The Importance of ISO 27001 in a Cyber Landscape

In an age where data breaches and cyber threats loom large, safeguarding sensitive information has become paramount for businesses of all sizes. With the exponential growth of digital data and the increasing sophistication of cyber-attacks, organisations need robust measures to protect their assets. This is where ISO 27001 certification steps in as a beacon of trust and security.

ISO 27001, part of the ISO/IEC 27000 family of standards, is an internationally recognised framework for information security management systems (ISMS). It provides a systematic approach to managing sensitive company information, ensuring its confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

A hot topic on everyone’s lips is the threat of Artificial Intelligence, or AI as it is more commonly known. This is no longer counted as a possibility, it is one of the biggest ‘realities’ of the 21st century. Here to stay, and increasing in capacity daily, AI brings with it several unintended consequences of human initiated technological advances, driven primarily by the desire to both simplify and achieve perfection.

The EU is making preparations to counter "hybrid threats (including emerging threats) that could affect elections’ security, such as foreign information manipulation interference (FIMI), disinformation on social media, AI and deep fakes."

ENISA

With the impending dominance of Artificial Intelligence comes the stark reality of AI-driven cyber attacks across global digital and business landscapes. Tech giant Microsoft is predicting that professionally run state-backed cybercrime groups pose a serious threat to the outcomes of upcoming elections both in the US and across the EU, including here in Ireland.  In fact, the threat of cyber attack is being taken so seriously by the EU, that ENISA, its agency for cyber security, is currently carrying out cybersecurity audits EU-wide, reviewing “crisis plans and responses to potential cybersecurity incidents” expected to impact the upcoming EU elections.

What are the biggest threats to Cyber Security in an Organisation?

Most recent statistics indicate that the five biggest threats to corporate cybersecurity are Data Breaches, Malware Attacks, Phishing, Ransomware and Social Engineering (including Smishing).

While most of us are aware of data breaches and phishing attacks, Social Engineering or digital deception is a lesser known but rapidly growing successful means of committing cyber fraud.

Social Engineering is “the use of deception to manipulate individuals into divulging confidential or personal information that may be used for fraudulent purposes.” 

Oxford English Dictionary

Examples of Social Engineering include Baiting, PreTexting and Smishing.

Baiting

Baiting relies on making ‘false promises’ such as a big win, profitable investment, an expensive prize etc. to lure ‘marks’ into sharing confidential information.

PreTexting

PreTexting, including business email compromise, is a tactic via which cyber criminals present a ‘fake story’ to build trust and ultimately coax the targeted individual into sharing sensitive corporate information.

Smishing

Lastly, Smishing, probably the best known of the three named examples, is the use of scam emails and texts containing sham web-links, which when clicked, expose the user, and ultimately the organisation, to a malware/ransomware attack.

How to defend your organisation from Cyber Attacks

There are several measures which can be put in place to mitigate against Cyber Attack, but all of them are rendered moot if not underpinned by requisite awareness training and robust systems.

When it comes to optimal Cyber Security, a multi-layered approached works best. Inter-weaving continuous, and constantly refreshed, awareness programs with a combination of robust ICT infrastructure, IS protocols and IT security systems has proven to deliver cyber security excellence from business, technical and operational perspectives.

Widening defences to incorporate hardware and software upgrades and employee education, along with implementing an industry standard IS Management framework such as ISO 27001, gives an organisation the best possible chance of mitigating cyber-attacks. Limiting exposure to phishing, malware or data breaches, accidental or deliberate, is a protection afforded to an organisation that adopts the rigorous risk-averse principles and requirements of the ISO Information Security Management standard and its associated management system.

A Process-based approach is
the lynchpin of effective Cyber Security

Mitigation measures combining advanced tech, process-based systems and informed people offer an organisation the type of all-encompassing approach required to deliver optimal cybersecurity defence barriers. In fact, it could be argued that the process-based approach of ISO 27001 is the lynchpin of effective Cyber Security best practices.

The process-based, people centric approach afforded to organisations which have adopted the pillars of ISO 27001 provides several inter-connecting layers of cyber security some of examples of which would include:

• Mandating the appropriate levels of awareness training so as to ensure all stakeholders/employees/personnel have the knowledge and understanding of potential cyber threats, weaknesses and pitfalls to be able to quickly and easily identify and report suspicious incidents.
• Implementing the clearly communicated and rigorously applied security protocols, as required by ISO 27001, fundamental to effective protection from phishing and malware attacks.
• Providing the organisation with a risk-based process framework via which it can achieve continuous improvement of its systems - technical and procedural - as well as full regulatory and legal compliance.
• By mandating the organisation comply with a strict set of industry-led requirements, ISO 27001 supports the leadership in managing its digital footprint; its best practice processes ensure optimal data and communications management, thereby securing data assets, limiting digital exposure via web content, social media posts and other online content.

There are many other ways in which ISO 27001 yields a protective blanker over the corporate cyber landscape, cementing its importance in data and digital security in a world under constant siege by professional criminals prospecting for weaknesses and vulnerabilities that can give them a pass to access confidential data and assets.

No longer a standalone systemic asset of business operations, ISO 27001 Management System is the cog in the 360 wheel of optimal cyber security. Seen by senior business and technical leaders worldwide as pivotal in repelling professional masterminded cyber attacks, ISO 27001 has become the fulcrum on which effective cyber security is delivered and maintained.

ISO 27001 Information Security consultation

ISO 27001 empowers organisations to protect all sensitive data effectively, giving it the process-based tools to mitigate data breach and cyber attacks.

The CGBC team supports our clients to establish, adopt and continuously improve Data Security best practices, helping to drive efficiency of ICT security, risk management excellence and an organisation wide awareness and understanding of all aspects of cyber security.

For more information on how our team will work with your organisation to achieve ISO excellence, contact us on 01 620 4121.

*Source: EU Commission Websites, National Cyber Security Centre (UK)

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