Most Powerful Habits of CyberSecurity Professionals

Most Powerful Habits of CyberSecurity Professionals

Our ability to improve is largely determined by our habits. Our habits influence the way we respond to any given situation, and ultimately they define how efficient we can become. When it comes to Cyber Security there are so many different fields and tools you can use. But no matter what track you take for Cyber Security these habits will help you be more effective in your Cyber Security roles. Are you ready to take on these professional habits to progress your career?

Be Proactive

Every minute spent reactively waiting around for better things to happen for you or doing just enough of what has always been done provides an advantage to your attackers. You need to be continually reviewing what is happening around us and proactively make necessary adjustments and improvements accordingly. Don’t get caught up in the threats, vulnerabilities, incidents, regulations, negative press, misinformation, blockers, and budgetary/resource constraints. Be sure to spend time in the areas the you can positively affect and change. Bonus suggestion: Practice good password habits, have each password unique for each device or account!

Have the End in Mind when you Begin

We must know what the end goal should be and start with a clear destination in mind. If you are just randomly acting and hoping for the best you will be disappointed. Instead make a strong plan with a clear destination in mind. When you can take a step back and make your plan with the end game in mind you can then go for it at full speed. Bonus security suggestion: always keep your computers and other devices, including IoT devices, up to date with the latest updates and patches.

Prioritize your Priorities

Don’t let the frantic and noisy world of IT security distract you. You need to be careful and disciplined to not let alerts, issues and conflicting demands pull you off track. Create a chart in order to differentiate between important and urgent activities. Figure out the Urgent and important (Do), Not urgent but important (Plan), Urgent but not important (Delegate), and Not urgent and not important (Eliminate). As you work though your plan or to-do list compare it to your chart for determining between important and urgent activities. Bonus security suggestion: get into the habit of keeping up to date with the latest cybersecurity fraudster tricks.

Have a Win-Win Mindset

Security practitioners at all levels need the strength of conviction to diplomatically ensure the best possible outcome of any such scenario. Cyber security is constantly changing with difficult situations that can leave you feeling like you need to take a zero-sum approach. Instead of thinking I win, you lose or you win, I lose trying to take the Win-Win approach. Once you are able to take this leap into a win-win outcome it will be mutually beneficial to both parties. Don’t view it as a compromise but a way to deliver essential security controls. You will learn to work together instead of undermine or circumvent. This team approach will open doors to greater success! Bonus security suggestion: Only download mobile apps from known app stores.

Understand the Team Goal 

Don’t let the nonsense being spoken about Cyber Security stop you from setting up a plan and approach to get the right information and message across. Active listening is very important for the success of your team. You need to be able to listen more openly to what your team has to say. You need to understand and then try to be understood. Bonus security suggestion: Keep secure backups of your files.

Team Work Makes the Dream Work 

Positive teamwork allows you to achieve goals that no one could have individually achieved in isolation. This can apply to people on your team not in Cyber Security as well. This will also help with synergy between different layers and level os of technical security solutions to provide an effective whole. When your team works in isolation there will be gaps that may expose serious exposure to attack or your team to be vulnerable. Know the strengths and shortcomings of the solutions you have available and how best to complement them. Bonus security suggestion: Use multi-factor authentication, if available. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a more secure method of authorizing access.

Use the Correct Tool for the Job at Hand 

It is important to devote time to refresh and renew ourselves physically, mentally, socially and spiritually. In Cyber Security we will all do whatever it takes, whenever we can, in the event of a critical alert or genuine emergency, continually putting in unsustainable hours incurs damaging mental, as well as physical, effects on individuals. We need to take a step back and figure out our goals and make sure we are taking a team approach with the best tools. Bonus security suggestion: Know your network! If you don’t know it, don’t use it because it could be unsecured and run vulnerable software that can be exploited by hackers and provide a direct pathway into an internal network.

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