Does this chaos sound familiar? You have no control of your environment and most of your efforts are diverted into understanding what happened, containing the damage, and remediating the issue. New projects, including cloud development and mergers and acquisitions, are significantly stalled. If this does sound familiar, then most likely you are blind to what is happening on the network, unaware of where the weaknesses are, and without the ability to quickly assess risk.

This is the alternate reality organizations enter once they have been materially compromised. It stops business, costs millions, and can have an incalculable impact on current and future customers. You get here by thinking tactically all the time. No time to step back and consider the big picture, instead always making small changes and more investments in new, disparate tools. This wasn't the business plan you started the year with, but it is what will be managed for months, and likely a few years to come.

How can you avoid this? Get visibility of your entire security posture and be able to measure it easily, and preferably, continuously so you can take proactive action – including endpoints and networks. This is important and useful in monitoring, responding to, and in some cases, being able to block potential exploits. But this is only a start.

Embed the culture of security: Have you appointed a cybersecurity champion?
You need a cybersecurity champion just as you need a leader for a fire drill – one who practices and directs the possibly panicked staff in evacuating the floor/building in the event of a fire or other emergencies. By embedding security culture into the organization, you can have the visibility and assurance that you need for the best defense against reactive chaos.

Systemically avoid reactive chaos.
Automate and orchestrate wherever possible to provide better visibility. Co-source when necessary, as it gives you access to experts in cybersecurity at an affordable price point.