Cybercrime is on the Rise
In an era where cyber threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated, it’s crucial to have a structured and effective defense strategy. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) developed the Essential Eight, a set of baseline strategies designed to protect businesses from cyber attacks. At TekMentor Consulting, we help organizations implement the Essential Eight to bolster their cybersecurity defenses, minimize vulnerabilities, and maintain business continuity.
What is the Essential Eight?
The Essential Eight is a series of mitigation strategies that aim to reduce the risk of cyber incidents. These strategies provide a cost-effective framework for preventing malware, protecting sensitive data, and mitigating the impact of cyber attacks.
The Essential Eight is broken down into three key objectives:
- Preventing malware delivery and execution
- Limiting the extent of cyber incidents
- Recovering data and system availability
The Essential Eight Explained
Here’s how we help you implement each of the Essential Eight strategies to fortify your cybersecurity.
Application Whitelisting: Application whitelisting ensures that only trusted and verified software can run on your system. By implementing whitelisting, you can prevent unapproved applications or malicious software from executing, greatly reducing the risk of malware infections.
Our Approach: We work with you to develop a comprehensive list of approved applications and configure your systems to block unauthorized programs.
Patch Applications: Outdated software is a common entry point for cybercriminals. Patching applications—particularly internet-facing ones—helps close vulnerabilities that could be exploited in an attack.
Our Approach: We provide regular updates and patch management services to keep your applications up to date and secure against the latest threats.
Configure Microsoft Office Macro Settings: Microsoft Office macros can be used by attackers to deliver malware. Disabling unnecessary macros and controlling their usage reduces the likelihood of these attacks succeeding.
Our Approach: We assist in configuring macro settings to only allow trusted and signed macros, protecting your systems from potential exploitation.
User Application Hardening: Disabling unnecessary features like Flash, Java, and web ads reduces the attack surface of user applications. This strategy minimizes vulnerabilities in commonly used applications.
Our Approach: We harden your applications by disabling features that are not required for your business operations, making it harder for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities.
Restrict Administrative Privileges: Limiting administrative access to those who truly need it helps prevent malicious software from gaining elevated permissions that could compromise your entire network.
Our Approach: We help you manage and restrict administrative privileges, ensuring that users only have access to the functions and data necessary for their roles.
Patch Operating Systems: Keeping your operating systems up to date with the latest security patches is crucial for protecting against known vulnerabilities. Failure to patch can leave your system open to exploitation.
Our Approach: We manage the patching process for your operating systems, ensuring they are up to date and protected from the latest threats.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Passwords alone are often not enough to protect sensitive accounts. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of security by requiring additional verification, making it more difficult for attackers to gain access.
Our Approach: We implement MFA across critical systems, ensuring that even if passwords are compromised, attackers cannot gain access without further verification.
Regular Backups: In the event of a cyber attack, data loss can be devastating. Regular backups ensure that critical data can be restored quickly, minimizing downtime and impact on your operations.
Our Approach: We implement and manage automated backup solutions that regularly store encrypted copies of your data, ensuring that it is available for recovery when needed.
Why Implement the Essential Eight?
By adopting the Essential Eight, you can significantly reduce the risk of cyber attacks and strengthen your overall security posture. Some of the key benefits include:
- Improved Protection: The Essential Eight covers a broad spectrum of cyber threats, ensuring that your business is well-protected against common attack vectors.
- Cost-Effective: Implementing the Essential Eight is a cost-effective way to improve your cybersecurity without overextending your budget.
- Compliance: Many industries are required to meet specific cybersecurity standards. The Essential Eight helps you meet regulatory requirements and maintain compliance.
Business Continuity: With regular backups and strong protective measures in place, your business can quickly recover from a cyber incident with minimal disruption.