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πŸ” Cyber Awareness Month Special: Why Security is Everyone’s Responsibility! Beyond Roles and Job Titles…


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Amit Ambekar

October marks Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a time to reflect on how we as individuals and as organizations protect the digital systems that drive our daily operations.

In the world of finance, banking and brokerage services, the stakes are even higher. A single missed action or ignored alert can ripple through entire infrastructures, affecting customers, compliance and trust!

As cybersecurity professionals, we talk a lot about advanced tools, threat intelligence and incident response. But what truly makes these technologies effective is how we use them and how responsibly each team member contributes to maintaining the organization’s security posture.

🧩 From Tools to Action β€” A Real-World Scenario 🧩

Let’s take a practical example.
A bank integrates Threat Intelligence Service with its Firewall to strengthen detection and response capabilities. The integration allows the SOC (Security Operations Center) team to receive real-time updates on emerging threats, malicious IPs and global attack trends. These feeds are automatically synchronized with firewall policies to block or alert on malicious activity before it causes harm.

But here’s the reality technology alone isn’t enough.

When IT operations staff overlook basic hygiene (like patch updates, log reviews or verifying alert actions) or when teams think β€œthis isn’t my responsibility”, the entire system becomes vulnerable.
Security doesn’t fail because of lack of tools it fails because of lack of accountability.

⚙ A Holistic Security Operations Design

Here’s how organizations especially in banking and brokerage sectors can combine tools, intelligence and teamwork for robust defense:

🧠 𝗧𝗛π—₯π—˜π—”π—§ π—œπ—‘π—§π—˜π—Ÿπ—Ÿπ—œπ—šπ—˜π—‘π—–π—˜ & π—™π—˜π—˜π—— π—œπ—‘π—§π—˜π—šπ—₯π—”π—§π—œπ—’π—‘ 🧠

  • Integrate 𝗧𝗛π—₯π—˜π—”π—§ π—œπ—‘π—§π—˜π—Ÿπ—Ÿπ—œπ—šπ—˜π—‘π—–π—˜ feed into external connectors (IP/Domain feeds).
  • Configure auto-refresh every 30–60 minutes for TI feeds.
  • Create dynamic firewall address groups using IOC feeds.
  • Integrate TI with Analyzer tools for threat correlation.
  • Configure TAXII/STIX feed to your SIEM.
  • Add IBM X-Force, AbuseIPDB and AlienVault OTX as secondary TI sources.
  • Automate IOC ingestion using SOAR or custom scripts.
  • Tag and enrich SIEM alerts with TI source (e.g. Kaspersky, FS-ISAC).
  • Enable threat scoring and prioritization in SIEM for correlated IOCs.
  • Build threat dashboards showing IOC hits and block actions across devices. Also you can same perform action or KPI’s over firewall and SIEM.

🔥 π—™π—œπ—₯π—˜π—ͺπ—”π—Ÿπ—Ÿ & π—‘π—˜π—§π—ͺ𝗒π—₯π—ž π——π—˜π—™π—˜π—‘π—¦π—˜ 🔥

  • Enable IPS, Application Control, Web Filtering and SSL Inspection.
  • Apply Geo-blocking to restrict all countries except business-required ones.
  • Create separate security policies for internal, DMZ and external zones.
  • Enforce DoS policies on public interfaces.
  • Enable Botnet C&C blocking and AV updates.
  • Create custom signatures for financial malware indicators (Dridex, TrickBot).
  • Implement DNS filtering and sinkhole redirection for suspicious domains.
  • Integrate firewall logs into SIEM via syslog & netflow for correlation.
  • Enable High Availability (HA) with heartbeat and failover testing.
  • Use centralized firewall configuration backups.
  • Conduct monthly firewall policy audits for unused/expired rules.
  • Configure VPN access controls policies and enforce MFA for all users and accounts available over organization level for all employees.

💻 π—˜π—‘π——π—£π—’π—œπ—‘π—§ & π—˜π——π—₯/𝗫𝗗π—₯ π—œπ— π—£π—Ÿπ—˜π— π—˜π—‘π—§π—”π—§π—œπ—’π—‘ 💻

  • Deploy Kaspersky EDR service, CrowdStrike Falcon service or other EDR services on all endpoints.
  • Use only one & stronger EDR with in organizations.
  • Enable behavior-based detection and isolation features.
  • Integrate EDR alerts into SIEM or SOAR for cross-correlation.
  • Configure automated response playbooks (e.g., isolate infected host).
  • Enable USB device control and application whitelisting.
  • Conduct weekly threat hunting for EDR telemetry anomalies.
  • Perform endpoint patch management via centralized tools (SCCM, Intune).

☁ π—–π—Ÿπ—’π—¨π—— & π—”π—£π—£π—Ÿπ—œπ—–π—”π—§π—œπ—’π—‘ π—¦π—˜π—–π—¨π—₯π—œπ—§π—¬ ☁

  • Deploy WAF-as-a-Service for internet banking portals.
  • Implement Web Application Vulnerability Scans every month.
  • Enable Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) using Defender.
  • Configure storage encryption and access logs for AWSS3 or Azure Blob.
  • Forward cloud logs to SIEM.
  • Enforce Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) for remote users.
  • Implement TLS 1.3 enforcement and disable weak ciphers. You can use 1.2 also but go with latest one.

📧 π—˜π— π—”π—œπ—Ÿ & π—œπ——π—˜π—‘π—§π—œπ—§π—¬ 𝗣π—₯π—’π—§π—˜π—–π—§π—œπ—’π—‘ 📧

  • Integrate Proofpoint for advanced phishing detection.
  • Enable sandboxing for attachments and URL rewriting for links.
  • Connect email security logs to SIEM for phishing trend analysis.
  • Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all critical accounts.
  • Enable conditional access policies based on device and location.
  • Integrate Privileged Access Management (PAM) for admin users.
  • Monitor identity anomalies using UEBA (User & Entity Behavior Analytics).
  • Implement SPF, DKIM and DMARC with reject policy.

1. SPF – Sender Policy Framework

  • Purpose: It is an email authentication protocol that allows domain owners to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of their domain.
  • Benefit: Helps prevent email spoofing and reduces spam by verifying the sender’s IP address.

2. DKIM – DomainKeys Identified Mail

  • Purpose: It adds a digital signature to outgoing emails, allowing the recipient’s mail server to verify that the email was indeed sent from the claimed domain and wasn’t tampered with during transit.
  • Benefit: Ensures email integrity and authenticity by using cryptographic keys.

3. DMARC – Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance

  • Purpose: It builds on SPF and DKIM to define how receiving mail servers should handle emails that fail authentication checks (e.g., reject, quarantine or allow).
  • Benefit: Provides visibility and control through reporting, helping domain owners protect their brand and users from phishing and spoofing attacks.

🧰 π—¦π—œπ—˜π—  & π—Ÿπ—’π—š 𝗖𝗒π—₯π—₯π—˜π—Ÿπ—”π—§π—œπ—’π—‘ (SOC Core) 🧰

  • Correlate logs from firewall, EDR, email, VPN, PAM and cloud sources. Consider each and every single Critical and non-critical devices, this is best practice to be secure from external or internal threat.
  • Create use cases like brute-force detection, data exfiltration and insider threats.
  • Develop custom correlation rules for IOC matches.
  • Create incident severity classification (Critical / High / Medium / Low) based on risk.
  • Enable alert suppression to reduce noise and focus on actionable events.
  • Generate daily IOC hit reports and weekly threat trend summaries.
  • Conduct quarterly log source coverage review to ensure no blind spots.
  • Enable UEBA models to detect anomalous behavior across accounts.

⚙ 𝗦𝗒𝗔π—₯ (Automation & Response) ⚙

  • Automate IOC blocking on firewall after TI or SIEM alert.
  • Integrate SOAR with ticketing tools (ServiceNow / Jira).
  • Create playbooks for phishing, malware, ransomware and policy violations.
  • Configure auto-enrichment using VirusTotal.
  • Automate user notifications and approvals for account lockouts.
  • Automate malware triage reports for faster analyst decisions.
  • Build SOC dashboards showing incident lifecycle and SLA metrics.

🧩 π—©π—¨π—Ÿπ—‘π—˜π—₯π—”π—•π—œπ—Ÿπ—œπ—§π—¬ & π—–π—’π— π—£π—Ÿπ—œπ—”π—‘π—–π—˜ π— π—”π—‘π—”π—šπ—˜π— π—˜π—‘π—§ 🧩

  • Perform weekly vulnerability scans using Nessus / Qualys / OpenVAS.
  • Correlate vulnerability data with asset inventory and threat intel.
  • Create remediation SLAs (e.g., High = 3 days, Medium = 7 days & Low = 10 days).
  • Integrate vulnerability scan results into SIEM for continuous tracking.
  • Conduct monthly patch verification audits.
  • Maintain CIS benchmark compliance for critical and non critical devices.
  • Ensure PCI DSS / ISO 27001 / RBI cybersecurity framework adherence.

🧱 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗔 𝗣π—₯π—’π—§π—˜π—–π—§π—œπ—’π—‘ & 𝗙π—₯𝗔𝗨𝗗 𝗣π—₯π—˜π—©π—˜π—‘π—§π—œπ—’π—‘ 🧱

  • Deploy Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for email, endpoints, firewall policy and cloud.
  • Configure data classification (Confidential, Restricted & Public).
  • Monitor sensitive file movements using audit trails.
  • Implement database activity monitoring.
  • Integrate fraud alerts into SIEM for unified visibility.
  • Conduct periodic data access reviews for high-privilege accounts.

🧩 𝗧𝗛π—₯π—˜π—”π—§ π—›π—¨π—‘π—§π—œπ—‘π—š & π—£π—˜π—‘ π—§π—˜π—¦π—§π—œπ—‘π—š 🧩

  • Hunt for IOC matches in DNS, proxy and endpoint logs.
  • Develop Sigma / YARA rules for custom threat hunting.
  • Perform quarterly Red Team exercises simulating phishing & data theft.
  • Validate defense controls using MITRE ATT&CK framework.
  • Conduct lateral movement detection testing using Purple Team exercises.

🧩 π—•π—”π—–π—žπ—¨π—£, π—₯π—˜π—¦π—£π—’π—‘π—¦π—˜ & π—•π—¨π—¦π—œπ—‘π—˜π—¦π—¦ π—–π—’π—‘π—§π—œπ—‘π—¨π—œπ—§π—¬ 🧩

  • Maintain air-gapped backups of critical data.
  • Test disaster recovery (DR) quarterly.
  • Document incident response playbooks for ransomware, DDoS insider threats.
  • Enable immutable storage for critical logs and backups.
  • Conduct tabletop exercises involving IT, SOC, legal and management.

📊 π—₯π—˜π—£π—’π—₯π—§π—œπ—‘π—š & 𝗦𝗒𝗖 π—’π—£π—˜π—₯π—”π—§π—œπ—’π—‘π—¦ 📊

  • Create daily or weekly threat summary reports for SOC management.
  • Develop executive dashboards for CISOs and auditors.
  • Track MTTD (Mean Time to Detect) and MTTR (Mean Time to Respond).
  • Perform SOC shift handover documentation for incident continuity.
  • Maintain IOC repository and incident knowledge base.
  • Conduct analyst refresher training every quarter.
  • Implement SOC KPI tracking (incidents handled, automation rate false positives).

🔒 π—­π—˜π—₯𝗒 𝗧π—₯𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗔π—₯π—–π—›π—œπ—§π—˜π—–π—§π—¨π—₯π—˜ 🔒

  • Segment network zones (Users / Servers / DMZ / Critical Infra).
  • Enforce identity-based access control (IBAC).
  • Integrate MFA, device health and behavior analytics for access decisions.
  • Implement continuous monitoring and adaptive access policies.

🧠 Why Cybersecurity Awareness Isn’t Optional 🧠

Most breaches don’t occur because the firewall failed they occur because someone, somewhere ignored a small but critical action.

Some professionals think:

β€œThis isn’t part of my job.”
β€œI’m from IT operations, not security.”
β€œThe SOC team will handle it.”

But in truth, you are the IT professional or part of SOC or Cyber security team because you work under an organization that depends on your diligence to stay secure.
Whether you’re managing servers, handling customer data or approving remote access every decision you make has a security impact.

Cybersecurity is not a department. It’s a shared responsibility.

🌍 The Message This Cyber Awareness Month 🌍

As we close October, let’s take a moment to remind ourselves:

β€œCybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility not because it’s in your job description, but because it defines the future of our organization’s trust, safety and work-life balance.”

A secure organization allows us all to work freely, confidently and sustainably without the fear of breaches, audits or reputational loss. Your vigilance today shapes our secure tomorrow.

✍ Closing Thought ✍

So, before you skip that system update, ignore that alert or postpone that review ask yourself:

β€œAm I helping keep my organization safe or am I creating a gap someone else will have to fix?”

Because real cyber resilience starts when every individual takes ownership.

I intentionally released this blog at the end of October, because this is usually when people pause and reflect on what Cyber Awareness really means. If you’ve already practiced good security hygiene throughout the month, Great job! If not, now is the perfect time to start thinking differently, so next year you’ll proudly stand among those who make cybersecurity a part of their everyday work and digital life.


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Amit Ambekar