In this article, you will understand what cyber security entails and the breakdown of NCSC’s 10 steps to cyber security that you must know. During our third party security validation exercises or customer communication, we have often come across customers without an answer to ‘what actually their IT and security products are protecting’. It is vital to be aware of what is important, what to protect and how to protect before shopping for security products.

In 2013, the U.S. President, Barack Obama, passed an order to boost cybersecurity. The order required the development of a risk-based cybersecurity framework for managing cybersecurity risks for essential infrastructure services. A framework was later developed through an international partnership between small and large businesses spearheaded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Here is a look at the NIST Cybersecurity framework and why it is essential.

This blog post aims to provide an overview of the state of cyber security in universities and other higher education organisations. Security has been a challenge for a long time at schools, colleges and universities. Aligning ourselves with the glass-half-full attitude, these organisations and institutions have shown good progress with basic security controls. Information security is a prerequisite for various business dealings in the public sector, grant funding and procurement processes.

Although offensive and defensive controls work towards the same goal, how do you ensure red and blue teamwork follow a collaborative approach? The answer is purple teaming. There is a gap between the red team and blue team capabilities in multiple ways i.e. approach, methodology, tool-sets and timelines. Both teams must work collaboratively and constantly to maximise their company’s investment towards ongoing defensive improvements.

There is no doubt how regular penetration tests are an essential part of the vulnerability management process to reduce risks. It is important to ensure penetration tests are efficient and to do so, the use of correct penetration testing methodologies is an essential component. A methodology in this context defines the logic using which various test cases are carried out to assess an asset’s security. Let’s start with the basics first and then move on to the topic.

Taking cyber security risk assessment out of the equation, risk assessments are nothing new to the world. Industries such as nuclear, aerospace, oil, agriculture, military and railroad have long-established processes to deal with risk. Continuous risk assessments are performed by food, medical, hospital sectors to control risks affecting their environments.

Encryption is the process of converting plaintext data into an alternative form known as ciphertext. However, only authorised users can decipher the ciphertext back into clear-text to access the information. There are two types of encryption in widespread use, i.e. symmetric and asymmetric encryption. These names symbolise whether the same key can be used for encryption and decryption processes. These two terms: Encryption and cryptography, are often used interchangeably.

Although a business appears to make every effort to protect its assets, there is still no security guarantee. Hackers being fully aware of this uncertainty, tend to take complete advantage by tricking users or bypassing restrictions of the technology products in use, allowing them to acquire complete access. Such perils have given rise to the necessity of having a proactive approach towards cyber security to identify, prepare and respond to events.

Software as a Service, also known as SaaS, is a cloud-based service model where a subscriber uses the software via an internet browser. This software could be anything from a simple application such as MS Word to complex business applications such as SAP. All the software tech stack or backend components are located on external servers maintained by the SaaS provider. Before diving into security in SaaS applications, let’s go through basics.

Your penetration testing report is the security passport for your product and services to the world. It demonstrates the validation of your security controls and cybersecurity strategy at a wider level.