Use the Inevitability of Security Breaches to Your Advantage

Add Redundancies

When speaking of redundancies, we often think of business continuity planning, which many people inevitably boil down to the art of “buying two of everything.”

Companies may choose to avoid the cost associated with having redundant systems because those systems may never be used. However, never needing a redundant system is the exception, not the rule.

It’s also important to have alternative redundancies in place. For example, if a system goes down, is there a manual workaround that could be deployed? Could online transactions be diverted to call centers? If cash is unavailable, can crypto currencies be used? Or precious metals? Or cigarettes even.

Not All Risks Are Created Equal

Critical assets are the lifeblood of an organization. They are the crown jewels that help the company be profitable through sales, services or innovation. But it can become easy to miss some of the risks among the large sea of issues.

This is why it can make sense for companies to at least adopt a dual risk strategy whereby it can play it safe in some areas and take more risks in others.

Have Multiple Points of Resilience

It’s not just attacks that are on the rise. There are a number of factors such as errors, changes, or infrastructure migrations that can all lead to security incidents. Therefore, it’s important to build resilience at multiple points across the business.

Maybe it’s time to stop fearing, or thinking of, the phrase “it’s not if, but when” in a negative light. Rather, think of it as a positive opportunity–one that can allow security teams to proactively innovate to get the best outcome for themselves and their companies.

Javvad Malik is a London-based IT Security professional. He is better known as an active blogger, event speaker, industry commentator, and one of the industry’s most prolific video bloggers, with his signature fresh and light-hearted perspective on security. Prior to joining AlienVault, Javvad was a senior analyst with 451 Research providing technology vendors, investors and end users with strategic advisory services, including competitive research and go-to-market positioning.

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