10 of the most common security gaps, and how you can fix them

In today's cyber landscape, organisations face a never ending wave of threats from criminal organisations. These attackers possess advanced technology, skill, and persistence, and will seek to exploit any chink in your cyber armour in order to break into your systems and steal your sensitive information.

In order to mitigate the risk of cyber crime, the vast majority of organisations have some form of security plan and policy in place. Any gaps or weaknesses in these strategies leave businesses vulnerable to the risk of cyber crime - and the financial and reputational damage that follows a successful data breach.

Introducing strategies designed to address weaknesses in your security strategy reinforces your cyber defences and mitigates the risk of a breach; here's a list ten of the most common cyber security gaps, and what you can do to fix them.

1. Lack of Employee Awareness and Training

Employee awareness and training gaps put businesses at risk of security incidents and data breaches. Your staff are often the first line of defence against cyber threats, but without proper training, they may accidentally become your weakest link. Ignorance of phishing scams, bad password practices, mishandling sensitive data, and failing to detect threats can all result in costly security issues and impede your capacity to respond effectively. Compliance with numerous industry standards and regulations necessitates well-trained employees. To mitigate these risks and establish a strong cybersecurity posture, you must engage in comprehensive training programmes that provide your workers with the information and skills necessary to detect and block incoming cyber threats.

2. Weak Passwords

Weak password practices allow fraudsters to acquire credentials and obtain unauthorised access to your systems, accounts, and sensitive data. When people use easily guessable passwords like "123456", "password," or other common words and phrases, they expose themselves to brute force attacks, in which automated systems test various combinations until they find the appropriate one. The reuse of passwords across several accounts exacerbates this risk, as compromising one account can lead to the compromise of all. Effective password policy and user education on choosing strong, unique passwords are critical for closing this security gap and improving your overall cybersecurity.

3. Unpatched Software and Systems

It is critical that all software is up to date. Unpatched software is a major security concern, making your systems and apps open to bugs and exploits. Software providers frequently release updates and fixes to address discovered zero-day vulnerabilities and improve the security of their products. If your company fails to deploy updates on a timely basis, thieves will be able to exploit these vulnerabilities. This gap is quite widespread and particularly worrying, as attackers aggressively seek for unpatched systems, making them excellent candidates for unauthorised access, malware infections, and data breaches. Neglecting software patching not only raises the danger of a breach, but it can also result in regulatory noncompliance and reputational damage.

4. Inadequate Access Controls

Access controls determine who can access what within an organisation's IT environment. Poorly managed or designed controls pose internal and external risks. Over-privilege allows staff more access than needed, increasing the risk of misuse or accidental data exposure. Under-privilege hampers productivity and leads to insecure workarounds. Cyber thieves exploit weak access controls to gain entry and escalate their access. Effective access control techniques are vital for enforcing the principle of least privilege, ensuring that people and systems have only the necessary access, reducing the attack surface, and preventing data breaches.

5. Insufficient Network Security

Firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and network segmentation are all examples of network security measures that are intended to safeguard the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your data and systems. When your network security is inadequate or incorrectly configured, criminals might exploit vulnerabilities and holes in your security posture to obtain unauthorised access, disrupt operations, and/or steal critical information. Without strong network security, your company is more vulnerable to malware outbreaks, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) assaults, and unauthorised data extraction. Because your network is the foundation of your IT systems, closing this gap is critical to protecting your organisation's digital assets and ensuring business continuity in today's threat scenario.

6. Inadequate Logging and Monitoring

Logging and monitoring are critical for responding quickly to security alarms since they provide significant insights into network and system operations and function as one of your frontline defences against cyber attacks.

If your processes are subpar or inadequately designed, it becomes difficult to detect aberrant or malicious behaviour, particularly novel attack patterns and zero-days, leaving your company ignorant of possible breaches until they progress.

In the case of a security issue, the lack of complete logs makes it difficult to perform forensic investigations, determine the scope of the breach, and devise prevention methods for future assaults.

If you believe your threat detection skills are lacking, implementing a Managed SIEM solution is an effective option to close the gaps. A managed SIEM solution provides complete 24/7 monitoring and places your threat detection activities in the hands of qualified security specialists that have access to the most modern technology available. This allows you to respond quickly and accurately to even the most sophisticated threats, as well as optimise and reallocate your in-house resources to focus on the most important tasks.

7. Outdated Security Policies

Cyber threats and attack strategies are continuously developing, so make sure your security policies and processes stay current. When security policies grow out of date, they fail to address developing threats, leaving your company vulnerable to new, sophisticated cyber attacks. This creates a false feeling of security; your staff will assume they are following the best practices indicated in your rules, but in fact those methods are no longer enough to guard against emerging risks.

Regulatory and compliance standards are routinely changed to reflect evolving security landscapes, and obsolete policies can lead to noncompliance, which can have legal and financial ramifications. As a result, you must examine, update, and adjust your security rules on a regular basis to ensure they are consistent with current threats and best practices.

8. Third Party and Supply Chain Risks

This is a frequently overlooked gap that we’ve been seeing exploited in the media recently, with successful data breaches at Airbus and Greater Manchester Police resulting from cyber attacks at third party suppliers.

Third parties introduce external risks and dependencies into your security ecosystem; more third parties equals greater risk. When you interact with third-party vendors, suppliers, or service providers, they frequently share access to their systems, data, or networks. They may not adhere to your security policies and procedures, making it difficult to assure consistent security throughout the supply chain, and if these third parties do not have adequate cyber security measures in place, they may become points of entry. To close this gap, you must review your third-party partners' security posture, set explicit security requirements through contracts and agreements, and monitor compliance to reduce risks. Failure to do so can lead to cascading vulnerabilities that threat actors can exploit to gain access to your sensitive information and systems.

9. Inadequate Incident Response Planning

If your response strategy is poor, your organisation will be unprepared to handle and mitigate security events once they occur. Cyber assaults and data breaches are no longer a question of "if," but "when," making incident response planning a critical component of cybersecurity. Without a well-defined and proven incident response strategy, you may face delays in recognising, containing, and recovering from security issues. This will cause lengthy system and operational interruption, increased data exposure, and significant financial and reputational harm. Your incident response plan should not only define roles and duties, but also include specific recommendations for recognising, categorising, and responding to various sorts of situations. Regularly testing and refining your plan ensures that you can respond quickly and efficiently to mitigate the impact of cyber attacks, making it an essential component of a strong and proactive security strategy.

10. Mobile Devices

Mobile devices introduce additional complexities and vulnerabilities into your organisation's digital environment. Employees often access sensitive data from various locations and networks, some of which may not be secure, whilst mobile devices can be easily lost or stolen which can potentially expose this confidential information.

Furthermore, the wide variety of device types, operating systems, and application ecosystems can make it challenging to enforce consistent security policies and configurations, and introduce risks of their own; malicious or poorly designed apps may compromise device security. Without robust and clear security policies, your organisation may struggle to secure these endpoints, making them susceptible to a range of mobile-specific threats. These security policies must be accompanied by security training, so that your staff know what to look out for and what to avoid.

Leveraging the Power of Managed Services

All of the above security gaps can be mitigated through managed cyber security services. Managed services optimise your resources, reduce your costs, and mitigate the risk of an incident causing disruption, meaning that you can reallocate your existing resources towards critical operations.

Providing you with access to advanced technology, expert security analysts, and continuous support, managed services can enhance and optimise all areas of your security strategy.

Download the brochure here, or get in touch with us to learn about this free evaluation of your data protection strategy.

Interested in more cyber related blogs?

1. UK Businesses Tackle Mobile Security Gaps in the Remote Work Boom
2. Analysing your Internal Cyber Security Threats and How to Stop Them