Omphaloskepsis?

This is what cyber security can become. Not sure what it means? It means navel gazing – thinking about one thing to the exclusion of the wider picture.

So what am I talking about?

You have been sold anti-virus and a firewall, you’ve set the updates to automatic and have a backup that a cyber security consultant checked for you to confirm it was resilient against modern cyber attacks and ransomware.

You even popped over to CyberAwake and bought the training for your team. You realised when you read my blog that technical solutions were not going to protect you completely. There could be a zero-day attack, something new that the technical defences do not recognise, something that your team would recognise as the training made them aware of different styles of attacks. Or it could be a very persuasive email tempting them to click on an innocent looking but deadly link.

So you have concentrated on your cyber security to the exclusion of the wider picture.

If you do not have a recovery plan for when the cyber security fails you are road kill. (The Register; August 2022)

The road back

I am going to lift you from your navel with a few pointers to your road back.

• For this to work you need to use your Cyber Security Plan “What is Normal” document.
• In this you would have asked your team to identify their priorities for doing their job.
• When you tested your backup – you prioritised the files you needed first.
• You had a plan that was not dependent on your regular email or information storage for keeping your clients informed – and a designated person to make this happen who was not involved in the recovery.
• Where possible you had secondary or backup ways of operating – a supplier who would lend you an Internet connected office or indeed an Internet connected shed in your garden.

This is obviously not the complete “to do list” – it is a starter for 10.

Contact us if you would like to attend our training on how to create the “What is Normal” document!