Your business-critical data could get exposed. Are you prepared?

Facebook Users across the globe are questioning its privacy policies and security gateways. The social media giant is already making amends to regain the wavering trust of its users by placing the control of data into their hands in much more confirming ways. Alongside, there are a million questions that are being raised around General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance and its guidelines, which will come into action from May 25, 2018. Any non-compliance could result in undesirable upshots for companies. In the wake of these significant global events, attention must be drawn towards how companies can comply by guidelines as well as stay safe and resilient. Is adoption of present-day Security Testing solutions the answer to this?

Lately, a lot has been happening on the global front with regards to ensuring data security and privacy of consumers across diverse platforms, especially, digital. With GDPR guidelines getting implemented, businesses are expected to adhere by stringent guidelines to protect the personal data and privacy of EU citizens within EU member states. Similar guidelines exist across continents and countries with varying severities.

Yes, Security Testing could be the answer, but with the currently twisted digital dynamics, how creative and probing can the solutions get? Organizations, institutions, and political hierarchies worldwide are dealing with cybersecurity threats and unreasonable information warfare. The most obvious solution to get robust and stay strong through the growing uncertainties is to refurbish and redesign your Security Testing strategies.

Take Infrastructure Security seriously

Business Transformation has many facets, where high-end infrastructure is built to deal with the growing business challenges and growth needs. There are various operational tools and methodologies that are integrated to make the infrastructure much more functional and efficient. Likewise, there is a growing need to ensure that security testing and integration of security protocols within the system becomes a norm.

It’s not just important at the operational level to do so, but also imperative at an organizational and management level to implement security solutions. This means that organizations must work towards building serious security protocols and ensure implementation not only for IT, but also for every infrastructural aspect within the system. This will help to bring down the vulnerabilities and build resilience. Security breaches can be avoided not only within the physical set-up, but also across mobile and Cloud platforms. Organizations cannot resist change, doing so could be dismal, but ensuring infrastructure security will help build sustainability.

What about Network Security?

Network is one of the cursed elements to be blamed for security breaches and data leaks. Digital data is being transferred across nodes that are powered by network. Ensuring Network security and avoiding possibilities of Network intrusions is business-critical. Every business needs a different set of network configurations and adjustments.

Hence, network security needs to be customized as per the needs of the organization, and with a planned security strategy. Along with customized security solutions, it is important to build real-time solutions to secure the network and also reduce complexities. The security strategy has to practically reduce vulnerabilities to the network and help organizations to bounce back into action despite a breach or a hack.

Ensure Security for Mobile applications

The idea of Digital Transformation more or less revolves around Mobility solutions and ultimately mobile applications. Similar to customer experience, security must be Omni-channel. An application can be accessed across any device with varying configurations, so, security protocols should be present across any given platform.

Likewise, with Enterprise applications, Mobile access security is essential, which is an easy gateway to an organization’s information or database. Exchange of information has been made easy, thanks to all the mobility and cloud solution platforms, but it has equally risked data security. Hence, ensuring security protocols during the application development cycle is absolutely business-critical.

Prioritize your Security concerns

Security concerns could differ from one business to another and from one organization to another, depending on various factors. For instance, in case of some organizations, it’s acceptable if an application crashes, but securing consumer data or business-critical information is important. Hence, the vulnerabilities must be listed and prioritized before sketching the security protocols and setting up a strategy.

Sometimes, vulnerabilities could be common for any type/size of business. For instance, setting up strong Firewalls with a control lines between secure inner networks and external networks is a priority for all kinds of business. In the current connected scenario, it helps minimize the risks and brings down the time, efforts, and costs for repairing an unforeseen breach or situation. In a way, it checks every information that comes within your system and protects against any malicious intrusion.

What could be the potential impact?

Every business estimates the potential impact that can result in crisis or disrupt the business. For instance, a virus attack could crash an application and encrypt all the data, which could impair the business application for days. In order to save themselves from such an impact the concerned businesses would look at implementing Anti-virus solutions that will save them from getting directly exposed to the malware.

Data protection and security is highly critical for businesses that deal with consumer data with reference to financial services, health solutions, retail services, or any consumer facing applications. Enterprises need to ask this one question – What’s the one thing that can bring me off the market? That will be your answer for the ‘potential impact’ query.

Enlisting vulnerabilities is the first step towards building an effective security testing strategy. Vulnerability Assessment is one of the foremost elements in a Security Testing strategy, it can save you from the next big hack or data breach. At the same time, it is important to look objectively at your business-critical data, which will help you to derive inferences that cannot be gauged by being within the system. That’s the very reason Ethical Hacking has been gaining grounds in the realm of security testing.

In the light of the recent happenings, it can be said that building resilience within the system can help organizations to prepare well against any external attack. What do you think?

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