Cybersecurity is a widely used term in the digital age, one the children of today learn almost instinctively as they are thrust into the wide open internet the moment they are born. Indeed, web 2.0 has connected us to the rest of the world while also teaching us to keep our data protected at all costs, as cyber threats are numerous. However, the recent times call for an understanding of both cyber resilience and cybersecurity.
While ‘cyber resilience’ as a term is not just that popular yet, it has significant implications for the online world too, as wel will learn in cyber resilience definition later on. How are cyber resilience and cybersecurity different though, and is one or the other more important? We tackle that debate in this article.
What makes cyber resilience so essential?
So, cyber resilience and cybersecurity. For cybersecurity, it is basically the protection of a system (be it hardware or software) and data from cyberthreats. Cybersecurity frameworks tell your systems how to prepare for and act against any attacks; so when you put things like firewalls and antivirus software into practice, you essentially protect your systems against unauthorized access.
What is cyber resilience, now? It is something that comes after. Going by cyber resilience definition, this is the extent of the ability of a certain system/organization to adapt and recover quickly after a security threat has happened. An organization equipped with solid cyber-resilient strategies can respond to and recover from a cyberthreat-related incident at the earliest, causing the least amount of disruptions when it comes to regular workflow.
The four primary factors that need to be blended to achieve a cyber resilient strategy include:
- Incident response
- Cybersecurity
- Business continuity
- Disaster recovery
So being cyber resilient is critical for an organization to back on track after a cyberthreat has hit it.
Cyber Resilience vs Cybersecurity
A proper comparison table is called for, if you want to understand cyber resilience vs cybersecurity in the most transparent manner. Here’s what you need to know:
| Cyber Resilience | Cybersecurity | |
| What is it? | In cyber resilience vs cybersecurity, the first is the ability of an organization to prepare for, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks, ensuring little to no disruption to business operations. | Cybersecurity is protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks and unauthorized access. |
| What does it aim to do? | Recovery after an attack has taken place, and minimize impact. | Prevention of a digital attack. |
| Timeframe | A long-term approach, keeping in mind a business’ ability to bounce back. | In cyber resilience vs cybersecurity, the latter works with just immediate response to a threat, and stopping/mitigating said issue. |
| Strategy and planning | Proactive planning is part of the former in the cyber resilience vs cybersecurity, requires adaptability. | Usually reactive, made to deal with specific issues. |
| Examples | Your old buddies: regular backups, incident response planning, employee training, and ongoing improvement processes. No super instant savior here, instead continuous focused work. | You can choose fancy stuff from well-known brands here: antivirus software, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems. |
Hope this makes the differences of cyber resilience and cybersecurity easy to understand.
Why can cyber resilience be more important than cybersecurity?
It’s difficult to make an argument about one being more important than the other, as both cybersecurity measures and cyber resilience strategies combine to ensure robust protection for an organization.
Among cyber resilience and cybersecurity, while cybersecurity is a preventive measure, cyber resilience is all about recovering and adapting in case incidents occur, as we know. It can be said that an organization could have some strong cybersecurity measures in place, but it would all be in vain without cyber resilience plans to manage and mitigate the aftereffects of an attack.
However, still instead of picking one over the other, the most ideal approach is to bring a holistic strategy to mix up cybersecurity and cyber resilience.
What’s the best way to create a powerful cyber resilience strategy?
Building a robust cyber resilience strategy will require you to account for the following:
- Identify potential vulnerabilities in your existing systems and networks
- Test your systems against threats regularly, so you can identify and remove any gaps in your security measures
- Incorporate real-time monitoring to detect threats for your network and systems
- Regularly back up your data so it can be recovered in case of a cyber threat
- Encryption measures can be brought in to safeguard your data
- Come up with strategies for incident detection, containment, and recovery
- Stay updated about any new threats and solutions, and keep reforming your cyber resilience strategies
How do cybersecurity and cyber resilience complement each other?
An organization needs both cybersecurity and resilience to keep the business running in an online world fraught with cyber crimes. Both strategies should be deployed in correlation to each other, and they should be regularly revisited and updated to keep up with the times.
What’s the most common misconception about cyber resilience?
The most common misconception would be that cyber resilience and cybersecurity are the same thing. However, here’s how you can quickly distinguish between the two: the former is a preventive measure, while the latter is for rapid damage control.
The takeaway
Ultimately, the goal of cyber resilience and cybersecurity combined is to create a secure environment that puts maximum efforts into preventing cyber attacks, and also bounces back quickly after dealing with a cyber threat. Neither of cybersecurity and resilience is more important than the other, and implementing them as a set is the best usage.
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