As Easter approaches, millions of kids eagerly anticipate the joy of hunting for colorful eggs. But let’s face it, apart from Easter or for movie buffs like me searching for hidden Easter eggs in our favorite films, surprises aren’t always welcome. Yet, I’ll argue that Easter might just be the only time of year when finding hidden eggs is genuinely fun.
There’s something worse than overlooking an Easter egg in the backyard – and that’s missing one in a company’s ventilation system! It might sound funny, but when we talk about risks and vulnerabilities in cyber risk management, it becomes clear that such “eggs” shouldn’t remain undiscovered.
What happens when one of these eggs is overlooked, whether it’s in a company’s ventilation room or within its digital network?
Let’s think of these Easter eggs as a metaphor for risks and vulnerabilities in digital infrastructure; it’s evident they shouldn’t go unnoticed. When attackers exploit these vulnerabilities – which often happens during holidays when everyone’s distracted – the consequences can be devastating, not just for business operations but also for employees who may need to cut short their family vacations to address the damage.
If attackers exploit these vulnerabilities – and yes, it happens, especially during holidays when everyone’s distracted – it can disrupt not only business operations but also force security personnel to recall their teams from family vacations to fix the damage. And honestly, how often do IT or OT managers want to do that?
While kids are left to hunt for Easter eggs alone, their parents scramble to keep the company afloat. In an era of skilled labor shortages and increasing emphasis on work-life balance, this scenario isn’t ideal.
Therefore, it’s crucial to have a solution that helps uncover hidden risks, even in places one might never have considered, and identify them, even if they’re not labeled with a bright red CVE score like an Easter egg. Just as Easter eggs sometimes pop up in unexpected places, risks and vulnerabilities can emerge without being obvious – and it’s essential to detect them before they become problematic. Risks should always be evaluated in the broader context and viewed as a threat to the company. After all, it’s not the brightly marked eggs that pose the greatest risk, but the inconspicuous ones that are often overlooked.
Wishing you all a happy Easter, free from blaring alarms and unexpected cyber-attacks. And if you’re curious to learn more about how to uncover, assess, and prioritize hidden risks, rest assured, we’re here to share more about our “Risk by Context™” solution!
Author:
Christian Billmann
