Penknives and Cyber Risk Assessment

Keen campers, scouts and even the Swiss Army know – that a good penknife is indispensable.

This simple device has mitigated many a disaster at one point in time or another. Whether it’s to cut through a bit of string, tighten a screw or simply to solve the problem of no bottle opener in the mini-bar – this is a multi-purpose tool that can fix just about anything.

The multiple purposes of a multi-purpose tool

The advantage of a penknife, aside from the fact that it folds up for safe storage, is that it’s like having a small “tool box” in your pocket. You can reach for one device to very effectively solve a multiplicity of problems.

The main benefits are that it is easy to use and highly adaptable with each blade designed to control and quickly mitigate a particular issue – whether it’s manicuring a nail or removing a fish-hook. Farmers, adventurers and even international frequent flyers won’t leave home without one

SmartCheck – the cyber security penknife

These wistful reflections of outdoor and even urban survival with a penknife remind me that Huntsman Security’s SmartCheck technology too, as a multi-purpose security tool, can assist with a surprising number of cyber security issues. From the consultancy community that is seeking to provide relevant mitigation advice to enterprise executives worried about their readiness for a cyber attack (which right now is every executive).

Multi-functional

Just the term “Swiss Army knife” conjures up thoughts of reliability, versatility, practicality and function. SmartCheck, delivers the same multi-purpose authenticity and dependability when it comes to staying on top of your cyber security controls. One tool, multiple uses.

SmartCheck verifies 12 different controls spread across the ransomware/cyber-attack kill chain (prevention, containment and recovery) – giving detailed status reports and clear visibility of any weaknesses of a control, plus clear performance measures of each of the three phases and an overall aggregate KPI display.

If you want to whittle a tent peg, remove a splinter and then have a beer (these activities could be linked) you need a penknife.  If you want to check OS and application patching, verify Active Directory policy settings for application and macro controls, and then verify administrative account settings you need SmartCheck. Better, than the penknife, it can perform each task in parallel!

Portable

The penknife is the ultimate portable tool or gadget.  

The “go-anywhere” security assessment tool

SmartCheck is a compact, user-driven application too, that can be installed on a laptop and taken to site by a consultant or installed on an enterprise system by an in-house security manager. It can even be used to gather information about the security status of a third-party supplier. The data collected can be analysed for reporting locally or sent back for central analysis from anywhere in the world.

In short, it can be easily taken to where the data is, where the user is, or where the report needs to be.  Whichever is easiest; it’s absolutely portable.

Versatility

A penknife is a useful gadget whatever you are doing and wherever – it is a highly versatile solution to many everyday problems. SmartCheck is similarly versatile with its ability to identify potential security vulnerabilities and inform their mitigation.

SmartCheck provides similar flexibility.

Let’s look at some examples of where SmartCheck’s versatility is so important:

• If you are a senior manager, director or head of audit or compliance, SmartCheck will generate a high-level report and dashboard showing the level of overall security control effectiveness (or conversely, the residual risk) and assist in maintaining the security posture of your systems.
• If your job is technical system administration and you want a list of servers that are missing a particular patch, a list of patches missing from a particular server, or to know which administrative accounts need their settings updated, then it identifies the vulnerable machines for you.
• If you are a consultant needing to perform a security assessment of an organisation as part of a chargeable project it will enable you to quickly deliver that outcome.
• If you work in procurement and you need a way to quickly assess the cyber posture of your suppliers, without the disruption that an audit brings, you can remotely assess the state of their security controls and any residual security risks they might add to your existing supply chain arrangements.

Quality

Lastly, the “Swiss Army knife” name and brand carry a lot of weight. Yes, there are other brands of penknives, but none are as prestigious as a Swiss Army knife – it embodies trust, reliability and quality.

SmartCheck has defence pedigree

Likewise, Huntsman Security has been providing customer security monitoring, automation, analytic and risk/control measurement solutions to defence, government, criminal justice, enterprises and managed security service providers for over 20 years.  These are organisations where security really matters, where knowing the state of your defences is important because the consequences of a security failure can be serious.  For these types of organisations, quality and reliability matter.

In addition, the controls that SmartCheck measures and reports against include ACSC Essential 8 framework, the NCSC ransomware risk mitigation guidance and NISTs advice on ransomware defence in IR 8374.

So, with a trusty Swiss Army knife or Huntsman Security’s SmartCheck, you can be sure you are well prepared to mitigate almost every risk.

Contact us to arrange a quick demo or to find out more