Assessing cybersecurity posture emphasizing the elimination of risk, must be a rigorous and continuous process.
- Continuous. Rigorous. Continuous.
- Continuous monitoring.
- Continuous planning.
- Continuous review.
- Continuous assessment.
- Continuous improvement.
Continuous is the keyword. The focus on improving your security posture must be ongoing, iterative, and creative. Increased ability to continue mature processes across lines of the organization. Institutionalization of cybersecurity practices in the organization’s culture. As a result, the ability to meet security controls in the most efficient and effective manner must be evaluated on a continuous basis. Continuous assessment leads to continuous improvement. Continuous evaluation results in continuous improvement. Security breaches are increasing in both frequency and aggressiveness forcing organizations to address their defensive posture, however, if organizations continuously assess the level of adherence to the security controls, the risk may be reduced, and therefore nothing in an organization’s security posture should remain static. Assessments build a culture of continuous “everything”:
Continuously considering better ways to effectively meet security controls. Continuous improvement. Continuous review. Continuous planning. Continuous adherence. Assessments provide an organization with a way to see how the continuous efforts, about improving its security posture, are occurring. Although there are regulations defining the timeframe and cadence organizations must conduct an 800-53 assessment, SteelToad believes that an assessment is a tool, to be used in an ongoing effort. Assessments, planning, improvement, review, and monitoring should be a continuous effort to upgrade and improve an organization’s security posture.
The organization’s System Security Plan (SSP) will establish guidelines for continuously monitoring all aspects of the system. This is an important step in maintaining the culture of continuous improvement for the organization’s entire IT team. SteelToad’s strategy will be a collaborative effort with our clients to guide your team through the process of assessment, with an emphasis on constant and ongoing improvement.
