Security has many forms. That your assets are not subject to destruction and theft is a type of security; Having cyber security in the online space is another type.

With the emergence of the Internet and its expansion, the importance of providing security in this space has increased significantly. Especially since people store important information in emails, private chats, personal websites, etc.

This important information may be confidential business data. Maybe family photos, which should not fall into the hands of the unworthy. After all, no one likes to see their information exposed. Therefore, we decided to write an article about this topic and talk about security control.

As you know, our main focus will be on the Internet space; But in some parts of the article, we will have general references to the issue of security in the real world.

What is meant by security control?

Any action taken to prevent security risks, identify and deal with them, and even reduce security risks is a form of security control. These measures may be used to protect the physical property of the collection or simply take care of the data and information of the computers. The idea of ​​”restricting access to essential and confidential data and information to authorized individuals within the organization” is a more specific definition of security control.

Regarding data, the simplest action that can be taken to protect them is access control; This means that only authorized people within the organization can access confidential business data and information.

What is the importance of security control?

If you have visited the security category that we linked above, you know how diverse hacking and cyber risks are! from simple to complex; So it is natural that our information is always at risk.

In addition, if you think that you will not fall prey to hackers because of the small size of your business, you should know that half of the cyber attacks are aimed at startups and small businesses like you! Because usually the older ones have specific solutions to protect their data.

Now let’s get acquainted with the different forms of security control.

Types of security controls

Assets can have a very wide range. For this reason, managing the security of all its parts is complicated. From hardware and software to data and information, they need security control. However, before choosing the desired method for security control, it is necessary to define our goal. In this case, the possible risks are estimated more easily and the final evaluation is done more easily. In general, security controls will include the following:

1) Security control of physical assets

This security control method includes the creation of fences, locks, guards, cameras, sensors, and physical tools. For example, data centers use all kinds of these methods to protect servers.

2) Controlling the security of digital assets

Provision of measures such as username and password, two-step authentication, antivirus and firewall are a subset of this category.

3) Controlling the security of cyber assets

Cyber ​​security controls are specifically used to prevent cyber attacks on information and data. Intrusion prevention system and reduction of DDOS attacks are types of this method.

4) Security control of cloud assets

As the name suggests, cloud security control is about securing data in the cloud. This form of security control is related to the use of cloud space as well as the rules and frameworks related to it.

Security control frameworks

Different systems propose different standards and frameworks for security control. These frameworks help control security based on a proven and tested methodology. They also help to prioritize the damages for the effectiveness of the security control.

For example, in 2014, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) proposed a framework for preventing, detecting and remediating cyber attacks. These standards are used as a guide to confirm the implementation of security control in organizations. Also good to know, these standards are constantly being updated.

Also, the Control Center for Internet Security (CIS or its former name SANS) has also provided a list of defense measures according to their priority. Any organization or business, small or large, can start with this security checklist to prevent cyber attacks. These are prepared based on the patterns used in cyber attacks and are used in the wider community; Therefore, their use and effectiveness are fully confirmed.

A good and functional security control framework should ensure the implementation of the following:

• Implementation of IT security policies to control security
• Teaching security instructions to employees and employees of the complex
• Compliance with regulations and bylaws
• Efficiency and applicability of security control principles
• Security assessment and continuous handling of cyber attack risks

Cyber ​​attacks usually target the weakest and most vulnerable areas. Experts say that your strength is only as strong as the weakest area of ​​your business. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen these areas by using security control strategies.

It doesn’t matter how you provide and control security. All methods of this work consist of 3 main steps.

The main stages of providing and controlling cyber security

Regardless of the difference in details, each security control framework and method includes the following 3 steps:

1. prevention

Prevention Icon The necessity of prevention is to first describe and define the risks. Any unauthorized action or action must be determined and methods to prevent it must be provided. The tools used in this step include antivirus and firewall.

2. diagnosis

Problem diagnosis icon In the diagnosis stage, we describe the appropriate solutions and identify the required actions to deal with the threatening factors. The use of alarms and smart sensors are a subset of this method.

3. correction

Problem correction icon After identifying and detecting malicious actions, we will need to correct and restore! At this stage, the main goal will be to restore the security conditions to the previous state.

Security control assessment

Security control assessment is a mandatory step to identify vulnerable areas. To prevent security control measures from failing, you should pay special attention to this section. Security control evaluation includes three main parts: Security control success evaluation

1. Are security control procedures properly implemented?
2. Do these methods work as predicted?
3. Do these methods meet all security needs?

By answering these 3 questions and organizing the priorities, getting the right result is guaranteed!

last word

Do not underestimate the importance of information security! There were many businesses that were irreparably damaged in this way.

It may be trivial to you that others have access to your personal information or to administrative data on your work computers. But there is a possibility of misuse of this information and we understand this problem only when the work is over.