Keeping Pace with the Cyber Threat Landscape through Continuous Control Monitoring

At the forefront of any debate about cyber risk should be recognizing that the threat environment is constantly shifting. According to a recent study, ransomware is anticipated to increase by 485 percent year on year in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and continuous tensions in Flexcube implementation. The newest Colonial Pipeline hack, which occurred in May, serves as a reminder of the destructive nature of ransomware attacks. It also demonstrates how much money criminals are generating from ransomware attacks, which will continue to be a source of worry for many years to come. 

In the case of nation-state attacks (such as the 2020 SolarWinds hack and the 2021 Microsoft Exchange Email server attack), the ramifications for cybercriminals are that they now have more sophisticated and powerful weaponry at their disposal. This is in addition to the threat posed by ransom ware in Oracle Flexcube. Financial institutions in the United States are no strangers to cyberattacks, and they must now be even more cautious than they have been in the past when it comes to maintaining their defenses.

Even said, this does not need a comprehensive rethink of companies’ cyber controls or a massive infusion of cash into flashy new Flexcube software solutions. Companies must keep up with rapid technological advancements when it comes to managing their cyber controls. This helps companies show authorities that they control their cyber (and operational) risk.

Operational risks are generally handled in three stages: risk identification, assessment, and mitigation.

• Identify & Assess: Develop a shared understanding of the dangers faced by the organization.
• Mitigate & Manage: Implement risk-adjusted activities that put the risk-to-appetite ratio in line.
• Monitor & Report: Proactive mitigation steps can be taken by continuously monitoring risks and controls, backed by frequent reporting.

Static and discrete are better words to describe what happens throughout the detection and mitigation phases of Oracle banking software. A business that is too reliant on the first two phases of the risk management process may be left exposed to the rapidly changing threat environment, even though they are essential to any risk management framework.

Firms must consequently concentrate their attention on the constant monitoring of critical cyber control KPIs, including the following in particular:

• Specific cyber-risk exposure is measured using KRIs (Key Risk Indicators). The efficacy of implemented cyber controls in mitigating and managing risk as measured by key control indicators (KCIs).
• The effectiveness of cybersecurity initiatives in supporting corporate goals is measured using key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Faster reactions to cyber-threats are necessitated by continuous monitoring, which can only be achieved with the help of reporting and escalation systems.

What it takes to build a reliable cyber control monitoring system

Six critical factors support successful continuous control monitoring across people, process, and technology that we’ve found from our expertise with cyber controls management:

People

• Leadership Buy-in: The first stage is to get the support of the organization’s top leadership, allowing for the necessary funding and resources to begin establishing and maintaining a monitoring capacity. As a result of establishing responsibility, communicating the importance of monitoring operations will be more straightforward. As a result, parties participating in the monitoring process work together better, making more proactive decisions. Lastly, it includes senior governance and oversight to allow businesses to see and address the most critical flaws in monitored controls.
• Clear ownership: To get the full advantages of leadership buy-in, all controls must be clearly stated with no ambiguity in the accountability owner. In this way, responsibility is spread across the organization, which will lead to faster and more accurate inputs to the monitoring teams and early detection of control issues.

Process

• Control Monitoring Plans: CMPs are the foundation of every monitoring system. They outline the actions (including who, what, and when) that will be utilized to detect any changes in control efficacy proactively and reactively. To establish an audit trail and enable regulatory inquiries, each action must be documented, with the kind and placement of that documentation stated in the CMP. One of the essential aspects of CMP implementation is using metrics, such as those outlined in the preceding sections. It’s vital to concentrate on leading rather than trailing and to establish and verify thresholds that consistently indicate when a control is not working as it should be. Periodic assessments of security controls may help you stay on top of threats and possible security problems by giving you a clear picture of how successful they are.
• Reporting and Remediation: Monitoring is only helpful if it results in an appropriate reaction. Since you must consider the amount of material risk associated with any defects while defining and exercising the route for transmitting the outcomes of control monitoring operations, It is possible to make remedial efforts more balanced and prioritized by emphasizing risk rather than other factors. Following the agreement, you must carry through activities to completion. When top leadership is on board, assigning responsible owners and measuring progress is the best way.

Technology

• System of Record: Control monitoring information (including goals, outcomes, and metrics) must be collected and maintained utilizing a single, central system to provide the greatest possible support for your employees and processes. Because teams no longer have to maintain folder upon folder of spreadsheets, they save a great deal of time and effort in terms of administrative overhead. It’s much better to use the system in conjunction with the rest of the risk management framework’s phases. Consolidation of data into user-customizable dashboards will allow critical metrics to be shown and utilized to guide decision-making even further.

Automation: Automated monitoring techniques should be used wherever possible in place of manual ones. For some years, automated controls have been a hot topic in cybersecurity, but a 2020 ORX study indicated 61 percent of cyber control indicators are still manually operated. Metrics reporting may be time-consuming and laborious if done by hand rather than automatically (through self-service and dynamic dashboards). With the help of automation, you may free up human resources to focus on less time-consuming jobs and less error-prone. This all aims to increase control effectiveness and add adaptability to control management.