Reports of damaging cyberattacks and massive data breaches have become all too common in today’s cybersecurity landscape. Ransomware continues to dominate headlines, inflicting financial losses, disruption, and downtime. New threats, also known as zero-day threats, constantly emerge as cybercriminals adapt their attacks to avoid detection and bypass traditional security measures.
And as cyber threats increase in volume and sophistication, no industry is immune, and no target is too small. On the contrary, small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are becoming cybercrime’s primary and most lucrative targets.
So, how can businesses protect their networks and data? While there is no single tool that can guarantee your network’s security, you can significantly mitigate your organization’s risk and improve your cyber posture by adopting a layered security approach, also known as multi-layered security.
Techopedia defines layered security as follows:
Layered security refers to security systems that use multiple components to protect operations on multiple levels, or layers. This term can also be related to the term defense in depth, which is based on a slightly different idea where multiple strategies and resources are used to slow, blog, delay, or hinder a threat until it can be completely neutralized.
Layered security is a network security approach that deploys multiple security controls to protect the most vulnerable areas of your technology environment where a breach or cyberattack could occur. The purpose of a multi-layered security approach is to ensure that each individual component of your cybersecurity plan has a backup to counter any flaws or gaps. These layers work together to bolster your defenses and build a solid foundation for your cybersecurity program.
This layered security approach aligns with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, voluntary guidance that integrates industry standards, guidelines, and best practices to help organizations understand and manage their cybersecurity risks.
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework includes five primary functions: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover. Your cybersecurity layers should enable you to identify and protect your business from cyber threats, detect when a cybercriminal has breached your defenses, and position your organization for the best possible outcome when responding to and recovering from a breach.
Implementing multi-layered security is crucial to protect your network, users, and business-critical data. Here are 12 essential security layers you should have in place:
Without a detection and response tool, it can take more than 200 days to discover a data breach, giving hackers plenty of time to plan and execute a devastating attack before you are even aware of a problem.
In the quickly evolving cybersecurity landscape, new threats are emerging daily, and employing a layered security approach is critical. But all too often, organizations believe they are not at risk and, as a result, are not prepared when their defenses fail and a breach occurs.
Implementing these essential cybersecurity layers mitigates your risk and builds cyber resilience to put your business in the best possible position to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a cyberattack.
In the fight against cybercrime, knowledge is power. If you don’t know what security measures your organization currently deploys or you are still relying on the same tools you used even a few years ago, you’re at risk of having gaps in your cybersecurity plan that leave your business vulnerable.
Has your business ever had a cybersecurity risk assessment? A cybersecurity risk assessment identifies the gaps in your current IT infrastructure to help you understand potential security threats and the associated risks (e.g., the cost of downtime) in order to shape a proactive layered security strategy for your business. Contact our managed security team to schedule your cybersecurity risk assessment and begin your proactive approach to security.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in November 2018 and has been updated for accuracy, relevancy, and comprehensiveness.
