The Role of Security Controls
Security controls are the primary tools used in risk mitigation to reduce or eliminate risks. These controls fall into three categories:
Preventive Controls: Measures that are implemented to prevent security incidents from occurring. These controls aim to stop threats before they exploit vulnerabilities.
Examples include:
- Firewalls and intrusion prevention systems (IPS)
- Authentication mechanisms (multi-factor authentication, strong password policies)
- Encryption of data at rest and in transit
- Regular software updates and patch management
Detective Controls: Controls that are designed to identify and detect security incidents after they occur, providing timely alerts to help minimize damage.
Examples include:
- Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems
- Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS)
- Log analysis and monitoring
- User behavior analytics (UBA) for detecting anomalies
Corrective Controls: These are implemented to respond to and recover from security incidents once they have been detected. These controls are critical for limiting the impact of incidents and enabling a swift recovery.
Examples include:
- Incident response plans
- Disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC) planning
- Backup systems and data restoration procedures
- Patch management for vulnerable systems
Effective risk mitigation requires a balanced combination of all three control types, providing a layered defense that minimizes the likelihood of an attack and reduces its potential consequences.