What To Learn from the U.S. Navy When It Comes To Cyber Defense

cyber defense

The threat of cyber warfare is more present than ever and every country in the world is taking different measures to improve online security and protect its institutions, as well as its citizens.

But a country’s cyber security is only as strong and as effective as its cyber defense.

The US Navy takes the aspect extremely seriously, making it a priority. Here are a few important lessons about protecting your network you can learn from the US Navy.

Having Updated Cyber Defense Policies in Place Is a Must

The US Navy is always working on its list of policies meant to defend its networks and operations. That’s because it’s crucial this institution has a flawless global communication system in place. Aside from being effective, it also needs to unfold in a perfectly secure environment.

cyber defense

In this day and age, though, the above elements are priorities any company needs to work out.

At its basics, implementing a cyber defense policy in your organization can be as manageable as a 4-step process:

  1. Devise the policy. To compile a strong policy which will have a real impact, consider doing a complete audit of your IT’s systems. This can help you gain a better understanding of what changes and improvements should be made.
  2. Inform ALL employees about said policy. Make sure it is being communicated clearly and that everyone understands its necessity and ways of implementation.
  3. Have a rewards system to compensate employees who follow policy.
  4. Sanction those who don’t. 

Don’t forget to be consistent with your efforts and continually reassess the security of your networks for best results.

Testing Vulnerability from the Inside Yields Significant Perks

The reality of things is it’s not unheard of for governmental institutions to hire professional hackers to put their cyber defense systems to the test. It’s a way for them to better protect themselves against a real threat.

The US Navy took this approach a bit differently and held a series of hackathons wherein potential recruits were asked to hack the naval security systems.

After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

But why would you consider allowing a hacker to break into your company’s systems?

Here are just some of the reasons increasingly more companies choose to employ hackers to hack their networks:

  • Test employees’ awareness level, skills and knowledge.
  • Find critical weaknesses within their networks, so that they can focus their efforts on solving the right issues.
  • Discover problems before malicious attackers do.

We get that hiring a hacker to find the cyber vulnerabilities of your systems might seem a bit extreme.

But this is not the only way to unveil those security flaws which might compromise your network.

As part of our 3-step process of helping clients build a strong network, we do a complete examination of their IT systems to let them know about the areas which require improvement.

This way, we make sure our customers understand what the weak points are and we can start working on addressing the issues as soon as possible.

cyber defense

Making Cyber Defense a Priority Is Essential

To keep up with the increasing cyber threats, the US Navy is currently running an updated 5-year cyber defense strategy.

To back it up, they’ve also developed a cyber security program called CYBERSAFE, aimed at protecting the security of critical processes.

Businesses should do the same. If you want to become increasingly proficient when it comes to managing your organization’s cyber operations, put security on top of your do-to list.

Once you’ve done that, get in touch with us as soon as possible.

We’ll help you keep critical business services up and running and make sure your organization’s IT systems are optimized for success.

Patrycja Thomas

Author: Patrycja Thomas

Fortune 500 sales and marketing veteran dedicated to helping small businesses change the world with technology.