Stay Ahead: KRIs for Emerging Cybersecurity Threats

Alright, lets talk about staying ahead in the cybersecurity game, cause honestly, it feels like trying to catch smoke sometimes!

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We need to figure out some Key Risk Indicators, or KRIs, that'll actually give us a heads-up about those new, nasty threats lurking around the corner.


Think of KRIs as like, early warning signals. Not just any signal, though. Were not talking about the generic "we had a virus scan" kind of stuff. We need actionable information. Stuff that tells us something specific is changing in our environment, something that might indicate a new type of attack or a weakness we didnt know we had.


So, what kind of KRIs are we looking at, then? check Well, first, lets consider the human element. managed services new york city Phishing attacks are always evolving, right? managed it security services provider So, maybe a KRI could be the percentage increase in employees clicking on links in simulated phishing emails, month over month. (Thats not good!) Or maybe, the number of employees reporting suspicious emails – a decrease in that number might actually be a bad sign, suggesting people are becoming complacent, or worse, theyre just not recognizing the threats anymore.


Then theres the technical stuff.

Stay Ahead: KRIs for Emerging Cybersecurity Threats - managed service new york

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Are we seeing a spike in failed login attempts from specific geographic locations? Thats a pretty strong indicator of a brute-force attack, maybe even a sophisticated one. managed it security services provider Or how about unusual network traffic patterns? (Think traffic coming from internal servers that shouldnt be talking to external, shady-looking IP addresses.) A sudden increase in those patterns could suggest a compromised system trying to phone home to its botnet overlords.


Another area to keep an eye on is vulnerabilities. Were constantly patching software, right? But are we actually doing it fast enough? A KRI could be the average time it takes to patch critical vulnerabilities after a patch is released. If that time is creeping up, were leaving ourselves open to exploitation, plain and simple. managed services new york city Or, how about the number of known vulnerabilities that arent being addressed because theyre deemed "low risk?" check Low risk now, maybe, but they can be chained together to cause a major problem later.


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The trick is to make these KRIs meaningful, and monitor them regularly. Theyre not a set-it-and-forget-it kind of thing. You gotta be constantly tweaking them, adjusting them, and adding new ones as the threat landscape changes. check And importantly, you got to actually do something with the information they give you. Its no good having a bunch of alarms going off if no ones listening, is it?


Ultimately, staying ahead of emerging cybersecurity threats is a continuous process of learning, adapting, and being proactive. Its not about being perfect, its about being prepared. And having the right KRIs in place is a crucial part of that preparation!