What Is the Essential 8 In Cybersecurity?
The Essential 8 is simply a set of cybersecurity strategies designed to create layers of protection for organisations or individuals needing to safeguard their data.
These essential strategies were designed to make it more challenging for cyber attackers to compromise systems. These strategies are:
- Application whitelisting
- Patching applications
- Configuring Microsoft Office macro settings
- User application hardening
- Restricting administrative privileges
- Patching operating systems
- Multi-factor authentication
- Daily backups
The Essential 8 Maturity Model
The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC)’s Essential 8 Maturity Model offers four levels to help Australian organisations evaluate their cybersecurity posture and guide risk reduction against cyber-attacks:
- Level 0: Weak cybersecurity, easily exploited by basic tools and methods.
- Level 1: Basic protections against common cyber threats.
- Level 2: Strategies to counteract sophisticated attacks, including elevated user privilege exploitation and credential harvesting.
- Level 3: Advanced measures including application controls, monitoring, and rapid patching of vulnerabilities.
Why Are The Essential 8 So Crucial?
Cyber threats are constantly evolving, and traditional defences need to change with them. Without a set of basic defence mechanisms, clever cybercriminals can access your business’s most important digital assets. The Essential 8 cybersecurity strategies create a multi-layered defence, targeting various potential vulnerabilities in your IT ecosystem.
By focusing on these essential strategies, businesses can significantly reduce the risk of a successful cyber-attack. That way, they can minimise data breaches and protect their most sensitive information.
Here’s how Grassroots IT can assist with your cybersecurity needs.
Proactive Cybersecurity Defence
By helping you to implement The Essential 8 strategies and proactive measures, we can prepare your systems to fend off attacks before they happen rather than reacting to attacks. We are also available 24 hours a day to assist with any urgent cybersecurity issues that your organisation might be having. This proactive, always-on approach has the potential to reduce downtime for your business and increase efficiency.
Maintain Trust
In today’s digital world, businesses have a responsibility to store and safeguard information that comes from their customers or clients. Customers and stakeholders trust businesses that prioritise cybersecurity. The Essential 8 strategies protect your data, thereby solidifying your reputation in the market.
Cost Efficiency
Proactive defence systems are always more cost-effective than reactive measures. By keeping one step ahead and limiting damage, companies can avoid potential remediation costs and keep their reputation intact.
Government Agency Mandates
Government agencies must comply with the Essential Eight. Suppliers to these agencies often report on their Essential 8 measures. Although not yet mandatory for commercial and Not-For-Profit entities, Essential 8 is likely to become an industry standard, similar to ISO27001 and the NIST Cyber Security Framework.
Why Choose Grassroots IT?
Grassroots IT understands the ever-changing cyber threat landscape. But we also understand that each business has its own goals, requirements and internal structures. Implementing the Essential Eight isn’t just about ticking a list of boxes. It’s about understanding the complexities of each strategy and customising them to each organisation’s unique needs.
Here’s what makes us stand out in comparison to other IT specialists.
The Grassroots IT Difference
With Grassroots IT as your cybersecurity service provider, you’ll benefit from:
Dedicated Account Manager
Receive a dedicated Account Manager who will understand your needs and offer ongoing and seamless service.
Direct Access To Solution Specialists
Need specialist advice? Tap into our expert guidance instantly with specialists who are trained to help resolve your urgent IT issues either remotely or in person.
Annual Strategy Review & Roadmap
Your IT strategy should be refined regularly according to your changing business goals. Annual reviews hone your tech strategy for success.
Quarterly Alignment Reviews
Regular quarterly check-ins make sure we are aligned with your goals as they evolve. In these reviews, we can make the necessary tweaks to keep your business on track.
Monthly Performance Reporting
The latest insights into your IT performance can empower key decision-makers within your business to make the right decisions when they need.
Extended Helpdesk Hours
Need support? Our dedicated IT Help Desk is available even beyond business hours, providing our clients peace of mind.
24x7 Support
We offer round-the-clock tech support through our IT service desk to offer you and your team assistance at any hour of the day or night.
Australia-Wide Onsite Support
Our IT Support staff are located all across Australia, to ensure we can assist you whenever and wherever you need us.
Dedicated Onboarding Team
We believe that a strong partnership should be defined from the very beginning, which is why we offer you a specialised team to assist with onboarding.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main goal of the Essential Eight?
The idea of the Essential Eight is to provide organisations with a clear framework by which they can understand the most important cybersecurity strategies. When the strategies are implemented, IT teams can offer robust protection against a wide array of cyber threats.
Do I need to implement all eight strategies?
Ideally, yes. Implementing all eight strategies provides a comprehensive defence mechanism, addressing multiple potential vulnerabilities. All this can sound overwhelming. But with the help of a dedicated IT team, you can implement all eight strategies quickly, and with minimal disruption to your business.
