Organizations spend enormous amounts of time and money on cyber security. As a result, they prioritize protection based on potential harm. This includes theft of customer information, loss of intellectual property, or direct damage to the physical infrastructure.
However, cyber security is not just about protecting the organization from external threats. It is also about protecting the employees of the organization. Employees often have access to confidential information about customers, suppliers, and other vendors and data about the company’s employees, products, and finances. If sold or stolen, this confidential information can lead to identity theft, loss of customers, and lower employee morale.
Having a solid security plan can increase the overall security of the IT infrastructure and enable an additional level of protection in all online activities.
Every Business Needs Security
Security architecture helps IT and security professionals identify the security controls that are required to protect an organization. It takes into account the organization’s goals, policies, business needs, and existing technology.
The framework helps determine how security controls will be managed and implemented. It also identifies what security capabilities are required and what controls need to be implemented.
Security architecture is much more than a collection of security tools and policies. It is a set of interconnected processes, procedures, and technologies that protect information and infrastructure from threats.
Here’s how to think about security architecture: Your business needs to communicate securely with partners, customers, and vendors. It needs to store information securely. It needs to authenticate users and devices and encrypt their communications. It needs to manage user privileges, provide secure remote access, and protect against information leakage.
Security architecture supports all of this. In addition, it ensures that security is implemented effectively and consistently.
Essential Components of Security Architecture
Security architecture framework should include the following components:
- Security framework: This refers to a collection of statements that describe how security controls should be implemented.
- Security policies: These define the acceptable levels of risk, operations, and loss for the organization.
- Security requirements: These determine how security controls should be implemented to protect the organization from threats.
- Security capabilities: These set how security controls will respond when a security event occurs.
- Security controls: These define how security controls are implemented.
- Security management: This refers to a collection of statements describing how security should be managed.
Implementing a security architecture for your business
Security architecture is an organization’s overall security strategy to protect its information and systems from external threats.
However, not all security architectures are created equally. While all organizations need security architecture, not all organizations have the same needs or goals.
Whatever the plans are, the need for IT security in an organization can be split into four categories:
- Prevention and detection
- Monitoring and analysis
- Incident response
- Crisis communications
This is why security experts from our IT consultant service do extensive research before coming up with a security architecture plan that meets your company’s needs. Here are some of the key processes for creating a security architecture.
1. Understanding Business Goals & Structure
Security architectures are most often designed to meet an organization’s business objectives, such as maintaining data security, preventing unauthorized access, and complying with regulatory standards.
For example, a healthcare organization’s security architecture might include measures to prevent hacking of its computer systems from complying with HIPAA regulations.
Security architecture aims to identify, manage, and mitigate risks to an organization’s information assets. Good security architecture helps an organization achieve its business objectives, such as protecting sensitive data and controlling costs.
Understanding the scope of IT security and devising a plan around it is incredibly important.
2. Customize the plan according to the scope
Security architectures are not one-size-fits-all. Some organizations, such as financial institutions, need more protection than others. Different businesses, such as manufacturing corporations deal with different risks. An organization’s security architecture should meet its business objectives by protecting information assets and supporting business strategy.
The best security architectures are those that align with an organization’s specific business goals. This is why we sit down with the team to develop a strong plan and an implementation strategy for the security architecture.
3. Creating a Strategy
We begin by creating an overall security strategy. Most security architectures include the software, hardware, and policies that provide security. Security architectures also address various security technologies, including firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and anti-virus systems.
This high-level strategy includes a high level of threat and risk analysis.
4. Building the Design
We set security priorities first. The highest priorities are mapped to the highest priority projects.
Security architects design security processes. These may include incident reporting, handling, and change management.
5. Developing architecture
Security architects create security plans that identify which security technologies are suitable for the highest priority security projects. Security architects also develop policies, standards, and procedures that guide security engineers and system administrators in implementing and using the security architectures.
6. Training employees
They train employees with the best security practices in mind. This is crucial to ensure that the employees meet the high-security standards and do everything they can to maintain online security.
Do you want to implement a robust security architecture for your organization? Let our security experts at LayerOne Networks help you. We are one of the most experienced IT consulting firms that provide the best security service in Corpus Christi. Contact our team to get insights into devising an architecture customized for you.