Protect your small business like the big guys!
The cybersecurity industry has never been more important as cybersecurity issues are becoming a day-to-day struggle for businesses. In recent years, data breaches have been at record highs, especially in the manufacturing industry. The high-profile breaches against General Electric, Boeing, and Apple give us unique insight into the threats looming over the industry.
According to the United States Department of Homeland Security, based on the number of reported cyber-attacks, the manufacturing industry is the second most frequently targeted industry in the United States, and smaller manufacturers are particularly vulnerable as they are often seen as an easy entry point into larger businesses and government agencies.
With the fourth industrial revolution, the rise of digital technologies brings a new level of cyber complexity to factories. Without clarity of your cyber exposure and the risk to your business, how can you implement essential security solutions to prevent and detect cyber threats, and respond to events to minimize business disruption and financial losses? A third-party risk assessment is the starting point.
A cybersecurity risk assessment determines the likelihood of an attack against your business and the potential impact a cyberattack could have on your company’s reputation, finances, and overall business health. The ultimate purpose of the assessment is to mitigate risks to prevent security incidents and compliance failures.
For Acquisition Logistics Engineering (ALE), a life cycle and specialty engineering company, regulatory compliance brought them to CentraComm. Although staffed with an IT professional, and after completing a self-certification process in 2017, a third-party risk assessment is now highly recommended to meet Department of Defense (DoD) regulations. With the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC), companies can no longer provide self-assessments as evidence of compliance, and firms such as CentraComm perform advisory services including third-party assessments to assist with full DoD and CMMC compliance.
CentraComm is currently completing ALE’s analysis, which includes a risk assessment, a gap analysis of what’s currently in place versus compliance requirements for DoD, and a plan to reach their goal of NIST 800-171 compliance with assistance to reach their goal of CMMC Level 3. CentraComm’s process examines all aspects of cybersecurity from equipment, software, policy, plans, audits, to execution. Once completed, ALE will have a detailed report highlighting vulnerabilities in their current system and a focus on the areas that need improvement.
There are several reasons why it is increasingly important for small and medium-sized manufacturers to assess their organization’s risk profile and preparedness in the event of a breach or cyberattack. Here are five (5) common reasons for a third-party cybersecurity risk assessment:
5 Reasons
- Ensure Regulatory Compliance
The number one reason for a risk assessment is compliance. PCI DSS, SOC2, ISO 27001, NIST, HIPAA, and other standards require a risk assessment as a fundamental part of a strong security program. In such cases, you may need to use a third-party system to comply with regulations. If your cybersecurity strategy is not in compliance with these regulations, you are opening yourself up for penalties, fines, and loss of contracts. Your cybersecurity assessment will provide guidance on regulations the manufacturing industry faces. - Secure Customer Data
Manufacturing companies account for nearly 25% of all ransomware attacks, followed by professional services with 17% of attacks, and then government organizations with 13% of attacks. Data is one of the most valuable commodities in the modern business world. A risk assessment helps identify gaps in your defenses and ensures repair before any data is corrupted. - Maintain Productivity
As with any other outage, the main impact of a cyberattack is lost productivity, potentially across the organization. This starts with staff time directly consumed by the incident, as IT personnel are dealing with the technical side, to staff that may be left without access to business-critical systems and processes. Depending on the type and scope of the attack, this can mean anything from minor disruptions and delays to a total failure of all business processes. - Protect Your Company’s Reputation
Failure to adequately assess your risk exposes you to reputational risks that could hurt your organization. Whether customers hear from you or from the headlines that their private information has been compromised, customer confidence is reduced and that loss may be irrevocable. With regular security risk assessments, the risk of data breaches is highly reduced, consequently securing your position and relationships with customers. Protecting business’ data not only helps secure reputation but also puts small businesses in a strong and competitive position to offer the service that customers now expect. - Protect Your Bottom-Line
Financial loss following a data breach can be direct or indirect, including loss of intellectual property, lawsuits, fines, penalties, and direct financial loss. Any one of them alone is enough to have a significant impact on your business. Companies failing to adequately protect their data from cyber breaches don’t just put a few documents at risk. Losing valuable data can have a lasting and devastating impact on a company’s finances, customer base, and ability to grow.
There is no question that the situation with cybercrime is dire. Cybersecurity risk assessments do more than analyze threats – they help you neutralize threats before they compromise your business. Today, it’s vital that every small to medium-sized business conduct an IT risk assessment to ensure that its security is keeping its business network and data safe, preventing cyber threats, and meeting regulatory guidelines.
CentraComm is your trusted partner in keeping your organization compliant, safe, and running smoothly with our small to medium-sized business risk assessments. Contact us today for a free consultation and let CentraComm show you how efficient, affordable, and effective our cybersecurity risk assessment can be.