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Multi-layered Security

Multi-Layered Security: How to Improve Your Cybersecurity Strategy

Are you utilizing a multi-layered security solution? In today’s escalating environment, it is not enough to just have a cybersecurity solution, instead, your company needs a robust multilayered security solution that includes multiple checks and protections against intrusions.

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Multi-layered Security

Multi-Layered Security: How to Improve Your Cybersecurity Strategy

Cyber attacks are increasing at an alarming rate. In fact, global cyber attacks were up by 38% in 2022 over the previous year–and this trend doesn’t appear to be slowing down for 2023 either.

In light of this increase, are you putting yourself and your business at risk because of your deficient posture? The consequences of not being prepared for a data breach, ransomware, or other cyber incident are severe and include:

  • Financial loss from shutdowns and restoration efforts
  • Reputational damage
  • Personal liability
  • Fines and penalties from regulators
  • Permanent loss of proprietary data
  • Exposure of confidential and proprietary data
  • Costly lawsuits from clients, employees, and others impacted by data breaches or loss of productivity from stoppages
  • The complete failure and dissolution of your company

In evaluating your current posture,  it is important to ask yourself the following questions:

  1. When was your company’s last vulnerability assessment?
  2. Have you made the recommended improvements?
  3. Do you know how to address your security vulnerabilities?
  4. Could you defend your current strategy to investors and regulators if a breach occurred?

Defend Against Escalating Threats with Layered Security

The potential risk from a deficient or merely adequate cybersecurity posture are just too significant. The escalating cyber threat landscape requires a rigorous, dynamic, and proactive security strategy. The only way to truly protect your firm from cyber threats is with a robust cybersecurity position. The most secure approach is utilizing multi-layered security protection, often referred to as defense-in-depth. Without this method, your company is an easy target for cybercriminals, and it could  be considered negligent in the event of a cybersecurity incident.

To provide some context—your lax security approach is just as negligent as leaving your front door wide open and announcing to the world that you are out of town for the week.

 

Multi-layered Security

This infographic demonstrates the multilayered approach to security, specific best practices, and their associated Coretelligent solutions.

What Does Layered Cybersecurity Encompass?

Defense-in-depth is a system of overlapping security layers that range from easy-to-implement controls to complex security tools. These layers are designed to create an interlocking barrier, not unlike the security system at your home, which might include a door with a deadbolt, motion-detection lights, security cameras, and an alarm system that act as overlapping protections designed to safeguard your home. These individual protections combine to work as a system that is continuously protecting your home. Multilayered cybersecurity operates in the same manner. And just like your home security defends on two fronts—as a deterrent to criminals and as a barrier for any criminals foolish enough to attempt to break in—a strong cybersecurity posture defends on two fronts.

Our defense-in-depth infographic highlights the cybersecurity best practices that Coretelligent employs, including next-generation firewalls, endpoint detection and response, patch management and security updates, access management policies, advanced spam filtering, and more.

Evaluate Your Current Cybersecurity Solution

Looking to evaluate your organization’s current security coverage? Use our Cybersecurity Evaluation Checklist to help you appraise your firm’s cybersecurity readiness. This checklist is a jumping-off point to help your enterprise determine its ability to mitigate the risk of cyberattacks before it is too late.

Cybersecurity Checklist

After completing the checklist, reach out for questions about how Coretelligent can help to strengthen your cybersecurity. Learn more about what we offer, including cloud-based solutions, backup and business continuity services, IT planning and strategy, compliance solutions, and more here.

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Emerging Threats Signal More Trouble for Financial Services Cybersecurity

Emerging Threats Signal More Trouble for Financial Services Cybersecurity

Hedge funds, private equity companies, venture capital, and other financial services firms are prime targets for cyber criminals seeking to compromise data-rich institutions. Additionally, as keepers of valuable personal identifiable information (PII) and propriety data, the financial services sector is subject to increasing regulatory requirements as the cybersecurity threat landscape expands.

While financial firms have been highly motivated to make significant investments in cyber security, the need for risk management is only deepening from persistent threats. The Robinhood data breach is a recent reminder of the danger and the ease with which threat actors can gain access to networks. With over seven million customers affected, the Robinhood breach is the largest in history.

According to representatives from Robinhood, the cyber attack, which began with a social engineering exploit, has been contained and did not include social security numbers or account details. But what about the next time? What if the PII from over seven million customers found its way for sale on the dark web? The cascading consequences are staggering to contemplate.

“Financial services companies are incredibly popular targets because there are always new customers feeding the demand for personal and financial data to sell or use as leverage,” shares Chris Messer, CTO at Coretelligent. “Whether criminals are targeting your customers’ data to directly exploit, sell on the Dark Web, or to hold for ransom, the potential fallout for impacted clients and the financial and reputational risk to your business is extreme.”

There are more than a few emerging cyber threats that have security teams on edge. For example, the development of AI that can write better spearphishing emails than humans has staggering implications considering how many data breaches begin as phishing attacks. And don’t forget that phishing attacks are up by 22% in 2021.

In addition, AI-powered malware is a concern since it can target particular endpoints, making it more effective and profitable for hackers to cripple critical infrastructure and steal data with disruptive attacks. Finally, smishing incidents (like phishing, but via SMS) are also likely to increase in severity as attackers capitalize on a workforce that is increasingly doing business via their smartphones.

Multi-layered Approach to Information Security for Financial Service Organizations

Since businesses within the financial services industry are already required to have certain protections in place, it’s tempting to think that your organization is secure. But, unfortunately, between the increase in frequency and the changing nature of attacks—combined with the ever-changing compliance response—your cybersecurity implementation is not one-and-done. Instead, to keep up, a robust cybersecurity posture requires constant monitoring, continuing education of employees, periodic vulnerability assessments, regular penetration testing, and expert threat intelligence.

Coretelligent recommends implementing overlapping layers of security called defense-in-depth to protect your organization fully from ransomware attacks and other cyber incidents. These individual layers should include everything from easy-to-implement practices to complex security tools to defend your financial services organization. This defense-in-depth infographic highlights the cybersecurity strategy and best practices that Coretelligent employs for continuous multi-layered protection. These include next-generation firewalls, endpoint security, patch management and security updates, access management policies, advanced spam filtering, and much more.

Defense-in-depth

Coretelligent’s Multi-layered Cybersecurity Solution

Are you looking to evaluate your organization’s current security coverage? Use our Cybersecurity Evaluation Checklist to help assess your firm’s cybersecurity readiness. This checklist is a jumping-off point to help your firm determine its current cyber risk exposure and readiness for critical event management.

After completing the checklist, reach out to learn more about how Coretelligent can help to strengthen your cybersecurity posture now and into the future.

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