By: Allison Duke, CPA, and Mohamad Al-Kawafha, CPA
You know that cybersecurity frameworks can only reflect an earlier threat environment than the one your organization faces today. As a leader, you recognize the risks of a checkbox mentality that equates regulatory compliance with actual safety. You correctly see compliance as the bare minimum floor of safety practices — a floor, not a ceiling — and don’t mistake it for true security. But the key question remains unanswered: What is the fix?
To meaningfully address the many cyber threats that pose a risk to your company, you will need to shift your cybersecurity stance from a compliance-driven model to one that’s driven by actual risk. That means implementing continuous risk assessments and using real-time threat intelligence to update your defenses on a weekly or daily basis, rather than waiting for the next regulatory audit cycle to spur change.
A Dynamic, Threat-Informed Posture
Being ready to meet real-world threats requires you to move past “Are we compliant?” and begin asking a much tougher question: “Are we resilient right now?” To answer that crucial question, you’ll need to adopt practical strategies that align with a more risk-informed mindset. Some tactics to consider include:
- Active Threat Hunting: This approach assumes attackers are already inside the network. You’re proactively looking for anomalies rather than waiting for an alert.
- Zero Trust Architecture: Requiring strict identity verification for every user and device ensures that if hackers compromise a corporate laptop, they can’t pivot from there into the substation controls.
- Continuous Monitoring & Simulation: Performing simulated attacks (also known as “Red Team” exercises) regularly helps you see how well your defenses hold up against the latest real-world hacking tools and tactics.
This approach offers benefits that mitigate many types of risk. By drastically reducing the time it takes to detect a breach — potentially dropping from months to minutes — you may be able to limit the damage that bad actors can cause and minimize operational downtime for your organization.
You’ll reap financial benefits in the form of lower cyber insurance premiums. And a threat-informed, proactive posture can significantly reduce your legal risk exposure due to liability or class action lawsuits if an incident does occur, because you’ll be able to prove that the company went beyond standard due diligence.
Getting the Board on Board
A dynamic approach to cybersecurity comes with costs, which can create pushback from the board when risk-alert leaders propose a more aggressive posture. Board members speak the language of dollars and risk, not firewalls and malware. If you run into resistance, it’s helpful to show them the math, focusing on fiduciary duty and business continuity concerns.
In terms of sheer dollars, the cost of a three-day operational shutdown could be far greater than the cost of proactive threat hunting, even before you factor in the reputational damage. And, while dynamic security may seem like an IT line-item expense that’s ripe for cutting, it becomes more compelling for risk-focused board members when you frame it as an insurance policy protecting the company’s core physical assets and brand reputation.
Find Smart Solutions That Fit Your Company
Hackers are getting more sophisticated every day, and protecting your energy company from their malicious ambitions isn’t easy. The cybersecurity experts at Mauldin & Jenkins understand the risks that energy leaders are facing. Reach out today to access insights and answers built specifically around your industry, your challenges, and your organization.
Catch up on the series:
Part One: Why NERC-CIP Compliance Doesn’t Equal Cyber Safety
Part Two: Three Cybersecurity Blind Spots Compliance Won’t Resolve
