Achieving compliance with cybersecurity guidelines is essential in today's digital environment to safeguard sensitive data and preserve operational integrity. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) created the Essential Eight (E8) framework as one example. Organisations can improve their cybersecurity posture by implementing the eight crucial mitigation methods outlined in the E8. We'll look at how SureDeploy can help your company achieve E8 compliance.
To assist organisations in defending themselves against a range of cyberthreats, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) has created methods to mitigate cyber security incidents, which are prioritised mitigation techniques. The Essential Eight are the most successful of these mitigation techniques.
The Essential Eight were created to safeguard organisations' information technology networks that are connected to the internet. While the Essential Eight's tenets might be applicable to operational technology networks and business mobility, they were not intended for these uses, and other mitigation techniques might be better suitable to protect against cyberthreats.
Outdated Applications: Keeping applications up to date is a significant challenge. Applications that have not been updated in over a year or more, may increase security risks and the vulnerability for potential threats.
Understanding the Essential Eight (E8)
The Essential Eight (E8) comprises eight key strategies designed to mitigate cybersecurity risks. These strategies include:
- Application Control: Ensuring only approved applications can execute on systems.
- Patch Applications: Regularly updating applications to fix security vulnerabilities.
- Configure Microsoft Office Macro Settings: Restricting the use of macros to prevent malicious code execution.
- User Application Hardening: Implementing security measures to reduce application vulnerabilities.
- Restrict Administrative Privileges: Limiting the use of administrative accounts to reduce the risk of unauthorised access.
- Patch Operating Systems: Keeping operating systems up to date with the latest security patches.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Implementing MFA to enhance user authentication security.
- Regular Backups: Ensuring regular backups of critical data to facilitate recovery in case of a cyber incident.
Essential Eight Maturity Levels
- Application control: Defining and enforcing application control policies, ensuring that only approved applications can run on your systems. This helps prevent the execution of unauthorised or malicious software.
- Patch applications: Automating the patching process for applications, ensuring that all software is up to date with the latest security patches. This reduces the risk of vulnerabilities being exploited by attackers.
- Configure Microsoft Office macro settings: Configuring and enforcing macro settings in Microsoft Office applications. By restricting the use of macros, you can prevent the execution of potentially harmful code.
- User application hardening: Providing tools to harden user applications by applying security configurations and settings. This reduces the attack surface and enhances the overall security of your applications.
- Restricting administrative privileges: Helping you manage and restrict administrative privileges, ensuring that only authorised users have access to critical systems and data. This minimises the risk of unauthorised access and potential security breaches.
- Patch operating systems: Automating the patching of operating systems, ensuring that all systems are up to date with the latest security patches. This helps protect against known vulnerabilities and exploits.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Supporting the implementation of multi-factor authentication (MFA), adding an extra layer of security to user authentication processes. This helps prevent unauthorised access to your systems.
- Regular backups: Facilitating regular backups of critical data, ensuring that you can quickly recover in the event of a cyber incident. This helps maintain business continuity and minimise downtime.
In summary
Improving your company's cybersecurity posture requires achieving Essential Eight (E8) compliance. SureDeploy offers a complete solution to automate and expedite the use of E8 techniques, assisting you in successfully and efficiently achieving compliance. SureDeploy will work with these mitigation strategies and sets of specific tailored policies to ensure they are implemented as effectively and efficiently as possible.
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