Protect the Public Sector: Understanding Cyber Assessment Frameworks & Log Management
In a recent CyberLab webinar with Logpoint‘s Director of Sales Engineering, Paul Gower, we delved into two critical areas of cyber security that are essential for protecting public sector organisations: Cyber Assessment Frameworks (CAF) and Log Management.
These frameworks, some of which are provided by the NCSC, provide the foundation for identifying, mitigating, and responding to cyber threats in a structured and effective manner.
As public sector organisations face increasing cyber risks, from data breaches to ransomware attacks, understanding and implementing robust cyber assessment frameworks and effective log management strategies is vital.
The Role of Cyber Assessment Frameworks in Public Sector Cyber Security
Cyber Assessment Frameworks (CAF) are designed to guide organisations through the process of evaluating and improving their cyber security posture. The recent webinar underscored that a key challenge for public sector bodies is ensuring that their security measures align with regulatory and compliance requirements, while also addressing the dynamic nature of cyber threats.
A CAF provides a systematic way to assess an organisation’s existing cyber security controls, processes, and policies. These frameworks are essential for identifying vulnerabilities, understanding risks, and establishing best practices for mitigating those risks. For public sector organisations, implementing a CAF offers a clear path to achieving a high level of resilience against cyber threats.
The key components of a cyber assessment framework discussed in the webinar included:
- Risk Assessment: Understanding the unique cyber risks faced by public sector bodies, such as the protection of sensitive citizen data and the security of critical national infrastructure (CNI).
- Controls and Policies: Ensuring that security controls and policies are well-defined and effectively enforced. This includes user access controls, data protection measures, and incident response protocols.
- Continuous Improvement: Emphasising the importance of regular reviews and updates to the cyber security posture, as threats and technologies evolve.
By adopting a CAF, public sector organisations can not only meet compliance standards but also ensure that they are proactively addressing security risks in an evolving threat landscape.
Log Management: The Backbone of Effective Cyber Defence
Log management emerged as another central theme in the webinar, with experts explaining its role in cyber security. Logs contain crucial information about system activities, user interactions, and network traffic. When properly managed, logs provide a valuable source of intelligence that can help organisations detect, analyse, and respond to security incidents.
For public sector organisations, log management is particularly important due to the sensitive nature of the data they handle. Effective log management enables security teams to track potential breaches, identify suspicious activities, and maintain a clear audit trail for compliance purposes.
The webinar emphasised the following best practices in log management for public sector organisations:
- Centralised Logging: Aggregating logs from various systems and platforms into a centralised location ensures that security teams have a comprehensive view of activities across the organisation.
- Real-Time Monitoring: Continuous monitoring of logs enables teams to identify and respond to threats as they occur, reducing the risk of delayed detection.
- Retention and Compliance: Retaining logs for the required period and ensuring that they meet regulatory compliance standards is essential, especially for public sector organisations that are subject to strict data protection regulations.
- Log Analysis and Automation: With the volume of logs generated daily, manual analysis can be overwhelming. AI-driven log analysis tools can automate the process of identifying anomalies and potential threats, allowing security teams to focus on higher-level decision-making.
Integrating Cyber Assessment Frameworks with Log Management
A key takeaway from the webinar was the importance of integrating cyber assessment frameworks with log management strategies. Both components complement each other to create a more holistic approach to cyber security.
By aligning the findings from cyber assessments with real-time log data, public sector organisations can continuously evaluate their security posture and ensure that they are detecting and responding to emerging threats. This integrated approach can also help organisations improve their incident response times, reduce vulnerabilities, and strengthen overall resilience.
For example, during an active cyber attack, logs can provide critical insights into how an attacker is moving through the network, while the cyber assessment framework ensures that appropriate defensive measures are in place to respond to such threats. Together, these elements form a robust defence against the growing number of cyber threats targeting public sector organisations.
Common Cyber Security Challenges in the Public Sector
Here are some key findings detailing the quantity of different types of cyber-attacks that public sector organisations have encountered over the past 12 months, as well as insights into the other cyber security challenges they are facing.
Ransomware Attacks
34% of state and local government organizations were hit by ransomware in 2024. This represents a 51% decrease from the 69% attack rate reported in 2023. Furthermore, 56% of computers in state and local government organizations are impacted by a ransomware attack if one occurs.Data Encryption
It is extremely rare for state and local government organizations to have their full environment encrypted: just 8% reported that 81% or more of their devices were impacted. At the other end of the scale, while some attacks do impact only a handful of devices, this too, is highly unusual, with only 2% of state and local government organizations saying that 10% or fewer of their devices were affected.
Compromised Credentials
All state and local government respondents hit by ransomware were able to identify the root cause of the attack. Compromised credentials were the most common method of entry (49%), followed by exploited vulnerabilities (24%).Backup Compromise
99% of state and local government organisations reported that cybercriminals attempted to compromise their backups, exceeding the global average of 94%.Data Theft
Adversaries don’t just encrypt data; they also steal it. 42% of state and local government organizations reported that where data was encrypted, data was also stolen.[Source: Sophos State of Ransomware Report 2024]
Key security and compliance challenges facing the Public Sector
Legacy Systems
Many public sector organisations rely on outdated systems that are more vulnerable to attacks. These legacy systems often lack modern security features or are difficult to patch due to compatibility issues.
Resource Constraints
Budgetary limitations and resource shortages in IT and cyber security teams leave gaps in defence strategies, making public sector entities more susceptible to attacks.
Decentralised Structures
Similar to challenges faced in education, public sector organisations often have decentralised systems with numerous access points, making monitoring and securing endpoints a complex task.
Compliance Pressure
Compliance with frameworks like the Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) is necessary but can strain already limited resources. The webinar emphasised how balancing compliance and proactive defence can be difficult.
Human Error and Insider Threats
Phishing remains a prevalent attack vector, exploiting the human element within organisations. Insufficient training for employees exacerbates the risk of falling victim to social engineering attacks.
Supply Chain Vulnerabilities
Public sector organisations often work with external contractors and suppliers, increasing the risk of supply chain attacks, which were mentioned as a growing concern.
Best Practices and Recommendations for Public Sector Organisations
To effectively combat cyber threats, public sector organisations must adopt a proactive and tailored cyber security strategy. This begins with conducting a comprehensive risk assessment to measure their overall cyber security posture and to understand what makes their organisation an attractive target.
Public sector entities should consider the assets they manage—whether it’s sensitive citizen data, critical infrastructure systems, or classified government information. Furthermore, organisations need to evaluate their relationships with third-party vendors, contractors, and external collaborators, as these partnerships may introduce additional risks.
Geographic location and political context can also influence the threat landscape, particularly if the organisation is involved in high-profile projects or operates in regions of interest to state-sponsored actors. High-ranking officials or individuals of public interest within these organisations may also attract targeted attacks, making VIP and high-risk individual protection crucial. The NCSC has published guidance for supporting such individuals within public sector environments.
With the right guidance and expertise, cyber security teams, compliance officers, and other internal stakeholders can identify their most significant risks, the threat actors most likely to target them, and the methods these adversaries are likely to employ. This enables the creation of a robust “blueprint” for an optimal cyber security strategy and posture hardening.
Armed with this understanding, public sector organisations can then implement best practices such as:
Adopting a Zero Trust Architecture
This approach assumes no user or device is trusted by default, even if they are already inside the network. This approach is especially crucial for public sector organisations, given their complex infrastructure, multiple access points, and the diverse range of stakeholders accessing resources from various locations and devices.
Example in the Public Sector: Government agencies can implement micro-segmentation within their networks to limit the movement of attackers if a breach occurs. For instance, restricting access to sensitive citizen data or administrative systems through segmented network zones can prevent unauthorised access, even if an attacker has already compromised one area.
Another common practice is continuous authentication, where the system regularly checks user credentials and behaviour, such as location, device type, or network usage, to identify any anomalies that could indicate a breach.
Case Study: The US Department of Homeland Security adopted a Zero Trust approach, implementing secure, role-based access controls for its critical systems. This minimised access privileges for non-essential users and continuously verified user identity, reducing the risk of lateral movement by attackers.
Strengthening Access Controls
Implementing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) ensures only authorised individuals can access critical systems and data.
MFA requires users to present two or more forms of verification (something they know, something they have, and something they are). This is particularly effective in defending against phishing attacks, which are highly prevalent in the public sector.
Example in the Public Sector: Implementing MFA across government systems for both employees and contractors can prevent unauthorised access, even if login credentials are stolen. For instance, agencies can require users to verify their identity using a mobile app or a hardware token in addition to their password.
Case Study: Implementing MFA is part of the Cyber Essentials Accreditation. Discover how the NHS strengthened their cyber security posture with CyberLab in our NHS Case Study.
Regular Software Updates and Endpoint Protection
Ensuring that all devices, including those used remotely (BYOD), have up-to-date antivirus and firewall protection is critical. Regular software updates are vital to patch known vulnerabilities. Additionally, enabling remote wipe capabilities for lost or compromised devices ensures sensitive data can be erased quickly.
Phishing and Social Engineering Awareness Training
Public sector employees are often the first line of defence against cyber threats. Regular training sessions on phishing, social engineering, and secure data handling can significantly reduce the risk of human error leading to a security breach. Training should be tailored to address specific threats targeting public sector entities, such as impersonation of government officials or fraudulent invoices.
Managed Detection and Response (MDR)
Endpoint detection alone is no longer sufficient given today’s digital threat landscape. Public sector organisations must now employ an “always-on” threat detection and monitoring capability. However, employing and retaining qualified cyber security analysts and engineers can be very expensive. Running a 24/7 SOC (Security Operations Centre) in-house with experienced analysts and security experts with state-of-the-art defensive technologies is often reserved for large-scale government bodies.
MDR services provide continuous monitoring and analysis of an organisation’s entire estate, including endpoints, network traffic, and activity logs. By outsourcing to experts, public sector organisations can ensure that threats are detected and mitigated in real-time, reducing the risk of a successful attack.
Incident Response and Recovery
Having a robust incident response plan is essential for mitigating the damage caused by cyber incidents. Public sector organisations should invest in both in-house and outsourced incident response teams to ensure a swift and effective reaction to breaches. Regular assessments of cyber incident response plans (CIRP) or ‘tabletop exercises’ simulating various cyber incident scenarios ensure response strategies are robust and understood by all risk owners.
Vulnerability Management
Regularly updating and patching software, coupled with continuous vulnerability assessments, is vital for maintaining a secure infrastructure. Cyber security as a Service (CSaaS) solutions, such as CyberLab Control, can help public sector organisations manage vulnerabilities effectively without overburdening internal teams.
Conclusion: A Unified Approach to Public Sector Cyber Defence
Protecting public sector organisations against cyber threats requires a strategic, integrated approach that combines both cyber assessment frameworks and effective log management. By focusing on these key areas, public sector bodies can ensure they are well-prepared to defend against the growing range of cyber threats. Our webinar with Logpoint served as a valuable resource for organisations looking to improve their security posture and implement best practices in the face of an ever-evolving digital landscape.
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