Benefits of Using Cybersecurity

Benefits of Using Cyber-attack Simulator Systems
There is evidence that demonstrates that using simulations is far much better than the education that is provided by real-world experiences. Simulations have been used in numerous industries to teach and test people, and their usage in cybersecurity could be beneficial. Simulating a cyber-attack is easier than having to test the attack in the real world. Having a simulation of the potential cyber-attacks, one can easily test the system to establish how effective the security strategies implemented are and if there are any vulnerabilities in the system. Also, attacking your own system in order to test it for vulnerabilities is foolish and might result in prison time as has been the case for some individuals. Therefore, the easiest and safe way for testing the system is by using a simulation. Simulation allows for the demonstration of what might happen if an organization does not take cybersecurity seriously (Kuhl, Kistner, Costantini, & Sudit, 2007). By using simulation, one can be able to simulate an attack on the organization's systems to the top management and this would demonstrate to them how ineffective the security systems used within the organization are. Attacking the systems in a simulation and not telling the top management that it is a simulation would ensure that they would experience the defects of not having proper cybersecurity in place. This way the IT department can get the buy-in and support from the top management in regards to cybersecurity. The third benefit is that there is ease of scalability when using a simulator system. This means that the person running the simulator can expand and contract the resource pool in order to accommodate heavier or lighter loads as per user requirements without having to incur huge costs. Since this would be a simulation, it is easier to incorporate events that had not been earlier foreseen into the simulation as it is running and it would not have any adverse effects. This would also allow for the testing of the system as the simulation is going on and new inputs can be provided.
Greater Insight on The Potential of Cyber-attacks
The public sector has greater insight on the potential of cyber-attacks. This is based on the fact that the public sector has been pushing for the implementation of various security measures by the public sector especially the military. The private sector has drawn less attention when it comes to cyberattacks mainly because most companies are unwilling to invest and they deem the costs as too heavy. Therefore, whenever there is a cyber-attack within the private sector, it is mostly covered up in order to protect the interests of the shareholders. The public sector, on the other hand, is better placed to understand the potential of cyber-attacks and is already implementing strategies to protect against such attacks (Kundur, Feng, Liu, Zourntos, & Butler-Purry, 2010). The Pentagon has noted the effects that a cyber-attack would have on its systems and has made attempts to have its agencies not rely on Microsoft software because they have deemed it less secure and prone to attacks. A case in point is when the Windows NT system that was administering the computers used on the U.S.S. Yorktown crashed. This could have spelled doom for the military had this happened during a critical mission. Understanding the impact that a cyber-attack would have on a country, the public sector has made attempts to implement legislation the requires private sector companies to take cybersecurity seriously. However, this has been fought by most companies and they prefer to maintain the status quo. The public sector is not motivated by profits, which makes it easy for the sector to support and implement cybersecurity programs. The public sector is also looked upon to ensure that the nation is secure and this requires that they keep abreast of the latest happenings around the globe in regards to cybersecurity. In doing this they can uncover numerous attempts and insights than the private sector.
Best Practices when Developing a Cybersecurity Strategy
The four best practices that should be implemented when developing a cybersecurity strategy are the detection of insider threats, backing up of data, educating and training users, and updating software and systems. Detection of insider threats entails monitoring user activity to ensure that there is no unauthorized activity or behavior. User accounts should also be monitored in order to verify user actions are not violating the security policy (Bailey, Minto-Coy, & Thakur, 2017). In most instances, insider threats will mostly go undetected, and they are extremely costly because the user can gain access to sensitive data that can cost the organization. The IT function that would be charged with monitoring and sustaining this best practice would be security. The information security team is charged with ensuring that there are no attacks on the organization's data and prevents any threats. Backing up data on a regular basis will guard the organization against any data loss due to unavoidable circumstances or attacks. The recent ransomware attacks have clearly shown how much an organization can lose if it has not backed up its data. The IT function charged with sustaining this best practice would be the data team whose main role is developing tools that would collect, store, manage, and secure organization data. The data team would also ensure that there are regular backups of all the organization data.
Educating and training users entails informing the users on the latest cybersecurity practices. Training is mostly carried out by the support team who interact with the users on a daily basis and offer solutions to the users. Training does not need to be formal, but it can be conducted as the technician is sorting out an issue the user has faced that is related to cybersecurity. Updating software and systems ensure that the latest security patches are installed and any vulnerabilities to the system are sealed. This best practice is charged to the planning team whose role is analyzing and making recommendations that ensure that IT strategy is aligned with the organization's business goals. They also investigate alternative options for securing the system.
The Role of Planning When Developing a Cybersecurity Strategy
Planning allows an organization to analyze its current security capabilities for its people, processes, and technology. This will ensure the organization has a baseline that it can use to determine the effectiveness of its cybersecurity strategy. The key deliverable here would be determining how secure the organization is from a cyber-attack. Once the organization has established its current security capabilities it is easier to develop a strategy that is aimed at sealing the identified loopholes and protecting the organization from a cyber-attack (Hogan & Newton, 2015). Planning gives the organization the opportunity to determine the kind of attacks that might befall the organization. This will give the organization the opportunity to determine the worst that can happen and what remedies should be taken to ensure that there is the availability of its IT systems. Having planned for the worst, when an attack happens the organization would be able to resort to its backup systems thus ensuring that the attack had minimal impact on its operations. Planning will ensure that the attacked system could be easily switched off and their impact to the organization would be minimized. There is need to have multiple layers of security in order to guard against a cyber-attack. There is no way an organization can be able to create these layers of security without first planning for these attacks. The layers of defense will be aimed at deterring the attackers and making it hard for them to gain access to the organization's data and systems. Once a layer of defense has been penetrated there should be alerts sent out and the key personnel should begin implementing other defense measures. Countering an attack will dissuade the attackers and prevent the planned attack.
Strengthening Cybersecurity Efforts and Effectiveness Using Public-Private Partnerships
In a corporate environment, public-private partnerships can assist in information sharing that would allow the private sector companies to develop and pursue their own cybersecurity programs. The public sector has comprehensive information regarding emerging threats and trends. Using this information, the private sector can establish best practices that they can employ in order to protect their enterprises from attacks. With public-private partnerships, it is possible to develop cybersecurity solutions that would be beneficial to all parties.
At the regional level, a majority of state agencies rely heavily on outsourcing for most of their services including IT services. Therefore, there is need to ensure that the private sector is safe from cyber-attacks because any attack could compromise the public agencies. Using public-private partnerships the government can insist on only hiring private companies that adhere to strict cybersecurity policies. This would also guard against any privacy and data loss. Having secured systems at the national level is critical for the business of the government. Using public-private partnerships it is possible to develop maturity models that are designed to identify threats within specific industries (Carr, 2016). Using this method, the private sector can share information on the risks it is facing and the public-sector shares data on emerging threats that could exploit these risks. Working together they can be able to formulate a framework that allows companies to assess their situation, consequences, resources, and planning.


References
Bailey, A., Minto-Coy, I., & Thakur, D. (2017). IT Governance in E-Government Implementations in the Caribbean: Key Characteristics and Mechanisms Information Technology Governance in Public Organizations (pp. 201-227): Springer.
Carr, M. (2016). Public–private partnerships in national cyber?security strategies. International Affairs, 92(1), 43-62.
Hogan, M., & Newton, E. (2015). Report on Strategic US Government Engagement in International Standardization to Achieve US Objectives for Cybersecurity.
Kuhl, M. E., Kistner, J., Costantini, K., & Sudit, M. (2007). Cyber attack modeling and simulation for network security analysis. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 39th Conference on Winter Simulation: 40 years! The best is yet to come.
Kundur, D., Feng, X., Liu, S., Zourntos, T., & Butler-Purry, K. L. (2010). Towards a framework for cyber attack impact analysis of the electric smart grid. Paper presented at the Smart Grid Communications (SmartGridComm), 2010 First IEEE International Conference on.