Cyber security has become a boardroom priority as the scale and sophistication of cyber-attacks continue to escalate. Ransomware, in particular, has emerged as one of the most devastating threats, inflicting significant financial and reputational damage to organisations worldwide. Keeping Company Boards informed on their organisation’s cyber resilience posture against these ever-evolving attacks isn’t just good practice, it’s increasingly becoming a regulatory mandate.

In this article, we will explore the transformative role of Automated Cyber Resilience Testing in empowering IT and Information Security teams to provide regular, data-driven updates on threat preparedness. Specifically, we’ll delve into:

  • Why automated cyber resilience testing is critical in today’s threat landscape.
  • How threat-informed attack simulation platforms like Validato enable continuous testing and validation.
  • The implications of the new EU NIS2 regulation on cyber resilience reporting.

Before we delve into the details, let’s spend a moment to make sure that we are on the same page with regards to cyber resilience.  Cyber resilience is the ability of an organisation to protect itself from, detect, respond to and recover from cyber attacks.  By being resilient, organisations can reduce the impact of an attack and ensure that they can continue to operate effectively.

How do you achieve cyber resilience?

There are a number of steps that organisations can take to improve their cyber resilience, including:

  1. Improving security: Organisations should improve their security measures to make it more difficult for attackers to gain access to their systems. This includes things like using strong passwords and two-factor authentication, and keeping software up to date.
  2. Detecting attacks: Organisations need to be able to detect attacks quickly so that they can rapidly respond and minimise the damage. This includes having systems in place to monitor for suspicious activity and training staff to spot the signs of an attack.
  3. Responding to attacks: Once an attack has been detected, organisations need to have a plan in place for how to respond to minimise the damage. This should include who to contact and what steps to take.
  4. Recovering from attacks: Once an attack has been successfully dealt with, organisations need to be able to recover their systems and data. This includes having backups in place and a plan for how to restore systems.

Why Automated Cyber Resilience Testing Matters

Traditional cyber security approaches that focus on perimeter defences and point-in-time vulnerability assessments do not provide an accurate view on how resilient an organisation is to specific threats.  Organisations need to proactively test their ability to withstand and recover from sophisticated, multi-stage attacks. This is where Automated Cyber Resilience Testing enters the picture. Key benefits include:

  • Threat-Informed Defence:  It is important to understand the context of of resilience.  It is highly unlikely that your IT and security team will be able to defend against all threats, so profiling the most likely cyber threat scenarios that will affect your business is a much smarter way to look at cyber defence.  Automated Cyber Resilience Testing tools will usually be able to simulate threat scenarios that you care about to provide a much more realistic view on how resilient your environment is to those threats.
  • Continuous Validation: Automated tools enable organisations to regularly test their security controls’ effectiveness against specific attack techniques, providing a real-world view of their resilience.  Traditional manual based security testing is often carried out much less frequently.
  • Prioritised Mitigation: By identifying exploitable  gaps in defences, organisations can prioritise remediation efforts based on the level of risk posed by each threat.
  • Data-Driven Reporting: Automated testing generates quantifiable metrics and actionable insights, allowing IT leaders to communicate cyber resilience posture effectively to the board.
  • Reduced Cyber Risk: Proactive testing and remediation help minimise the likelihood and impact of successful cyber attacks.

The EU NIS2 Regulation and Mandatory Cyber Resilience

The upcoming EU NIS2 regulation (Directive on the security of network and information systems) will significantly raise the bar for cyber security compliance across a broader range of sectors. NIS2 will mandate that covered entities regularly assess their cyber security risk exposure and take “appropriate and proportionate technical and organisational measures” to manage those risks.

Automated cyber resilience testing aligns perfectly with the requirements of NIS2. By continuously testing resilience against specific cyber threats, organisations can demonstrate that they’re actively validating their security controls and preparedness against real-world threats and taking proactive measures to mitigate identified risks.

Key Takeaways for Company Boards

Company boards should actively inquire about their organisation’s cyber resilience strategies. Here are some questions to raise with IT and Information Security departments:

  • Do we conduct regular, automated cyber resilience testing that simulates real-world attacks?
  • Are our tests informed by the latest threat intelligence on ransomware and other prevalent threats?
  • How are the results of these tests used to improve our defenses and mitigate risk?
  • Are we capable of generating clear and board-friendly reports that communicate our cyber resilience posture?
  • What plans do we have in place to align with NIS2’s upcoming cyber resilience requirements?

About Validato

Validato is an Automated Cyber Resilience Testing platform that simulates cyber threat scenarios to test company detection and protection capabilities.  Book a demonstration of Validato to find out how you could transform your cyber resilience testing and visibility today.

For an obligation-free discussion and demonstration, contact the Validato team, today.