Learning from the Mistakes of Others
Most of us have benefited from the mistakes of others. It is better to learn from others than to repeat their mistakes, and we can apply this concept to numerous areas of our lives, including security. While some security processes, procedures, and initiatives require a significant investment in time and money, skipping them is a big mistake for security teams, and the consequences can be dire. In this article, we outline the top 10 items that require investment but can pay off in more ways than one.
1. Formalizing Policy
Policy is necessary for nearly everything that a security organization does, and formalizing policy is critical for an enterprise’s security. While policy is not exciting, it codifies the rules of the game in terms of security, and it’s important to have good answers when asked tough questions about security.
2. Understanding Regulations
Regulations and compliance with those regulations can be challenging, but it’s necessary to excel at them as the risk of fines and other complications is too high not to prioritize this area. This is especially true in the global business industry where one needs to remain on top of all the applicable regulations in all locations of operation.
3. Staying the Course
Although it may be challenging to stay focused on strategic initiatives despite tactical distractions, it’s necessary for a successful security program. Our strategic initiatives are designed to mitigate risk that has been prioritized and to improve our security objectives. As tempting as tactical distractions might be, they interfere with our strategic risk mitigation efforts, lowering the enterprise’s overall security posture.
4. Nurturing Relationships
Building and nurturing relationships with key stakeholders in the business, executives, board members, and others are essential for security leaders. These relationships take time and are important partnerships that help improve an organization’s security status.
5. Architecting for the Future
Architecting for the future means accounting for different possibilities that may arise in the future. It’s worth the time and energy because solutions not architected for the future require re-engineering or scrapping, which takes more time in the long run than getting it right the first time.
6. Resisting the Quick Fix
In the face of a challenge, it can be tempting to use a quick fix. However, band-aid solutions are tedious to maintain and often need to be rewritten everywhere they are used. It’s essential to avoid quick fixes and to leverage repeatable solutions that can be reused.
7. Implementing Useful Training
Properly training staff requires a training budget and time away from other important tasks, but it’s well worth the investment. Security professionals who regularly update their knowledge and skills perform better, lead to better effectiveness of the security organization, and improve the overall security posture of the enterprise.
8. Creating Proper Documentation
Documentation is often time-consuming and tedious, but it’s a necessary part of an enterprise’s security. When it comes time to understand how to do something, documentation is the natural go-to. Moreover, well-documented processes and procedures give stakeholders insight into how specific areas of the enterprise function.
9. Capturing Lessons Learned
While documenting lessons learned takes effort, it pays off significantly. By learning from the past, security organizations can improve over time, and capturing high-profile security incidents’ relevant points is essential for improving the state of security.
10. Applying Lessons Learned
Combing through lessons learned and implementing them is challenging but vital. It directly mitigates risks, shows how risks were managed improperly in the past, and provides one of the most significant targets for improvement. Applying lessons learned can have a substantial impact on an enterprise’s overall security posture.
Invest Your Time Wisely
While it may be tempting to skip important security processes, procedures, and initiatives to save time or money, the best security organizations understand the need to invest in these areas to improve their overall security posture. Investing your time wisely means implementing formalized policy, understanding regulations, staying focused on strategic initiatives, nurturing relationships, planning for the future, avoiding quick fixes, properly training staff, documenting processes and procedures, and capturing and applying lessons learned.
Advice
Be patient, persistent, and strategic in matters of security. Take the time to invest in key areas that improve the enterprise’s overall security posture and are grounded in best practices. Avoid quick fixes as they often create more problems than they solve. It’s essential to update and keep up with emerging technologies that improve security, and most importantly, avoid repeating mistakes that others have made.
Editorial
Investing time and money in vital security processes and initiatives is key to an enterprise’s success. Those who don’t learn from the past are bound to repeat costly mistakes. While it may be tempting to skip important areas to save time or money, the best security organizations know that security is a journey, not a destination. As a result, they are willing to invest time, money, and other resources to improve their security posture gradually.
Philosophical Discussion
The concept of learning from the mistakes of others applies to numerous areas of our lives. In life, it is essential to surround ourselves with people who inspire and counsel us. In the world of security, it’s critical to invest time and money in vital initiatives that improve the enterprise’s overall security posture. By learning from the past, we can improve the present and plan for a better future.
<< photo by Đạt Đào >>
