Failing to pay attention to your organization’s cybersecurity posture can be costly, and no company and no industry is immune. Each hour of downtime due to an attack can cost ecommerce sites millions in lost sales. The average cost of a healthcare breach now exceeds $10 million. Failure to adequately protect financial information has cost banks hundreds of millions in fines. A third of all manufacturers were hit with ransomware attacks in 2021, taking their operations offline. And executives who’ve failed to pay adequate attention to cybersecurity have been dismissed.

Understanding your security posture—the assets you’re trying to protect and the methods you use to secure them—is as fundamental for business leaders as understanding the organization’s financial posture.

1. Inventory all of your IT assets

2. Conduct a security assessment

Once you’ve inventoried your digital assets, assess the level of risk each one represents mapped against known and potential vulnerabilities. Such an assessment should also measure risk from your vendors, suppliers, partners, contractors, and service providers that have access to your internal systems or data.

The typical time required to patch serious vulnerabilities ranges from two to six months, while attackers typically exploit such flaws within two weeks. Sticking to a consistent and relatively frequent update schedule will minimize the amount of time a flaw is exposed to attack.

5. Automate threat detection, remediation, and mitigation

A robust suite of cybersecurity tools is now a requirement for every enterprise. These include firewalls and anti-malware software, email and web filters, endpoint and network detection and response systems, and cloud security solutions. Increasingly, security teams are using AI-powered tools to surveil networks 24/7 and isolate potentially serious attacks for further investigation. Automating threat detection and mitigation creates a more proactive cybersecurity posture, and offers some relief for overworked, understaffed security teams.

7. Adopt a zero-trust framework

A May 2021 presidential executive order called for federal agencies to implement a zero-trust framework, which required all users of federal computer networks to be continuously authenticated when using network resources, and to only have access to the apps, data, and systems they need to do their jobs. This makes it much harder for attackers who have breached the perimeter to move laterally through the network. According to a September 2022 survey by Okta, more than half of enterprises have zero-trust initiatives currently underway, while many more plan to launch initiatives within the next 12 to 18 months.

8. Transition to a DevSecOps approach

Adopting a DevSecOps approach integrates security into the process of software development and deployment. Security personnel can quickly identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities before code is shipped, avoiding expensive and time-consuming rework, as well as preventing insecure code from inadvertently being deployed in production. A key element of this approach is red teaming—looking at code from the point of view of an attacker to isolate its strengths and weaknesses.

9. Implement cybersecurity training for all employees

More than 8 out of 10 security breaches are the result of human error—from employees revealing their log-in credentials by phishing emails, a manager losing a laptop or phone containing sensitive corporate data, or an admin misconfiguring server settings to allow public access to proprietary intellectual property. Top executives in particular are prime targets for “spear phishing,” in which emails impersonate them, and other direct attacks seeking their access credentials.

Educating all employees in cybersecurity fundamentals can minimize an organization’s exposure to social engineering attacks and malware infestations, reducing its overall vulnerability. Simulated phishing attacks can identify which employees are most susceptible and in need of further training. Teaching employees how to recognize and report attacks can reduce response times—a key element in successful mitigation.

10. Develop—and practice—an incident management plan

It’s inevitable that your organization will eventually fall victim to an attack or suffer a data breach. Proactive security posture management requires having an incident management plan in place to identify, analyze, and resolve such critical incidents. The plan needs to outline the appropriate responses for each department head and detail their procedures and roles. Just as important, the plan can’t simply sit on a shelf—it needs to be practiced, via table-top exercises or simulated attacks, and be regularly updated as threats evolve.