Stay Ahead of the Cybersecurity Threat Landscape

3 minute read

February 2021

by Sophia Corsetti

Understanding today’s ever-evolving cybersecurity threat landscape is essential for developing strategies and taking action to keep your organization, assets and customers safe and secure. However, with new threats emerging from every direction, it can be challenging to identify, manage and defend against them on an ongoing basis. That’s why cybersecurity threat management is an important component of any successful enterprise-wide cybersecurity program.

Just think about the events of the past few years: Climate change is driving more extreme weather events — from hurricanes and floods to tornadoes and wildfires. Civil and political unrest is on the rise around the globe. And, on the digital front, hacking and other cybersecurity crimes continue to skyrocket, with recent breaches at SolarWinds, Twitter, Zoom and Magellan Health (just to name a few) highlighting the need for vigilance.

Increased digital dependency during the COVID-19 pandemic has further fueled the need for effective cybersecurity threat management. During the first few months of the outbreak alone, the FBI saw cybercrime reports increase fourfold[1] and 71% of security professionals reported a rise in security threats or attacks.[2] In this dynamic environment, staying one step ahead of threats — and potential vulnerabilities — is more important than ever.

Stop Managing Cybersecurity Threats in a Silo

ProcessUnity can help you improve cybersecurity threat management with our comprehensive, centralized Cybersecurity Program Management (CPM) platform. At the heart of the solution is a pre-built meta-model based on the Secure Controls Framework (SCF) mapped to the most common security frameworks, including NIST, NIST 800-53 and ISO 27002.

With ProcessUnity CPM, cybersecurity threat management no longer takes place in a silo. Our meta-model inextricably links the threats, risks, policies and controls associated with your high-value assets and third parties. That way, you get a cohesive, accurate view of control effectiveness along with the evidence to back it up. You always have up-to-date insight into your cyber threat posture and its potential impact, enabling you to identify gaps and prioritize projects to improve control coverage.

Identifying and Assessing Threats in Your Cybersecurity Landscape

As part of the program scoping process, ProcessUnity CPM lets you identify relevant enterprise-level threats from those included in the SCF threat catalog — all of which are linked back to controls. All you have to do is select which threats are applicable, assign owners and specify the frequency with which you’d like to evaluate them.

ProcessUnity CPM leverages automated workflows to send pre-packaged threat reviews to the assigned owners at your specified cadence, typically monthly or every other month. The owner reviews the threat status, identifies potential sources and outstanding issues, and rates the current threat level — Low, Guarded, Elevated, High or Severe. Because threats are linked to risks, policies, assets and control standards, you’re able to fully understand their potential impact on the organization, and based on your threat tolerance, take action to minimize your exposure.

Tracking and Reporting on Your Cybersecurity Threat Landscape

CISOs have more cross-functional influence than ever before, but with greater influence comes heightened responsibility. As cyber attacks and data breaches continue to make headlines, you need to be ready to report on your cyber posture at any given moment. ProcessUnity CPM’s interactive dashboards offer real-time visibility into threats, with the ability to drill down into details as needed.

ProcessUnity Cybersecurity Program Management - current threat posture dashboard

ProcessUnity CPM dashboard provides immediate insight into threat levels over time, allowing you to identify patterns and trends that may influence your cybersecurity strategy moving forward.

ProcessUnity Cybersecurity Program Management - threat level dashboard

 

A Single, Centralized Platform Offers Key Insights to Your Cybersecurity Threat Landscape

Cybersecurity threat management is an important component of any successful cybersecurity program. ProcessUnity CPM enables you to measure, report on and react to threats, risks, policies and control standards for key assets and third parties — all in one platform. As a result, you gain complete, real-time visibility into your enterprise-wide cybersecurity preparedness.

For more information, visit the ProcessUnity Cybersecurity Program Management website.


[1] Rachel England, FBI Sees Cybercrime Reports Increase Fourfold During COVID-19 Outbreak, Entrepreneur (April 20, 2020), found at https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/349509,

[2] Dark Reading Staff, 71% of Security Pros See Threats Jump Since COVID-19 Outbreak, Dark Reading (April 7, 2020), found at https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities—threats/71–of-security-pros-see-threats-jump-since-covid-19-outbreak/d/d-id/1337498.

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About Us

ProcessUnity is a leading provider of cloud-based applications for risk and compliance management. The company’s software as a service (SaaS) platform gives organizations the control to assess, measure, and mitigate risk and to ensure the optimal performance of key business processes. ProcessUnity’s flagship solution, ProcessUnity Vendor Risk Management, protects companies and their brands by reducing risks from third-party vendors and suppliers. ProcessUnity helps customers effectively and efficiently assess and monitor both new and existing vendors – from initial due diligence and onboarding through termination. Headquartered outside of Boston, Massachusetts, ProcessUnity is used by the world’s leading financial service firms and commercial enterprises. For more information, visit www.processunity.com.