From threat to triumph: harnessing the power of Australia’s Essential 8

Introduction: In today’s digital landscape, businesses are facing a massive number of cyber threats. To combat these cyber threats, Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) developed a comprehensive framework known as Essential 8, published in 2017. This framework outlines a set of strategies that an organisation can implement to strengthen its cyber-security and protect against a range of malicious activities. It has also introduced 4 additional strategies to establish the eight controls that aim to protect Australian businesses from cyber-attacks. There are three main objectives of these eight security controls:

1. Prevent cyber attacks
2. Limit the attack impact
3. And data availability 
 
In this blog, we will highlight the power of Essential 8 securities and how they can protect businesses from cyber threats: 
 
• Understanding the Essential 8: It refers to the eight categories created to lessen the effects of cyber-security attacks, stop malware, and enhance an organisation's capacity to recover from an attack. 
 
• Following are among the Essential 8 Securities:
1. Application whitelisting
2. Application patching
3. Restrict administrative privileges
4. Multi-factor authentication
5. Configuration of Microsoft Office macro settings
6. Regular backups
7. Using application hardening
8. Patch operating system 
 
• Strengthening resilience with Application whitelisting: By implementing this core strategy, you will reduce the risk of malware and other cyber security attacks in the business. 
 
• Patch management for a robust defense: Keeping the operating system up to date is important for maintaining a secure environment. Essential 8 emphasises the importance of timely patch management. It will help the organisation to prevent cyber-attacks that exploit vulnerabilities in the operating system.  
 
• Restricting administrative privileges: This strategy will provide privileges to only those who need them and revoke permissions to those who don’t, as this will help to prevent unauthorised access and malware threats to accessing the operating system. It limits the impact of potential breaches.  
 
• Monitoring and responding to incidents: Effective incident response is an important component of any cyber security strategy. The Essential 8 encourages businesses to implement robust monitoring capabilities to detect and respond to security incidents promptly. By establishing incident response plans, businesses can decrease threats to their system. 
 
The fact that it was created with the Microsoft operating system in mind means that it may not always apply to various organisations, particularly those using the MacOS (Apple Operating System) and Chrome OS (used for Google Chromebooks) in particular Chrome OS as many of these security features already in place so the essential 8 is reduced from 8 strategies to only 4.
 
Additionally, the Australian Essential 8 is designed with the idea that your gadgets would be linked to the internet, therefore stand-alone networks are not taken into account. As cyber threats are rising these days, many organisations lack the knowledge and skills which are necessary to reduce cyber risks. To address this, the online website Onsite Helper offers a thorough, completely managed service that safeguards and certifies your company, reduces your risks, encourages client loyalty, and attracts customers. Please feel free to contact Onsite Helper and speak to their experts to learn more about how you can protect your business.