Twitter Chat: How To Prepare For A Cyberattack

There's no way prevent a cyberattack. That horse left the barn a long time ago, when traditional perimeter security could no longer deter the bad guys who now merely go straight to the weakest link -- the end user.

But there are ways to prepare for a cyberattack. This seemingly fatalistic mindset is actually now considered a healthy and realistic way to look at your organization's risk of getting hacked. An obvious first step, of course, is embracing best practices, such as running updated and (fully) patched software; a layered, defense-in-depth architecture of security tools; and schooling end users on how to avoid falling for phishing or other attack lures. It's about mitigating and minimizing the damage: stopping the bad guys from sneaking out with data, for example.

And security also now encompasses incident response -- in the aftermath of an attack, what to do, who to contact, and how to report a breach publicly. That requires a written plan, tabletop exercises, executive-level buy-in, and more.

Join Dark Reading (@DarkReading) and GTEC (@GTEC) tomorrow, July 8, from 2-3pm EST, when we will drill down on this topic in a Twitter chat, "Is It Possible to Prepare for a Cyber Attack?" Bring any questions, comments, and experiences in the live online discussion. Please use the hashtag #GTECCHAT to participate in the chat.