Safeguarding your organisation against cyber security threats is not just a priority for you, it’s also a priority for the Australian government. The Australian Cyber Security Centre has created an eight-point framework, called Essential Eight, to help businesses like EOS IT support your efforts. We use this framework to assess your organisation’s cyber security position & ensure as many risks are mitigated as possible.
WHAT IS ESSENTIAL EIGHT?
Essential eight is a cyber security framework recommended by the ACSC, designed to to identify, mitigate and deter cyber attacks. While no set of mitigation strategies are guaranteed to protect against all cyber threats, organisations are recommended to implement eight essential mitigation strategies from the ACSC’s Strategies to Mitigate Cyber Security Incidents as a baseline. This baseline, known as the Essential Eight, makes it much harder for adversaries to compromise systems.
The mitigation strategies that constitute the Essential Eight are: application control, patch applications, configure Microsoft Office macro settings, user application hardening, restrict administrative privileges, patch operating systems, multi-factor authentication and regular backups.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF ESSENTIAL EIGHT?
Implementing the Essential Eight proactively can be more cost-effective in terms of time, money and effort than having to respond to a large-scale cyber security incident. While there are a multitude of additional benefits, including cost reduction, heightened data security, increase in control over resources, standardisation of multi-factor authentication (used by 57% of all global enterprises) – the biggest benefit will always be avoiding the ultimately devastating cost of a successful cyber attack.
IS THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT MANDATORY?
The federal government mandates the Essential Eight framework for all 98 non-corporate Commonwealth entities (NCCEs). However, it is recommended for all organisations to assess their cyber security effectiveness by the Essential Eight framework. According to the ACSC Annual Cyber Threat Report 2022, there was a rise in the average cost per cyber crime report to over $39,000 for small businesses, $88,000 for medium businesses, and over $62,000 for large businesses – an average increase of 14%. This staggering result shows just how important it is to address your organisation’s cyber security.
Here’s a quick resource: 4 Ways to Protect Your Business from Ransomware
GET AN ESSENTIAL EIGHT ASSESSMENT
Contact us today for a professional review to assess your organisation’s cyber security position and ensure Essential Eight compliance.
