Proactive security: What is it and why use it to prevent and detect threats and cyberattacks?

Proactive security involves a combination of technologies, processes, and practices designed to protect organizations from attacks or unauthorized access before they occur.

What is proactive security?

Proactive security is an approach to cybersecurity that focuses on preventing cyber threats before they occur rather than simply reacting to them once they have occurred.

This approach involves identifying and remediating security vulnerabilities and anticipating future threats to prevent potential security breaches.

Proactive safety is based on the premise that prevention is better than repair. Rather than waiting for a security incident to occur and then taking steps to minimize or repair the damage, organizations with a proactive approach to cybersecurity seek to prevent these incidents by identifying and eliminating vulnerabilities before cybercriminals can exploit them.

A key component of proactive cybersecurity is regularly assessing information systems and networks to identify vulnerabilities. This may involve conducting penetration tests, in which security experts attempt to breach the organization’s systems to uncover weaknesses before attackers do.

Another proactive strategy is continuously monitoring the attack surface external to the organization —the Internet, dark web, deep web, social media, and other sources— to detect leaked information, open breaches, exposed system vulnerabilities, and suspicious activity. This involves using continuously functioning automated cyber intelligence tools for real-time threat detection.

Security training is also an essential aspect of proactive cybersecurity. By educating employees on security best practices and keeping them informed about the latest threats and attack tactics, organizations can reduce the risk of security breaches due to human error or a lack of security knowledge.

By taking a proactive approach to security, organizations empower themselves to prevent threats before they occur, minimize the risk of cyberattacks, and protect their valuable information assets.

Why use a proactive approach to security?

Today, cybersecurity is a critical concern for all organizations. However, many companies still take a reactive approach, responding to threats as they occur, and organizations need to adopt a proactive attitude to security due to the advantages it brings:

1. Attack prevention Proactive security focuses on preventing attacks before they happen. This is achieved by identifying and remediating vulnerabilities and anticipating future threats. By doing so, organizations avoid the costly downtime and data loss associated with consummate cyberattacks.
2. Costs savings. Although implementing proactive security measures may require an upfront investment, the cost of these measures is often much lower than the cost of responding to a cyberattack and its aftermath. In addition, successful cyberattacks can lead to regulatory fines and litigation, which cause financial damage.
3. Reputation protection. A cyberattack can cause significant damage to an organization’s reputation. Customers and business partners lose trust in a company that can’t protect their data. By taking a proactive approach, organizations demonstrate their commitment to data security, enhancing their reputation.
4. Compliance Most countries have strict rules and regulations around data security. By taking a proactive approach, organizations can ensure they comply with these standards, thus avoiding fines and penalties while facilitating partnerships and internationalization.
5. Guarantee of business continuity. Organizations can avoid system downtime and keep their operations running smoothly by identifying and fixing vulnerabilities before someone exploits them.
6. Competitive advantage. Organizations that demonstrate a solid commitment to cybersecurity have a competitive advantage in an increasingly digitized market. Customers and business partners often prefer to do business with companies that take data security seriously.

Proactive Security Best Practices for Detecting Cyberattacks

A proactive security attitude involves deploying a series of best practices in the organization’s cybersecurity strategy.

Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

It provides continuous visibility into network endpoints and enables rapid responses to cyber threats. EDR collects and analyzes endpoint data to detect, investigate, and prevent threats.

This proactive solution enables organizations to identify abnormal behavior, perform forensic analysis, and mitigate risks before they become security incidents, thereby improving their overall security posture.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

It focuses on identifying, monitoring, and protecting data in use, in motion, and at rest. DLP uses security policies to classify and protect sensitive and critical information, preventing users from sending, storing, or misusing sensitive data.

By detecting potential data breaches before they occur, DLP helps organizations prevent the exposure of valuable information, comply with regulations, and protect their reputation.

Vulnerability Detection

Monitoring the external attack surface and locating exposed vulnerabilities is an effective proactive cybersecurity practice. It consists of identifying, classifying, and prioritizing vulnerabilities in the corporate system that are accessible to the public.

This practice allows organizations to detect potential cyberattack entry points, providing a clear view of possible threats. By locating and remediating these vulnerabilities, organizations strengthen their cybersecurity strategy, prevent intrusions, and minimize the impact of any attacks. This practice is essential for effective cybersecurity management.

Disaster Recovery Plan

It prepares an organization to respond to a cyberattack. It includes procedures for detecting, evaluating, and recovering from security incidents.

This plan helps minimize damage, accelerate recovery, and protect data integrity. It is essential to maintain business continuity, protect the company’s reputation, and ensure customer trust. The goal is to restore normal operations as quickly as possible after a cyberattack.

Benefits of Proactive Security

Staying one step ahead of cybercriminals allows organizations to neutralize attacks before they are executed or minimize their consequences if they cannot be avoided.

A proactive attitude to security provides the organization with the following advantages:

Threat Anticipation

By anticipating threats, organizations can take preventative measures to protect their systems and data, reducing the risk of security breaches and minimizing the impact of any attacks.

Strengthening the relationship with the customer

Proactive cybersecurity strengthens the customer relationship by building trust and security. Customers value their privacy and the protection of their data.

By implementing proactive measures, organizations demonstrate their commitment to customer data security. This increases customer satisfaction, improves retention, and attracts new customers. In addition, in the event of a cyberattack, a quick and effective response can minimize the impact on customers, maintaining their trust in the organization

Reducing business risk

Proactive cybersecurity reduces business risk by preventing cyberattacks. By identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities, exposure to threats is minimized, protecting the integrity of data and systems.

This avoids costly outages and information loss, maintaining customer trust while complying with privacy and data protection regulations. Proactive cybersecurity protects the company’s value and reputation.

To stay up-to-date in this sector, we encourage you to access our content→ The 5 Cybersecurity Trends You Need to Know.

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In this way, Kartos allows organizations to implement the proactive approach in their cybersecurity strategy and ensure the detection and nullification of open breaches and exposed vulnerabilities before they are used to execute a cyberattack.

If you would like to learn more about how Kartos can help you implement a proactive approach in your cybersecurity strategy, please get in touch with us.