Your Quick Guide to the Essential Eight Maturity Model

The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) designed the Essential Eight Maturity Model as a structured approach to cyber security, enabling organisations to strengthen their defences against cyber threats.?

In November 2023, the ASD published updates to some of the Essential Eight controls, prompting many organisations to revisit their alignment with it and others to consider adopting the model for the first time. If you're among the latter, here is a concise summary of the Essential Eight and how it applies within your organisation.

A brief overview of the Essential Eight Maturity Model

The Essential Eight Maturity Model applies a multi-layered strategy that guides organisations on strengthening their defence using eight key controls. These include:?

1. Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Enforce an extra step when logging into accounts
2. Restrict Microsoft Office macros: Allow only trusted macros in secure locations.
3. Application control: Block unapproved or malicious programs.
4. Patch applications: Update applications to apply fixes for security vulnerabilities.
5. User application hardening: Block Flash, ads, and Java in web browsers.
6. Restrict administrative privileges: Limit admin privileges based on user roles.
7. Patch operating systems: Regularly update operating systems to apply the latest patches.
8. Regular backups: Maintain and test backups of business data.

The maturity model categorises organisational security into four levels:

• Maturity Level Zero: Indicates significant cyber security weaknesses against common attacks.
• Maturity Level One: Protects against opportunistic attackers that conduct easy attacks, such as those exploiting publicly known vulnerabilities.
• Maturity Level Two: Guards against experienced attackers willing to invest in time-consuming methods like social engineering.
• Maturity Level Three: Defends against sophisticated and targeted attacks on the business.

Getting across the risks to your organisation

Before deciding whether the Essential Eight Maturity Model is the right framework for your business, we recommend asking some key questions to gather an understanding of your current cyber security posture:

• Do you know how to protect your organisation?
• Are you across your greatest cyber security vulnerabilities?
• Do you know how to prioritise your cyber security efforts?
• Has your organisation experienced a cyber attack in the last twelve months?
• Will the consequences of an attack remain minimal?
• Do you have the skillsets, time, and resources to protect your organisation?

If you have primarily answered ‘No’ to these questions, then the Essential Eight could be a good starting point for improving your cyber security posture. Of course, the model will also look different for each organisation, so the next section focuses on how to get the most from it.

Adapting the model to suit your organisation

Not every element of the Essential Eight will require the same focus for all organisations. To get the most out of using the model, we recommend conducting a risk assessment to identify significant weaknesses and prioritise areas of the highest need. The benefit of doing this is that you can prioritise resources to implement the most pertinent security measures first.?

Continuous monitoring and adjustment are necessary due to the evolving nature of cyber threats. For organisations without a cyber security team, consulting with experts can help you adapt and maintain the framework, keeping defences robust against new challenges.

Conclusion

The Essential Eight Maturity Model represents a foundational approach for organisations seeking to enhance their cyber security posture. Its comprehensive and multi-layered defence strategy ensures that businesses are well-equipped to handle the evolving landscape of cyber threats.

Organisations across various high-compliance sectors stand to gain significantly from implementing the Essential Eight, benefiting from its proactive security measures designed to safeguard sensitive data against a broad range of cyber threats.

Meet the Essential Eight requirements using SecD3v

We designed SecD3v to meet the needs of Australia's high compliance sectors, including government, finance, healthcare, critical infrastructure, and academia. If you're an organisation requiring a secure dev environment that meets these requirements, SecD3v improves alignment with each control by more than 85%.?

By aligning with the Essential Eight Maturity Model, SecD3v ensures your cyber security measures meet the highest standards. Visit our website for more information on SecD3v.