Cybersecurity in 2023: Principle 3 — Real-Time Updates

This blog post is our 3rd post in our 5 Principles Blog series. 

We've come up with a fresh way for organizations to boost their security in a better and simpler manner. This idea is built on five main principles that we've developed over time. Our goal is to make managing cybersecurity much easier, almost like a breeze. With careful planning, we've created a system that not only makes things more secure but also less complicated to handle.

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Without further ado, let’s jump into the 3rd principle: Principle 3 — Real-Time Updates

The Problem

In the realm of cybersecurity, once-yearly risk assessments and compliance audits are the norm. But how does this traditional approach stack up when technology environments are continually changing and doing so faster than ever? The answer is ... it doesn't. And just as with dental appointments, a lot can happen between visits.

Today, for instance, you might have a control that's operating fine, but then doesn't tomorrow because somebody quits, a system goes down, or a hacker decides it's your turn to be their next target.

This means it's not tomorrow when you discover a control isn't working as it should be, but 12 months later. Think of that. In a worst-case scenario where an audit is done on June 20th only for something to change on June 21st, which doesn't get picked up until June 20th the following year. Your entire system has been degrading since Day One unnoticed, leaving you at risk and non-compliant for 364 days.

That would be a real blow if you had just spent an entire month of gut-busting effort, as many security professionals do, preparing for the audit because of its perceived importance. After that, it's 11+ months of comparative relaxation before we go through the whole frantic process again. Managing the audit has become an end in itself when the focus should be on keeping an organization safe. This is like being at a school where all the focus is on studying to pass a test rather than becoming better educated.

The Solution

Wouldn't it be that much better if you 'were on it' the whole time? Then you would not have to make this gut-busting effort to prepare for audits. It would be the difference between driving a car and having to violently slam on the brakes and wrench the wheel around to avoid hitting a wall and never getting near that wall in the first place because you were continually adjusting how you drove. I know which way of driving I'd choose if I wanted to be safer and less stressed.

If we aim to capture evidence proving security controls and compliance measures are operating effectively, then the optimal time to capture and store the evidence that confirms an information security task has been completed is when it is done. That's why we designed the Rivial Platform so that rather than just providing a security 'snapshot' that could effectively be worthless tomorrow, the platform continually monitors risk and compliance controls. So, you have an 'always on' picture of how your controls are operating.

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Having that ability relieves you of monumental effort. And, as is often said, consistency — little and often — is much better than infrequent big efforts.

The Rivial Platform enables you to do this by providing an ongoing means to integrate uploaded evidence -- from multiple manual and automated internal and external sources -- into your Risk and Compliance functions. If evidence is weak or absent, the supported risk and compliance controls will be downgraded in real-time rather than after your next annual IT audit or risk assessment.

When risk and compliance controls are modified, the resulting risk measures and
compliance status also change. If these end up outside an organization’s risk
tolerance levels, an automated alert can be sent to the risk owner for an appropriate
response.

In conclusion, the Rivial Platform can solve this and offers a dynamic and ongoing solution to managing risk and ensuring compliance. Its ability to integrate evidence from a variety of sources into your compliance functions, coupled with real-time alerts when risk levels surpass the organizational threshold, provides an unceasing assessment of your system's security stance. This ensures continuous vigilance, mitigates potential threats, and ultimately reduces the need for substantial, infrequent efforts - allowing your organization to focus on its core competencies.

Free Ebook That Unpacks All This & More 

Get the 40+ page ebook and learn the 5 principles that will streamline and simplify your cybersecurity management