Before we go ahead and look at the Essential 8, there are just 4 simple changes that you can make in your IT strategy that can mitigate 85% of security risks.
They are the “Top 4 Strategies to Mitigate Targeted Cyber Intrusions” as initially recommended by the Australian Government’s Australian Signals Directorate (ASD).
- Whitelist applications
- Patch applications
- Patch Operating systems
- Minimise administrative privileges
At Baw Baw IT, as soon as we bring computers under management, we quickly, easily and transparently implement 3 of these recommendations. Application whitelisting needs a bit more consultation and planning, but for most businesses it’s not too complicated.
Since the publication of the “4 mitigations” above, the ASD expanded the list to become the “Essential 8”.
To the 4 recommendations above they added:
- Configure Microsoft Office macro settings
- User application hardening
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- Daily data backup
No business should be without a reliable, monitored, regularly tested backup strategy, which suits their recovery point and recovery time constraints.
The use of multi-factor authentication blocks a large proportion of attack vectors and is now an absolute must.
Every organisation’s usability requirements are different but the majority of the Essential Eight can be implemented without significant disruption or cost. Working with the organisation’s individual requirements, we take planned steps towards implementing all the recommendations.
Baw Baw IT has a standardised implementation of the Essential 8. We combine enterprise-grade endpoint antivirus, perimeter security and suitable user awareness training. As a result, we can virtually eliminate the risk of a costly cybersecurity incident.
Contact Baw Baw IT today for a free, no obligation Essential 8 assessment.
See www.cyber.gov.au for more info about the Essential 8.
