Comprehensive Security Assessment

Publish a governing policy suite to set management direction, scope, and accountability for the Information Security Management System (ISMS).

Implement a formal risk management process to systematically identify, analyze, and treat threats to your information assets.

Define and assign security responsibilities to ensure accountability and prevent gaps in your security program.

Maintain a structured process to identify and track obligations, preventing non-compliance penalties and legal issues.

Establish a structured ISMS to systematically manage information security risks and controls using a continuous improvement approach.

Secure executive support to ensure adequate resources, accountability, and organizational prioritization of security initiatives.

Perform internal audits to independently verify control effectiveness and identify improvement opportunities before external audits.

Track and report security metrics to demonstrate effectiveness, identify trends, and inform decision-making.

Screen personnel to reduce the risk of insider threats and to comply with legal or regulatory requirements for sensitive roles.

Formalize security duties contractually to set clear expectations and provide a basis for enforcement.

Train personnel to build a security-conscious culture and reduce the risk of human error leading to incidents.

Implement robust offboarding procedures to prevent unauthorized access from former employees and protect intellectual property.

Secure remote work environments to maintain information security outside the controlled office environment.

Establish clear consequences for security policy violations to reinforce the importance of compliance and deter unsafe behavior.

Maintain a complete and accurate inventory to ensure all assets are known and protected; you cannot protect what you do not know you have.

Classify information to ensure that sensitive data receives an appropriate level of protection against unauthorized disclosure or modification.

Dispose of data and media securely to prevent the unauthorized recovery of sensitive information from retired assets.

Control removable media to prevent data leakage and the introduction of malware through unauthorized devices.

Ensure all corporate assets are returned upon termination to prevent data loss and unauthorized access to organizational resources.

Enforce least-privilege access to reduce the risk of unauthorized data access, modification, or destruction.

Deploy MFA to significantly reduce the risk of account takeover from stolen credentials, which is a leading cause of breaches.

Apply strict controls to privileged accounts, as their compromise can lead to a complete loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Implement a robust JML process to ensure access is granted on a least-privilege basis and revoked promptly to prevent misuse.

Conduct regular access reviews to identify and remediate inappropriate access, access creep, and orphaned accounts.

Implement strong password policies and secure storage practices to reduce the risk of credential-based attacks.

Implement strong remote access controls to prevent unauthorized access to internal resources from external networks.

Encrypt sensitive data to render it unusable to unauthorized parties in case of a breach of storage or network infrastructure.

Publish and maintain a clear privacy policy to build user trust and satisfy legal obligations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).

Enable and fulfill Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) to meet legal mandates (e.g., GDPR "right to erasure") and strengthen user trust.

Maintain reliable, tested backups as a final line of defense against data loss from ransomware, hardware failure, or human error.

Implement data loss prevention controls to protect sensitive information from unauthorized exfiltration.

Maintain a privacy compliance program to meet legal requirements, protect customer data, and avoid regulatory penalties.

Implement data minimization to reduce privacy risk, comply with regulations, and limit exposure in case of a breach.

Implement data retention policies to ensure data is kept only as long as necessary and then securely deleted.

Deploy perimeter controls to block commodity attacks and provide a first line of defense against targeted intrusions.

Segment networks to contain breaches, limiting an attacker's ability to move from a compromised host to critical assets.

Harden wireless networks to prevent unauthorized access to your internal network and protect data from being intercepted.

Implement intrusion detection and prevention to identify and block malicious network activity before it causes damage.

Implement secure remote access to protect sensitive data and prevent unauthorized access to internal resources.

Harden endpoints to protect corporate data and prevent them from becoming an entry point for attackers into your network.

Deploy endpoint protection to detect and block malware, preventing credential theft, data destruction, and ransomware.

Control software installations to reduce the attack surface, prevent malware, and avoid licensing issues from unapproved "shadow IT" applications.

Implement mobile device security to protect corporate data accessed or stored on smartphones and tablets.

Implement BYOD controls to protect corporate data on employee-owned devices while respecting user privacy.

Implement secure key management to protect the confidentiality and integrity of encrypted data and prevent unauthorized access.

Implement strong, modern encryption to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access and meet compliance requirements.

Implement secure transport protocols to protect data in transit from interception, tampering, or eavesdropping.

Implement secure certificate management to prevent service outages, man-in-the-middle attacks, and unauthorized access.

Patch vulnerabilities promptly to close security gaps before they can be exploited by attackers, as this is a primary infection vector.

Perform regular vulnerability scanning to proactively identify and remediate weaknesses in your environment before they can be exploited.

Perform security testing to identify vulnerabilities that automated scanning might miss and validate the effectiveness of your security controls.

Implement a vulnerability management process to ensure timely remediation based on risk and prevent security gaps from remaining open.

Integrate security into every phase of the SDLC ("Shift Left") to build more secure applications and reduce the cost of fixing vulnerabilities.

Manage open-source and third-party components proactively, as vulnerabilities in these dependencies are a major source of application risk.

Prevent hard-coded secrets in source code, which can be easily exposed and lead to system compromise.

Implement security testing throughout development to identify and fix vulnerabilities before they reach production.

Implement secure configuration management to prevent misconfigurations that could introduce vulnerabilities.

Implement environment segregation to prevent unauthorized changes and testing issues from affecting production systems.

Maintain and analyze security logs to enable the detection of suspicious activity, support incident investigations, and meet compliance obligations.

Implement security monitoring to detect and respond to threats quickly, minimizing the impact of security incidents.

Secure logs to prevent tampering and ensure they can be used as reliable evidence for security investigations and compliance.

Implement proactive threat hunting to discover adversaries who have evaded automated detection systems.

Leverage threat intelligence to better understand adversaries, prioritize defenses, and enhance detection capabilities.

Maintain a structured plan to ensure a coordinated, effective, and timely response to security incidents, minimizing operational and financial impact.

Conduct blameless post-incident reviews to identify root causes and drive systemic improvements, preventing the recurrence of similar incidents.

Test incident response procedures to validate effectiveness and build team experience before a real incident occurs.

Manage communications effectively to meet regulatory requirements, maintain stakeholder trust, and control messaging.

Implement proper evidence handling to support investigation, maintain legal admissibility, and facilitate root cause analysis.

Develop and maintain plans to ensure continued operations and timely recovery from disruptive incidents.

Test recovery plans to validate effectiveness, identify gaps, and build team experience before a real disaster.

Maintain security controls during recovery to prevent compromises while normal defenses may be weakened.

Implement resilience measures to reduce the likelihood of outages and minimize the impact when they occur.

Implement physical access controls to prevent unauthorized access to facilities, equipment, and sensitive information.

Implement environmental controls to protect equipment from damage and prevent service disruptions.

Implement controls for equipment used outside your facilities to prevent theft, unauthorized access, or data exposure.

Implement clean desk and clear screen policies to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information left unattended.

Implement cloud security controls to protect data and workloads in cloud environments from unauthorized access and data breaches.

Implement strong cloud IAM controls to prevent unauthorized access and privilege escalation in cloud environments.

Implement cloud storage security to protect sensitive data from unauthorized access, leakage, or breaches.

Implement cloud security monitoring to detect and respond to threats specific to cloud environments.

Implement secure configuration and infrastructure management to prevent misconfigurations that could lead to breaches.

Implement vendor risk management to identify and mitigate security risks from third parties who have access to your systems or data.

Include security requirements in contracts to establish expectations, obligations, and remedies for security issues.

Implement continuous monitoring to identify changes in vendor security posture or new risks that emerge over time.

Implement vendor access controls to ensure third parties can only access what they need and activities are monitored.