Cybersecurity Awareness Month: You can’t protect what you can’t see

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and the latest headlines have provided a timely reminder of why understanding your technology risks matters.

Critical vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language used to power websites and applications around the world, have prompted an urgent warning from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).

The vulnerabilities could allow attackers to execute malicious code remotely on affected systems. The NCSC is urging organisations to identify where PHP is being used, prioritise internet-facing systems and apply the latest security updates.

But while patching is the immediate priority, this incident highlights a much bigger challenge for technology leaders.

You can’t protect what you can’t see.

How well do you really know your technology estate?

With that in mind, how well do you really know your technology estate and how confident are you that you understand where the risks lie? These are important questions every technology leader should be asking themselves.

For many answering those questions isn’t straightforward.

Technology estates have become increasingly complex. Legacy applications sit alongside modern cloud platforms, third-party services and systems developed or acquired over many years.

And while individual teams may understand the technology they manage, getting a complete picture across the organisation can be much harder.

When a new vulnerability emerges, that lack of visibility can quickly become a business risk.

It’s not simply a question of whether a security update is available. Organisations need to understand which systems are affected, how critical they are, who is responsible for them and how quickly action can be taken.

As organisations look to modernise their applications and systems, understanding existing architecture, dependencies and potential vulnerabilities is an important part of reducing risk.

Cyber resilience starts long before an incident

Cybersecurity shouldn’t just be about reacting when something goes wrong. Organisations need to be able to identify potential vulnerabilities before they’re exploited, understand the implications for their business and have clear processes in place to respond quickly when threats emerge.

That means asking some important questions:

• Do we have an accurate picture of the applications, platforms and technologies across our organisation?
• Can we quickly identify which systems are exposed when a new vulnerability is announced?
• Do we understand the dependencies between our systems, suppliers and services?
• Is there clear ownership and a process for assessing, prioritising and addressing risks?
• Can we respond quickly without unnecessarily disrupting critical business operations?

These aren’t just cybersecurity questions. They’re questions about technology governance, operational resilience and the ability to manage change effectively.

Turning visibility into action

At SmartCo we work with clients to build a clear understanding of their technology landscapes, identify where risks lie and put the right measures in place to strengthen long-term resilience. Through our Cyber, Risk & Compliance practice, we help organisations embed security, risk management and compliance into their wider technology transformation programmes.

We understand that identifying a risk is only part of the challenge. Organisations also need the right governance, ownership and delivery processes to act on that information.

Our experience includes supporting complex enterprise environments where application security, technology governance and risk management are critical to successful delivery. For example, our work with LSEG has helped strengthen application security capabilities and governance across a complex technology environment.

By bringing these disciplines together, we help clients move from fragmented visibility and reactive decision-making towards a more joined-up, proactive approach to managing technology risk.

From awareness to action

The latest PHP vulnerabilities are a timely reminder that cyber threats will continue to evolve, and no organisation can eliminate risk entirely. What matters is how well prepared you are to identify, assess and respond when those threats emerge.

For technology leaders, the priority should be to move beyond reacting to individual incidents and focus on building a clearer understanding of their technology estate, strengthening accountability and embedding the processes needed to act quickly.

The real test of cyber resilience isn’t whether the next vulnerability will emerge, but how ready your organisation will be when it does.

Further reading: NCSC advisory: Critical security issue affecting PHP