Source: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Corporate leaders play a crucial role in ensuring their organizations maintain a robust security posture. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) advises all senior leaders, including CEOs, to take the following strategic actions:
Empower Your Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
Security improvements often involve balancing costs and operational risks. In the current threat landscape, senior management must empower CISOs by involving them in risk-related decision-making processes. It is essential that the entire organization recognizes the immediate priority of security investments.
Lower Incident Reporting Thresholds
Organizations should have clear thresholds for reporting potential cyber incidents to senior management and the U.S. government. Given the heightened threat environment, these thresholds should be significantly reduced. Senior management should expect that any signs of malicious cyber activity, even if mitigated by security controls, are reported to SayCISA@cisa.dhs.gov. Lowering these thresholds ensures prompt identification and mitigation of threats.
Engage in Response Plan Testing
Cyber incident response plans should encompass not only security and IT teams but also senior business leaders and Board members. Senior management should participate in tabletop exercises to familiarize themselves with the organization’s response strategies for major cyber incidents, affecting both the company and its supply chain.
Prioritize Continuity
Given limited resources, investments in security and resilience should focus on systems supporting critical business functions. Senior management must ensure these systems are identified and that continuity tests are conducted to verify that critical business functions remain operational following a cyber intrusion.
Prepare for Worst-Case Scenarios
Although there is no specific threat information regarding the U.S. homeland, organizations should prepare for worst-case scenarios. Senior management should ensure that measures are in place to protect the organization’s most critical assets in the event of an intrusion, including the ability to disconnect high-impact network segments if necessary.
By following these steps, corporate leaders can significantly enhance their organization’s cybersecurity posture and resilience.
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