An InfoSec Guide to Building Cyber Resilience

Forget the illusion of impenetrable defenses. In today's threat landscape, it's not if you'll be breached, but when. 

Securing your infrastructure has recently gone beyond protecting your organization in case of an attack. And for good reason—a single breach can set companies back millions of dollars, cause a flurry of legal action, and, worst of all, lead to the loss of valuable customers. 

2024 was a record year for malicious behavior, with a 44% increase in global cyber attacks across twelve months. Nowadays, security isn’t just about patching holes; it’s about building cyber resilience and a digital iron fortress around your organization. 

What is cyber resilience?

Cyber resilience describes an organization's capacity to withstand and recover from cyber threats while maintaining business continuity. If you're familiar with the concept of a cybersecurity strategy, you might be curious about how this differs. While a cybersecurity strategy lays out the overarching plan for protecting digital assets, a cyber resilience framework delves into the granular, actionable processes required to maintain operational integrity during and after a cyber incident.

4 Frameworks for Building Cyber Resilience 

Here are a few frameworks that can guide your cyber resilience implementation. 

1. NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 (CSF 2.0)

This one is considered the gold standard for assessing cybersecurity maturity. In 2024, NIST unveiled the Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 (CSF 2.0), marking a huge milestone since the release of CSF 1.1 in 2018. 

NIST is important because it applies to a larger pool of organizations, including small schools, nonprofits, large agencies, and corporations, regardless of their cybersecurity maturity. The framework is built around five core functions:

• Identify: Understanding your organization's cyber risk to systems, assets, data, and capabilities.

• Protect: Developing safeguards to ensure the delivery of critical infrastructure services.

• Detect: Implementing activities to identify the occurrence of a cybersecurity event.

• Respond: Taking action when a cybersecurity incident is detected. 

• Recover: Creating processes to maintain cyber resilience after an incident. 

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2. ISO 27001 & 27002

Created by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), ISO 27001 and ISO 27002 certifications are international go-to for validating a cybersecurity program—internally and across third parties. With an ISO certification, companies can show customers, partners, and shareholders that they are prioritizing cyber risk management. 

The framework requires you to implement a comprehensive information security management system (ISMS) covering areas such as:

• Access control, including secure authentication and authorization.

• Cryptography and employing robust encryption protocols.

• Physical security; quite simply securing the physical locations of assets like IoT devices and servers. 

• Operational security, which you can achieve with secure configuration, patch, and vulnerability management.

3. CIS Controls

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) Controls provides a practical and prioritized set of actions to improve organizational cybersecurity. 

The framework is organized into three Implementation Groups (IGs), making it accessible for organizations of varying security maturity levels. The groups are:

• IG1: Minimum security standards for basic protection. Designed for small to medium-sized organizations with limited IT and security expertise. 

• IG2: Expanded controls. Intended for organizations with moderate IT and security resources that address a broader range of cyber risks.

• IG3: Comprehensive security for large, dedicated IT and security teams. 

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4. Cyber Resilience Assessment Framework (C-RAF)

This framework, developed by financial sector regulators, takes a holistic approach to cyber resilience. In a nutshell, it evaluates organizations across multiple domains:

• Governance: Establishing clear policies and procedures for security and risk management.

• Identification: Conducting thorough risk assessments.

• Protection: Implementing robust security controls to protect IoT devices, systems, and data.

• Detection: Deploying real-time monitoring and anomaly detection systems.

• Response and recovery: Developing incident response plans. 

• Testing: Regularly testing the resilience of systems through scenario-based simulations and penetration testing.

• Situational awareness: Maintaining up-to-date threat intelligence.

• Learning and evolution: Continuously improving security practices based on lessons learned from incidents and emerging threats.

Why it’s Essential to Prioritize Building Cyber Resilience 

Convincing senior stakeholders to invest in cyber resilience can be a tough call. Here are a few reasons to pull out of the bag next time you're in budget negotiation meetings.

Proactive Incident Response 

Cyber resilience enables more proactive incident response by establishing well-developed protocols before you need them. When incidents occur, every minute counts, and IR plans drastically reduce breach detection and containment time. This layer of protection translates directly to lower remediation costs and minimized reputational damage.

Detecting Dangerous Blind Spots 

Unidentified vulnerabilities represent an existential business risk. By prioritizing cyber resilience through regular security reviews, you gain the ability to spot and remediate weaknesses before attackers can exploit them. 

Business Continuity Depends on Cyber Resilience 

Business continuity is a language all levels of management understand. Organizations with strong cyber resilience recover and resume normal operations significantly faster after an incident than those without proper preparations. This accelerated recovery preserves revenue, customer trust, and market position.

8 Best Practices for Building Cyber Resilience in Your Organization

Once you have secured the all-important buy-in from stakeholders, here are some best practices to get you started with building cyber resilience.

1. Conduct Regular Risk Assessments

Risk assessments are the basis of any cyber resilience strategy. Without understanding your organization's attack vectors and vulnerabilities, you're unlikely to defend against them effectively. 

• Start by identifying your critical assets and data, then evaluate potential threats and vulnerabilities specific to your industry.

• Implement quarterly assessments, focusing on both technical vulnerabilities and business impact analysis. 

• Create a risk register that prioritizes findings based on potential impact and likelihood, and use this to drive your security investments.

2. Develop and Test Incident Response Plans

An incident response plan is only as good as its execution. Your plan should clearly define roles, responsibilities, and communication channels during an incident. Break down your response into clear phases:

• Identification: Detect incidents using intrusion detection systems (IDS) or security information and event management (SIEM) platforms. You could look for anything from unusual network traffic patterns to unexpected system behaviors, unauthorized access attempts, or security policy violations.

• Containment: Once an incident is confirmed, isolate affected systems to prevent lateral movement while preserving evidence for later analysis. Take compromised servers offline or block specific IP addresses. Long-term containment involves patching exploited vulnerabilities.

• Eradication: Completely remove the threat from your environment. Activities include identifying the root cause, removing malware, resetting compromised credentials, and closing security gaps.

3. Implement Comprehensive Security Awareness Training

Humans are one of the weakest links in the security chain. Move beyond annual compliance training to implement monthly learning sessions, simulated phishing exercises, and role-specific security training. Make training relevant by using real-world examples and recent incidents in your industry.

The goal of security awareness training isn't just checking a compliance box—it's developing a security-conscious workforce and countering insider threats. For example, an inclusive approach works particularly well in practice: start with baseline training for all employees, covering essentials like phishing recognition, password hygiene, and data handling.

4. Establish Strong Access Control Protocols

Access control ensures the right people have the right access at the right time. Implement the principle of least privilege (PoLP) across your organization, giving users only the minimum level of access needed to perform their specific job functions and nothing more. Start by auditing current access levels and removing unnecessary privileges and require multi-factor authentication for all users, especially for privileged accounts. 

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5. Deploy End-to-End Data Encryption

Data encryption is your last defense when other security measures fail. Start by identifying and classifying your data, then implement appropriate encryption methods based on sensitivity levels.

More concrete implementation steps include:

• Database-level encryption: Most APIs and applications are backed by some form of database. Modern cloud makes enabling encryption at the database level easy through simple configuration toggles. 

• Storage encryption: If you store data on a disk, both your volumes and individual files should have encryption. For cloud environments, use native services like Azure Storage Service Encryption or GCP's default encryption. For on-premises systems, consider full-disk encryption solutions like BitLocker (Windows) or LUKS (Linux).

• TLS everywhere: Encrypt all data in transit using TLS 1.3 where possible. It includes public-facing web traffic and internal service-to-service communication that many organizations overlook.

  
  

6. Establish a Robust Backup Strategy

Reliable backups can be the difference between a minor inconvenience and a major crisis. Implement the 3-2-1 backup rule: maintain three copies of your data on two different types of media, with one copy stored off-site. Automate your backup processes and, most importantly, regularly test your restoration procedures.

7. Monitor and Respond to Security Events in Real Time

Security monitoring means having the capability to detect and respond to threats quickly. Implement an SIEM system and establish a round-the-clock monitoring solution in-house or through a managed security service provider. 

Monitoring security events in real time ties into building a proactive incident response strategy. Instead of digging through logs, you can take a look at your SIEM, quickly understand what is going on, and walk backwards to understand what went wrong and why.

8. Maintain Third-Party Risk Management

Your organization's cyber resilience is only as strong as your weakest vendor. Conduct security assessments before onboarding new vendors and implement regular reviews of existing partners. When performing these assessments, request concrete evidence of security controls:

• Request Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs): Provides transparency into all components and libraries used in software products, allowing you to identify vulnerable components before they affect your environment. 

• Verify vulnerability disclosure processes: Ask for documentation of their vulnerability management process, including timeframes for patching critical issues. 

• Review security certifications with evidence: Look beyond logos on vendor websites. Request SOC 2 Type II reports, ISO 27001 certification scopes, and penetration test executive summaries. Pay special attention to the scope of these certifications—they should cover the specific services you're using.

• Assess incident response capabilities: Require vendors to share their incident response plan and timeline commitments. How quickly will they notify you of a breach? What details will they provide? 

  
  

Stay Resilient for Cyber Success 

Remember, cyber resilience isn't a one-time project; it's an ongoing journey. Regular risk assessments, rigorous testing, and continuous improvement are essential for maintaining a strong security posture. Embrace the frameworks like NIST CSF 2.0, ISO 27001, CIS Controls, and C-RAF to provide structure and guidance. You can build a digital iron fortress and ensure your organization's longevity in the face of an ever-changing threat landscape.