An Introduction to Essential 8 and Its Maturity Levels

Author: Onsite Helper

In recent years, there has been a significant rise in cyber threat incidents not only in Australia but all over the world. Businesses need to be equipped with strategies and tools to prevent such threats as they can put their sensitive data in the wrong hands. The need for better security measures has also become more evident because cybercriminals are targeting both large enterprises and SMBs (Small and Midsize Businesses) for different purposes.

To counter such threats, the ASD (Australian Signals Directorate) has formulated the prioritised mitigation strategies, out of which Essential 8 has emerged to be the most effective for all types of businesses. If you own a business and work on internet-connected information technology networks, you should consider implementing Essential 8 to give a boost to your organization’s security.

Essential 8: A Brief Introduction

The Australian Cyber Security Centre developed the Essential 8 in 2017 as a series of mitigation strategies that could provide sufficient protection to Australian businesses. The following recommendations are a part of Essential 8.

  • Patch applications
  • Patch operating systems
  • Multi-factor authentication
  • Restrict administrative privileges
  • Application control
  • Restrict Microsoft Office macros
  • User application hardening
  • Regular backups

Essential 8 Melbourne proves to be a good investment which yields benefits for a long time. Further, they’re superior to other strategies that plan to respond to a cyber-security incident after it has happened, proving to be expensive and often ineffective.

Essential 8 Maturity Model: Important Things to Know

Organisations can leverage the Essential 8 Maturity Model (E8MM) to understand their current security level and implement the Essential 8 Victoria, Australia in an effective manner. The maturity levels consist of 4 levels ranging from 0-3. Let us take a look at what these maturity levels mean for an organisation’s security.

Maturity Level 0: The first level indicates that the organisation’s cyber security is questionable as the organisation’s network can be easily hacked.

Maturity Level 1: At this level, an organisation will have a basic level of cyber security that equips it against common methods of cyber-attacks. However, this level of security is still inept in dealing with cyber criminals who use advanced tools and techniques to bypass security systems.

Maturity Level 2: This level of security can protect your organisation against stronger cyber-attacking methods. Large organisations that face targeted and planned attacks would require a security of Maturity level 2 or above.

Maturity Level 3: This security standard is required by enterprises that are likely to be targeted by highly skilled hackers. These hackers don’t rely on open-source technologies and are experts in exploiting gaps in the cyber security infrastructure of business organisations. Additionally, these skilled individuals would be committed to the task, and willing to spend a significant amount of time to create a security breach. The highest level of security is a prerequisite to prevent such hackers from causing problems.

About Onsite Helper

It's never too late to upgrade your business’s cyber security. If you don’t know where to start, you can rely on Onsite Helper for a free Essential 8 review that will show if your business is compliant with the rules. Onsite Helper is a one-stop solution for all your IT security support needs. They offer economical, efficient and protected IT security support to every business, big and small. Visit the website to know more!