#essential 8

[article1111]

The Benefits of Implementing the ASD Essential 8 Framework for Small to Midsize Businesses

In an era when cybersecurity threats are becoming more frequent and sophisticated, small to midsize businesses (SMBs) must prioritize robust cybersecurity measures. One effective strategy is adopting the Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD) Essential 8 framework. In this article Cybra Security explores the benefits of implementing this framework for SMBs, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of its importance and practicality.

Understanding the ASD Essential 8

The ASD Essential 8 is a set of cybersecurity mitigation strategies provided by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) designed to protect organisations from various cyber threats. Originally developed to guide government agencies and large enterprises in safeguarding sensitive and high-value data, the framework is equally beneficial for SMBs. The Essential 8 focuses on three key areas: preventing malware delivery and execution, limiting the extent of cyber incidents, and recovering data and system availability. The eight strategies are:

· Application Control

· Patch Applications

· Configure Microsoft Office Macro Settings

· User Application Hardening

· Restrict Administrative Privileges

· Patch Operating Systems

· Multi-factor Authentication

· Daily Backup of Important Data

Each of these strategies plays a crucial role in creating a layered defence against cyber threats.

Benefits of Implementing the Essential 8

1. Enhanced Cybersecurity Posture

The primary benefit of implementing Essential 8 is a significantly enhanced cybersecurity posture. By adopting these strategies, SMBs can protect themselves against a wide range of cyber attacks, including malware, ransomware, and phishing attacks. Application control and patching software, for instance, directly reduce the risk of malicious software infiltrating the system.

2. Cost-Effective Security Solution

For SMBs, budget constraints are often a significant challenge. The Essential 8 offers a cost-effective approach to cybersecurity. Many of the strategies involve configuration changes and administrative controls that do not require substantial financial investment. This cost efficiency makes the framework accessible for SMBs that might not have the resources for more expensive, comprehensive cybersecurity systems.

3. Reduced Risk of Data Breaches

Data breaches can be particularly devastating for SMBs, potentially leading to significant financial losses and damage to reputation. Implementing Essential 8 can mitigate this risk by providing robust protections against unauthorised access to sensitive information. Strategies such as restricting administrative privileges and multi-factor authentication are critical in securing access points and reducing the chances of breaches.

4. Compliance and Customer Trust

Many industries have regulatory requirements regarding data security and privacy. Implementing Essential 8 can help SMBs comply with these regulations, avoiding penalties and legal issues. Additionally, a strong cybersecurity stance builds customer trust. Customers are more likely to engage with businesses they believe are taking proactive steps to protect their data.

5. Simplified Incident Management

The Essential 8 framework not only helps in preventing security incidents but also simplifies managing them when they occur. Strategies like daily backups of important data ensure that businesses can quickly recover from data loss incidents, minimising downtime and operational disruption. This ability to efficiently manage and recover from incidents is invaluable for maintaining business continuity.

6. Scalability

As businesses grow, their cybersecurity needs evolve. The Essential 8 framework is scalable, allowing SMBs to adapt their security measures as they expand. This scalability ensures that businesses can continue to protect themselves effectively without overhauling their entire cybersecurity infrastructure as they grow.

7. Increased Awareness and Skill

Implementing Essential 8 requires businesses to engage with cybersecurity practices actively, increasing awareness and skill among staff. This education is beneficial beyond complying with the framework — it cultivates a culture of security within the organisation, making employees better equipped to handle potential threats.

8. Protection Against Evolving Threats

Cyber threats are continuously evolving, and so too are the tactics to combat them. The Essential 8 framework is regularly updated by the ACSC to reflect the latest in threat intelligence and mitigation techniques. By following this framework, SMBs ensure they are protected against both current and emerging cyber threats.

Conclusion

For small to midsize businesses, the ASD Essential 8 provides a structured and effective approach to cybersecurity. Its benefits — ranging from enhanced protection and cost efficiency to compliance and improved incident management — make it an attractive choice for SMBs aiming to safeguard their operations from cyber threats. In implementing the Essential 8, SMBs not only secure their immediate digital environment but also invest in the long-term resilience and reliability of their business. Therefore, embracing this framework is not merely about preventing cyber incidents; it’s about ensuring sustainable business growth and building lasting trust with customers.

[wesecurecyber]

The Cost of Ignoring Cyber Security: A Wake-Up Call

In today's digital age, the importance of cyber security cannot be overstated. With the increasing reliance on technology, the risks and threats associated with cyber attacks have become more sophisticated and prevalent than ever before. Ignoring cyber security can have serious consequences, not only for individuals but also for businesses and governments.

The first cost of ignoring cyber security is the risk of data breaches. Cyber attacks can result in the loss of confidential information, such as personal and financial data, trade secrets, and intellectual property. This can lead to financial loss, reputational damage, and even legal liabilities.

Another cost is the impact on productivity. Cyber attacks can disrupt business operations and cause downtime, leading to lost productivity and revenue. In addition, businesses may need to invest in new technology and resources to recover from a cyber attack, further increasing the costs.

Moreover, the cost of ignoring cyber security extends beyond businesses to individuals. Personal data breaches can result in identity theft, financial fraud, and other forms of cybercrime. Victims may face financial loss, damage to their credit score, and reputational damage.

The most significant cost, however, is the threat to national security. Governments and critical infrastructure are prime targets for cyber attacks, and the consequences of a successful attack can be devastating. Cyber audits on power grids, financial systems, and healthcare facilities can disrupt essential services, endangering lives and national security.

In conclusion, the cost of ignoring cyber security is too high to be ignored. Investing in cyber security measures, such as strong passwords, two-factor authentication, and regular software updates, can help prevent cyber attacks and reduce the risk of data breaches. It is essential to stay informed about the latest threats and take proactive measures to protect our digital assets. Let this be a wake-up call to prioritize cyber security, not just for ourselves but for the safety and security of our society as a whole

[taffywabbit]

"why not just make your own website?"

with the announcement of cohost's death and amidst all the other tumultuous shit currently going on with social media as a concept (i am AMAZED twitter has survived this long given the circumstances), one suggestion that i've been hearing a lot is "we should just go back to the good old days of personal websites. let's all just make neocities pages!!"

(this is gonna be a long one sorry)

and like. idk! it's certainly something i've considered, i think it would be a fun thing to have, but it also feels like the equivalent of "capitalism sucks so let's all just run off into the woods and live in a cabin outside of society" to me. like it would be nice, it would be fun, but it doesn't ultimately solve the actual problems that are present with the modern internet, it just evades them. more importantly in my case and many others, it does not really help people who rely on the modern internet and the connections they're able to make there for their income. sure i can make a website and host my art and blog posts there, but who's going to see it? i can't build a consistent audience and make a living off of random passersby who peek at my website once, say "huh, neat!" and MAYBE add it to an RSS feed or whatever if they really like it. there's minimal potential for meeting and impressing new people outside my existing circles if i don't ALSO still have some manner of social media platform to promote the website on.

a lot of the "solutions" i see people proposing for the slow, painful decline of social media as a user experience keep coming back to old-fashioned, more isolated/insular systems. we miss forums, we miss personal webpages, we miss newsletters, etc etc. but like... those things were ideal in the "old web" because the old web was more about sharing hobbies and interests with whoever happened to pass by and check them out, and even just USING the internet was a niche hobby in and of itself for a lot of people. if you wanna be kinda cynical about it (and not unjustifiably so), web 2.0 is much more blatantly business-oriented, and its algorithms and carefully crafted UX's are primarily meant to funnel you towards viewing ads and spending money on products. looking at it that way, it sure does suck and Everything Was Better Before! but the modern web is ALSO more powerful than anything before it for just like. connecting people. spreading information and news. showing your art/music/writing/thoughts/etc to strangers who never knew you existed an hour ago. putting the tools to reach out to someone and tell them you think they're cool right there on the same website where their art is hosted, just a comment or a message away.

if you're able to avoid patterns of engagement-bait and obsessing over follower counts as a measure of self-worth (a big "if", i realize, but i view it like installing an adblocker - it's just kind of a basic prerequisite for modern internet safety and survival), a lot of these systems can genuinely be really positive and life-changing in ways that were simply not possible 20 years ago! almost all of my current closest friends are people I met through sharing our art on platforms like Twitter who were complete strangers at the time. all of the art clients that regularly pay my bills and support my work came from places like that too! the "social" part of "social media" is really what makes it ultimately worth keeping around in any form, and makes the pursuit of a Good social media platform still valuable.

there's a lot to love about the old web - its aesthetics, simplicity and freedom for personal expression - but every time someone says "just delete your socials and make a personal website" i am forced to confront the fact that i could never do what i currently do or be the person i am on the old web. if i was stuck hanging out in my own little space and only ever interacting with people who openly and loudly share my interests, i couldn't support myself with art full-time, i probably would never have met the kind and quiet strangers who are now my best friends and have made me who i am, and i'd just generally get a lot less insight into the vast range of experiences and perspectives that exist outside of my own. my life would be on a fundamentally different trajectory in countless ways without the advent of web 2.0.

and that's not to say "well twitter and facebook and tumblr all suck but you kinda still have to hand it to them" cuz you don't, obviously. they're corporations, and their job is to take the personalities and thoughts and art of the people who use their products and try to scrunch it all into something uninform and marketable that generates profit and pleases their shareholders. but like, you CAN still make a good thing out of them! these websites are tools just as much as geocities or myspace or IRC used to be. and the one thing these newer tools are pretty much all REALLY good at is discoverability. if you're just a hobbyist at the things you wanna share on the internet, then you likely don't have a lot of use for those tools, and perhaps you WOULD genuinely be happier just keeping a personal blog site or hanging out in private groupchats or sticking to specialized federated Mastodon instances or whatever. it just isn't feasible for me, and there are a LOT of people in my same situation. my entire industry of online freelance artists barely existed 20 years ago, and the web culture of that era is largely incompatible with my continued survival in the mid-2020s. i would LOVE to run off and live in the woods in concept, but all my survival skills are adapted for city living and i would just eat the wrong berry and die out there. i want- i NEED people to try and improve the spaces we're in, and support better forms of social media (like what cohost was trying and largely succeeding to do!) instead of just complaining that it all sucks, everything was better when we were kids, and digging ourselves little holes to hide in. much like all the other problems and frustrations and systemic issues of the world we live in, the modern web isn't going to go away if you just ignore it, so we may as well try to make it better for everyone.

anyways tl;dr i probably WILL make a neocities at some point. it could be fun, even if it doesn't help my career stability or whatever. but i do also need ALL THE SOCIAL PLATFORMS I USE FOR MY JOB TO STOP EXPLODING PRETTY PLEASE, and failing that, some actual half-decent alternatives that aren't going to fizzle out in a month would also be great thanks ✌

[columboscreens]

[nightfal1n]

Two kids when dealing with getting wholehearted compliment from daddy-like figure for the first time in their life (probably)

[moonshynecybin]

Breaking my silence:

It will never not make me sad that Marc has little to no friends in the paddock like not even the Espargaros who he has known since forever

i DO agree but i also think its wildly funny. anybody remember NO TIENE AMIGOS ? loneliest little girl at the school dance.... ends up yapping at enea because hes never met a social cue he couldnt ignore.... always friendly but never WITH a friend thats not his brother because racing comes first.... a mixture of clumsy self protection (making friends has backfired before to be FAIR !), his boogeyman ass reputation, his child protege status, and a genuinely somewhat offputting intenseness to his personality alllll conspiring against himmmmm.... good character detail to be fair. its lonely at the top !

[liridus]

Uzi Doorman is so important to me, because she's for the weird kids in school. In a world where I think a lot of cringe is shamed, it's so special that Murder Drones has a finale battle set to nightcore, a kid just being her weird self with her strange friends and saving the entire world. A part of me thinks she's OP because she's, as she says "a damaged OC"; and while not always narratively super sound, I think there's a lot of power in that

[icewindandboringhorror]

What would you choose? :0c

(note: original image is from HERE (link) - but I edited it to add a wider variety of options.. also added $3 extra to the total, even though I know that makes it more uneven lol, I thought if you're adding 10 whole extra items, the money to spend should at least be increased slightly, if that makes sense..)

[tubapun]

THREAD BREAKING DOWN MONSTER TYPES FROM MY SCOOBY-DOO MONSTER SPREADSHEET

Aliens: 57.14% of all 7 Instances are Real. Most common motive was a tie between Kidnapping and World Domination.

Monsters that are Extraterrestrial in nature!! Notable instances include the Spooky Space Kook and Star Creature listed above. They have a fairly wide range of looks, though the real ones are of the little green men variety. The book actually lists the Future Monster in the same category, but I opted to not include that one as it wasnt from a different planet so much as a different time.

Animals: 22.22% of all 9 Instances are Real. Most Common Motive was Espionage.

Just animals, more sapient or monstrous than usual, but without humanoid traits, or ones that make them resemble other more common monster categories. These tend to be in the Scrappy era for some reason, and Apes are the most common sort of animal to show up, making up 1/3 of instances.

Anthro Animals: 12.5% of all 8 Instances are Real. Most Common Motive was High Value Object Theft.

An animal with some sort of humanoid feature. I usually mark these as being bipedal when they shouldnt be, as well as having an upright posture and human limb arrangement. (some of the just Animals and Multiples with animal elements are occasionally bipedal, but are much more animal and so didnt feel right to be in here)

Creepy Heap from the deep gets special mention for being some weird combination of crab, seaweed, fish, and human. I kinda just put him here cause nothing else fit.

Animated Objects: 25% of 4 Instances are Real. Most Common Motive is Monetary Theft.

An object that's come to life!! 2 of these are just mannequins, with the only one not listed being the Helping Hand from the Addams Family episode. These kind of cross over with the Ghost category, but I seperate it mainly because most of the ghosts arent possessing an object, but rather just exist as is. I could be swayed on the mannequins as they're refered to as possessed, but its not entirely clear if its a ghost or demon thing theyre being percieved as. Kind of a weird category I guess but its all arbitrary at some point.

[yaolmao]

Spiderman!Chuuya au placed in Yokohama with no abilities some folks call him Spider-Sheep for some reason

Bonus! for him and his bf:

They hate each other fr

[datura-tea]

people don't know how to make cohesive fanmixes/character playlists anymore... it's just 30+ random songs with no regard for genre or mood or lyrical themes... the most jarring combinations of artists together with the songs in no particular order... where is the generation raised on 8tracks!! come back to me!!!

[slothbless]

hey, kids, wanna be Your Own Boss and join a completely ethical, legal and non-lethal MLM?

featuring @ninjapenguin713 as Dolores

[dairyfreenugget]

(Alt text under read more)

I think "one or more of them is in danger or almost fucking dies, in the process discovering their child's impurity, and then after a lot of emotional turmoil they just pass the fuck out the second they're safe and calm again thanks to the awful, exhausting day they've had" is a scenario I write weirdly often for this messy as hell family

Anyway. Family cuddles. My babygirl is exhausted and deserves to be held for once

ID start: A black and white doodle of the Pale King, White Lady, and Pure Vessel from Hollow Knight as humans. The three of them are covered in bruises and scratches. They're sleeping in a pile of blankets with the Pure Vessel tucked in between their parents, with only their face showing. The Pale King is hugging them with both sets of his arms, his face buried in their hair, while the White Lady lays beside them with her arm drapped over the both of them and roots coiling around them. End ID.

[caitlynmeow]

Ideally Bela wouldn’t pick Daniela to do anything in like ever. Cassandra, while a royal pain in her ass is the one she trusts with these things. Except for one problem: Cassandra is near impossible to reach. Her phone is always on silent and she never checks it. She avoids picking up calls and if you’re not physically around her it actually takes her 7-10 working days to get back to you.

So when Bela needs something urgent that only Cass can do right? She has no choice but to call Daniela and deal with how she will fuck it up because she’s not that reliable.

[the-physicality]

2007, conference finals phoenix vs san antonio

[runninglikeabuckley]

i was in the middle of making a post about my predictions for the finale when i realised my buddie stuff could take up a whole other post so here ya go:

this is a bit of an out there theory and i don't necessarily think it will happen, but it's something i'd do if i were the writers. eddie makes a move on buck. i don't mean 'yay buddie goes canon in the last 10 mins of s7', i mean 'eddie fucks up so monumentally they don't know if they can come back from it.' i think he'll try to kiss buck and buck will push him away.

eddie's confused and lonely and heartbroken (not to mention desperate) and he turns to the one person who has unfalteringly been by his side the whole time, the guy who likes to fix things. it's not that he doesn't have genuine feelings for buck, because he really does, but he's not thinking about it AT ALL. he just wants buck (to his core) and is maybe letting himself feel that for the first time.

but it's like a slap in the face to buck. buck, who's in a happy, stable relationship for the first time in years. buck, who eddie told his bisexuality wouldn't change anything between them. buck, who's been used for his body for his entire life. he would be absolutely crushed if eddie did this. and he's matured to the point that i think he might not let it slide. he wouldn't cut eddie out of his life, but i think he'd need space and for once he might respect his own needs over his wants. especially since i don't think he's considered his feelings for eddie and definitely doesn't think eddie's acting out of love/desire

so we get to the end of s7/start of s8 and eddie has fucked up his relationships beyond belief. chris, marisol, even his parents and shannon's memory. buck is still there, because he's always there but things are different. and i think that it could be a great set up to explore who eddie really is and what he wants, especially if/when the 118 get split up. as ryan keeps saying, he'll be isolated. neither buck or eddie will tell the others what happened between them, but that doesn't mean that eddie won't finally look into his sexuality by and for himself.

when i say i want a divorce era 2.0, i don't mean screaming at each other in a grocery store bc to a certain extent that was almost funny - they were coworkers of less than 2 years and it was wildly overdramatic. now they're partners and best friends and co-parents and they've suffered blow after blow, and their kid's gone and eddie betrayed buck and they don't know how to be anymore but they love each other too much to let go