From education to employment

Cybersecurity Vs Cyber Resilience

Cyber resilience and ITIL®. How are they linked together?

Introduction

When you are working for a medium to large organisation, it is impossible for you not to hear about cybersecurity.

You may have attended an induction programme, a recent awareness session about the do’s and don’ts, or even worked side to side with the IT department. You could be an IT employee yourself and have some responsibilities over the company’s IT infrastructure.

“The single biggest existential threat that’s out there, I think, is cyber.” American soldier Michael Mullen said.

So whatever position you hold, NOBODY is safe from a cyber-attack, from an entry level employee up to the CEO themselves.

Preventing cyber-attacks is not enough

As organisations rely more on IT solutions, the risk of cyberthreats grow. Hackers attack computer networks and databases to steal information and money. They do that by taking advantage of holes when cyber landscapes change. This is their golden chance to violate systems and infrastructures.

Hence, antivirus applications are not enough. In case of a cyber breach, you will need to be able to recover quickly from it and limit the damage it caused.

That is why it is so crucial for decision makers to take it seriously and include it in their management agendas.

Cybersecurity and cyber resilience

Cybersecurity is about preventing hackers penetrating your IT systems.

IT security specialists are responsible for reviewing network infrastructure, monitoring suspicious activities and revealing new vulnerabilities in systems on a frequent basis.

Cyber resilience is about enabling your organisation to quickly recover its operations in the aftermath of a cyberattack. This involves high level planning with different departments and risk assessments to align business objectives with the cyber resilience strategy.

It is the responsibility of the head of IT security to prepare the plans and strategies and explain to the board and upper management its vital importance for the organisation.

IT best practices

Organisations often employ best practice IT Service Management Frameworks to help them manage their IT services and networks. The best-known framework is ITIL® (Information Technology Infrastructure Library).

It was first adopted by European government agencies and corporations in 1990. It has since undergone 3 major revisions and version 4 will be released from its owner, AXELOS, in the 1st quarter of 2019.

Cyber resilience and ITIL

Cyber resilience requires a well-thought-out strategy and design. It also requires transition to take the output of design and implement it into an operational environment. And, it requires continual improvement of every aspect to ensure that it remains fit for purpose.

Since ITIL considers every aspect of an IT service, organisations can use the ITIL service lifecycle to ensure that IT services can support all of its cyber resilience requirements.

As a result, ITIL is a widely accepted approach in managing IT services worldwide. It makes a major contribution to cyber resilience and helps to reduce risks and threats to an organisation’s IT systems.

Conclusion

You can now appreciate the tremendous efforts that take place in cyber resilience and the continuous investment in frameworks like ITIL.

If your company has bought a new IT solution for your department and you are enjoying the fruits of its service, never assume that the journey ends there.

You as an employee must take care of it and always look out for red flags in the system. Cybersecurity and cyber resilience specialists in their turn are on the frontline to protect you and the organisation’s assets from cyber harm.

Mona Kay, Learning and Development Manager, Knowledge Train

About Knowledge Train®: A training company in London providing professional courses such as PRINCE2®, AgilePM, Change Management and more.


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