Is your organization cyber risk resilient?
First Call Computer Solutions is a recognized Montana Cybersecurity provider.
Leverage our knowledge working with Montana banks, credit unions, criminal justice and defense manufacturers to improve your organization’s cybersecurity resiliency.
Whether you are a Business Owner, C-level Executive or IT Director managing IT and cyber risk you must work to avoid:
Financial Losses
Financial losses due to downtime, revenue loss, missed opportunities and unnecessary costs.
Health/Safety
For certain organizations (hospitals, criminal justice, water systems, electrical and phone utilities) failure could compromise the health and wellbeing of people.
Penalties
Penalties from regulators, insurance companies or key contractual obligations.
Operational Disruptions
Operational disruptions to a key department, function or the organization as a whole.
Reputation Damage
Reputational harm that leads to loss of trust from customers, partners and stakeholders.
Every organization has critical data, applications, IT services or IT people that it depends on.
Is the organization prepared in today’s threat landscape for what is certain? Probable? Possible? Are assumptions being made between management, IT and key suppliers? We all know what happens with assumptions…
A cyber resilience assessment will help you evaluate your preparedness and give you insight as to what is possible and how much it costs to achieve and maintain cyber resilience.
Security Hardening Isn’t Tough…
Security hardening isn’t tough if you are willing to answer questions, test assumptions and implement mature and affordable solutions.
Our cyber resilience assessments take around two weeks to complete and, at the end of the process, you’ll receive an executive summary of where you need to improve, what our recommendations are to make those improvements, and what an appropriate budget for a cyber resiliency program would look like specifically for your organization.
The Process
First Call Computer Solutions collaborates with businesses like yours across Montana to deliver reliable IT and cybersecurity support. Businesses across Montana’s communities, need safe, secure, and efficient processes and systems in order to foster the well-being and confidence of your employees, stakeholders, and customers.
High Level Cyber Resilience Discussion
See what next steps would work best for you.
Cybersecurity Resilience Assessment
A deep dive into where your organization is right now with your cyber resilience.
Presentation of Findings & Recommended Solutions
Your organization is not obligated to any future work with ours following the presentation of our findings.
CYBERSECURITY SERVICES
Assess Your Business Risk
There are only two types of organizations when it comes to cyber resilience….
Fill out the form below as the first step towards becoming an organization that uses foresight to manage business and technical risk.
Those that use hindsight.
- EXPENSIVE
- PAINFUL
- UNPREDICTABLE
Those that use foresight.
- AFFORDABLE
- MANAGEABLE
- PEACEFUL
Are you part of the leadership team of a business or organization?
Are you a C-Level Executive?
As a C-level executive, it is your responsibility to ensure the smooth functioning of the organization or the department under your purview.
You understand the importance of delivering products or services directly or indirectly from the areas you oversee.
But have you considered the potential risks associated with your IT functions and the impact they can have on your business?
If you have internal IT are you confident in their plan to address the impact to your business?
Are you an IT director or part of an internal IT department?
Ensuring the smooth operation of your organization’s IT functions is vital for business continuity.
But have you thought about the key risks that could disrupt your operations?
Are you confident in your team’s ability to address these risks?
WE MAKE YOUR TEAM MORE SECURE.
Imagine if a critical department or key function in your organization suddenly stopped running for a significant period…the consequences could be far-reaching across various aspects:
Financially
A disruption in your operations can result in revenue loss, missed opportunities, and increased costs.
Regulatory, Legal, Contractual
Non-compliance with regulations, breach of legal obligations, or failure to fulfill contractual agreements can lead to severe consequences, such as penalties, lawsuits, or damaged relationships.
Reputational
A breakdown in operations can harm your organization’s reputation, leading to loss of trust from customers, partners, and stakeholders.
Operational
Disruptions can cause inefficiencies, delays in processes, and decreased productivity, affecting your overall operational effectiveness.
Health/Safety
Depending on your industry, an IT failure could compromise the health and safety of employees, customers, or the public.
Now, consider the critical data, applications, and IT services your organization relies on.
What would happen if any of these were compromised or inaccessible?
This includes computers, printing services, internet access, server access, phones, and other devices.
How would you ensure continuity if you lost a key person, access to a facility, essential equipment, technology, or a key supplier?
In assessing the risks associated with your IT functions, it’s essential to understand the likelihood and severity of potential incidents:
Are they certain:
Events that are likely to occur at least once a year and can significantly impact your business.
Are they probable:
Incidents that can be expected to happen every couple of years and have moderate to major consequences.
Are they possible:
Risks that have a reasonable chance of occurring but are less frequent than probable events.
Are they unlikely:
Incidents that have a low probability of happening but still need to be considered.
In evaluating the severity of these risks, think about their potential impact on financials, regulatory compliance, legal obligations, contracts, reputation, operations, and health/safety.
Would they be catastrophic, major, moderate, or minor?
Are you addressing these concerns?
To effectively address these risks and keep your business running, you need a realistic and workable strategy in place. It’s crucial to develop capabilities that can withstand likely incidents and crises that your organization, departments, and key functions may face.
Don’t get caught up in buzzwords like “Business Continuity Management,” “Business Resiliency,” or “Disaster Recovery” without considering the practicality of your plans. Many organizations focus on creating a one-time business continuity plan, but fail to develop ongoing capabilities to ensure operational continuity.
Mature and sophisticated businesses have specific elements in place:
A senior-level steering committee that provides guidance and support.
Conducting a business impact analysis to identify time-critical activities and recovery objectives.
A business continuity manager or coordinator who oversees the organization’s preparedness.
Identifying and mitigating key risks through appropriate strategies and solutions.
Documenting, exercising, and testing incident/disaster/crisis recovery plans.
Regularly reviewing and updating strategies, solutions, and plans.
Aligning the overall system with recognized standards such as ISO.
It’s important to note that not all organizations need a gold-plated system. For most, having solid, cast-iron systems in key areas of the organization will suffice.
Instead of aiming for an exhaustive approach, focus on what needs to keep running, what needs to go right, and what actions are necessary to maintain continuity and recover quickly when downtime occurs.
Before embarking on this risk assessment and continuity planning exercise, it’s crucial for top-level leaders to address the following questions:
Do we want to rely on hindsight or foresight as our primary tool for developing capabilities to keep our business running?
What level of risk is acceptable in key areas of our organization, such as accounting, finance, marketing, sales, estimating, delivery, HR, IT, reputation, contractual obligations, key personnel, key facilities, key equipment, and key suppliers?
Is this a one-time assessment or an ongoing process? Remember, the focus should be on solving problems that can impede business continuity.
Which area of our business should receive the most attention? Where would a disruption have the greatest impact, be it financial, regulatory, legal, reputational, operational, or health/safety-related?
Are there areas where we may be overconfident or making assumptions that need testing and validation? For example, assuming that IT can recover systems and data in the same day without thoroughly understanding the roles, responsibilities, and realities involved.
Security Hardening Isn’t Tough
By answering these questions and implementing mature strategies, you can ensure that your business remains resilient and continues to operate effectively even in the face of certain, probable, and possible events. Regular testing, verification, and acceptance of the results by the leadership team are essential.
While the threat of cybersecurity looms large, with its potential for catastrophic, major, moderate, and minor implications, don’t forget that the lessons learned from this process can also be applied to identify and solve the right problems in keeping your business running smoothly.
Remember, security hardening isn’t tough, and by following this process, you can develop the capabilities necessary to ensure business continuity and mitigate risks effectively. First Call can help navigate these questions and develop a plan via a free Business Risk analysis.
