To run a successful business, you need to be aware of the risks that your company faces. Few of these risks are as potentially damaging as a cyberattack. Having a risk management strategy can help your company prepare for and avoid potential cyber risks. Two crucial parts of a complete risk management strategy are due care and due diligence.
What is the difference between due care and due diligence? In this blog, we’re going to explore what these terms mean in regards to cybersecurity. Additionally, we’re going to explain how due care and due diligence risk management protect your business.
What Is Due Care?
Due care and due diligence in information security are two sides of the same risk management coin. While their goal may be the same, there’s an important distinction between the two that you need to know. Due care refers to the habits, policies, and procedures you use to keep your organization out of trouble. Specifically, this philosophy focuses on the continued maintenance required to keep something in excellent shape or to meet a certain standard.
When you drive a car, you follow the speed limit and engage in safe behavior because it minimizes risks. By doing everything that’s expected of a responsible driver, you’re exercising due care. Some examples of due care in cybersecurity would include:
Monitoring and Protecting Your Network
You never know when a cyberthreat might present itself. The speed at which you identify and remove a threat can be the determining factor in how much damage was done by the intrusion. By actively monitoring your network, you’re more likely to catch suspicious activity before it can create problems. Monitoring is expected of a business that’s responsible with its cybersecurity.
Establishing a Security Policy
A cybersecurity policy is a document that outlines your best practices for keeping your organization safe. It can cover everything from known vulnerabilities to what to do after a cyberattack. A policy also details who is responsible for managing your security and how escalation works at your company. This is something that’s expected of any business that takes cybersecurity seriously.
Creating Data Backups
Another due care example would be regularly creating backups of your data. Whether it’s Word documents, financial files, or applications, backing up your digital assets can help you ensure business continuity in the event of an emergency. It’s proof that you are doing what’s needed to protect your information.
What Is Due Diligence?
Due diligence, on the other hand, is about taking necessary precautions in a given situation. For cybersecurity, this means investigating your third-party partners and supply chain and verifying their adherence to your cybersecurity measures. Your business can perform various procedures to detect and stop cyberthreats that third parties bring to your ecosystem.
Going back to the driving analogy, due diligence would be like having your brakes checked at an auto shop. You performed a procedure to ensure that if you get into a car crash, you will know the reason isn’t because your brakes failed. Here are a few cybersecurity examples of due diligence procedures:
Vendor Risk Management Policies
A vendor risk management policy is like an internal security policy, but it details security expectations for those new partners. In this type of document, you detail your decision-making process before choosing a vendor. This could include verification of their security measures and background checks.
Third-Party Monitoring
It’s important to understand that bringing on a provider can expose your company to new cybersecurity risks. However, third-parties deliver useful services that help your operations. To take advantage of the benefits of vendor solutions while staying secure, it’s necessary to monitor your providers. The type of information they collect, store, and process determines how intense the monitoring should be.
Security Audits
A security audit is a technical analysis of your IT environment’s security measures. It investigates your configurations, technologies, infrastructure, and other factors you use to reduce the risk of a data breach. A security audit proves you’re doing due diligence with your business practices and how you manage third-party relationships.
What Could Happen If You Don’t Use Due Care and Due Diligence?
Failure to use due care and due diligence could result in a loss of protection from the consequences of a cyberattack. These consequences can involve more than not being able to use your computer for a while. It could lead to problems such as:
- Reputational Damage: While the reputational cost of cyberattacks is not as quantifiable as financial loss, reputational damage can still harm your business. If it’s discovered that you failed to do your due diligence and due care, it could make your customers lose their trust in your organization.
- Legal Consequences: Data protection and privacy laws require your business to maintain the security of all personal data you hold for your customers and staff. If you can’t prove you did your due care and due diligence to protect this information, your business could face sanctions and lawsuits.
- Data Damage: Due care is meant to keep your network and data safe. If you don’t use due care, you could experience a cyberattack that damages or even erases your information.
Trust RCS To Do Both Due Diligence and Due Care
RCS Secure is an industry leading managed security services provider (MSSP). We specialize in helping businesses overcome their cybersecurity challenges. Our team is dedicated to delivering solutions you can rely on, that’s why we always use due care and due diligence in everything we do. Let us help you improve your cybersecurity with our comprehensive services.
Contact us today to learn more about how we keep you protected from cyberthreats.
