Best practices to improve cybersecurity posture in 2022

How To Improve Your Cybersecurity Posture RiskXchange RiskXchange The leader in Third-Party Cyber Risk Management

Cybersecurity posture or security posture is the holy grail of vendor security. It gives you a holistic perspective of your vendor security infrastructure, tells you how vulnerable you are to cyberattacks, and encourages you to use the best cybersecurity practices.

With cyberattacks set to increase in 2022 and beyond, however, there are concerns over whether today’s cybersecurity posture reflects the safety of your data.  

Cyberattacks are evolving, which means that new, unrecognised attack methods can undermine even the most robust vendor security processes. 

In fact, your security posture might not even reflect how vulnerable your systems are. 

At the same time, emerging technologies are changing business operations and redefining what it is to be secure. If your security measures are to stay relevant in 2022 and over the next few years, you need to create a more flexible cybersecurity posture.

A flexible security posture can help you assess how ready your infrastructure is to hold up against a modern cyberattack. To imporve cybersecurity posture, you need to follow the best practices for incorporating adaptive security into your framework. 

Adaptive cybersecurity—the best way to mitigate threats in 2022

Adaptive cybersecurity can help you anticipate threats before they happen. It is one of the tenets of the Autonomous Digital Enterprise; an enterprise that focuses on the fluctuating security status of businesses as they adapt to emerging technologies and automation. 

Adaptive cybersecurity is the ideal evolution for your security posture.

By following these principles, your defensive posture can sense, detect, and react to threats. 

You can also perform several operations related to access requests, authentication needs, evolving threats, and changing regulatory requirements. 

The principles of adaptive security can help you create a security posture that can tackle the challenges of tomorrow. It can evolve to meet threats, including new, unknown anomalies that might not be accounted for in older versions of your posture. 

This brings us to the question—what is the best way to incorporate adaptive security into your cybersecurity posture? 

The best practices to improve cybersecurity posture

The following principles outline the best ways to build a security posture that will help you meet new threats in 2022.

  1. Automate vulnerability remediation 

Automating certain vendor security processes such as asset mapping, vulnerability scans, and remediation tasks can strengthen your security posture. 

Following this process will enrich your security posture and ensure that you are getting the latest information. It also reduces dependence on manual processes that are more likely to lead to errors. 

  1. Shift towards cloud-based, app-centric security 

Thanks to their focus on containers and agile methodologies, developers are now working in a cloud-based environment, which means they can make program updates on the cloud. 

While this is good news for app development, it raises security concerns. To ensure that these concerns do not materialise, the security posture must ensure consistent, secure configuration across the lifecycle of the platform.

  1. Use automated tools to find blindspots 

Checking for blindspots is time consuming, and can even be unsuccessful depending on the type of technologies that have been used. 

To remedy this issue, you need to use automated tools. These tools can scan the network to identify any server, or data centre, for vulnerabilities and get a complete picture of security weaknesses. It would also support your security posture because you are getting the latest readings on your vendor infrastructure.  

  1. Account for compliance in a cloud environment

Most organisations are working in complex cloud and hybrid environments, driving concerns about security and compliance. 

The new working environment throws the effectiveness of compliance procedures into question. Best security posture practices would encourage you to incorporate the hybrid, cloud-based environment into your security assessment. This includes incorporating change management and automating the fix for misconfigured cloud resources. 

Keeping pace with evolving cyberattacks in 2022

Cyberattacks are evolving, and the year 2022 will see new challenges that could compromise vendor security.

To improve cybersecurity posture, updating it with the latest automated technologies is crucial. It can help you prepare for anomalies and adapt to an evolving digital landscape.

This leads to better vendor security infrastructure, which reduces the likelihood of security breaches and makes it easier to enforce vendor security practices. Fewer security breaches can reduce costs and enforce compliance frameworks, which is essential for reducing cyber risks in 2022.