manage Third-Party Cyber Risks
No organization is an island when it comes to security. Vulnerabilities introduced by vendors, partners, and cloud providers put your data at risk. Treat third parties as extensions of your organization. Conduct cyber risk assessments of partners and require audits. Bind them contractually to your security policies and protocols. Restrict their access to only essential systems while monitoring activity closely. Mandate immediate notification of any cyber incidents impacting your data. Shared responsibility models mean you inherit the risks that come with third parties. So ensure their security meets your standards.
Instill a Security-First Culture
Your employees represent the frontline defense. Empower them to identify and thwart cyber risks by fostering security-conscious behaviors. Lead by example from executives down. Offer extensive security awareness training. Run phishing simulations to reinforce learning. Provide easy reporting mechanisms for suspicious activity. Celebrate and reward practices reflecting strong cyber hygiene. An aware, proactive workforce provides human sensors to spot potential trouble early. Combine technological defenses with informed human judgment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should you review and update security goals?
Ideally annually, or whenever risk profiles shift significantly. Mergers, new products, and technology changes alter priorities. Regularly re-assess both risks and goals.
What metrics help track progress on cyber security goals?
Quantifiable metrics like the percentage of systems patched, users completing training, audit issues resolved, and risk assessment ratings. Also, use exercises and simulations to gauge improvements in response plans.
How can you get management buy-in on goals?
Connect goals directly to business risks and potential cyber impacts. Support with data on recent threats and breaches in your industry. Offer examples of cyber security goals from peers.
Where can you find examples of cyber security goals?
Many organizations publish their security strategic plans online. The US Federal Government releases a yearly cyber security strategy with goals across sectors. Industry groups like NIST also provide cyber frameworks with objectives.
How do you prioritize competing cyber security goals?
Prioritize based on asset criticality, vulnerability severity, and potential business impact. Focus first on quick wins that offer the most risk reduction. Formal risk assessments help inform priority and sequencing.
Conclusion
Matching cyber security goals to business needs makes security an ongoing priority, not a one-time compliance checkbox activity. Well-defined goals provide milestones to channel resources toward and benchmark progress against. The key is setting objectives that reduce your organization’s unique cyber risks in pragmatic increments over time. With executive alignment on priorities and budgets, tangible improvements in security maturity become achievable year after year.
There is no perfect end state of cyber readiness. Threats, technologies, and vulnerabilities continuously evolve. But with a solid roadmap rooted in business priorities, organizations can measure progress and build robust cyber defenses capable of securing the future.
