It seems like every time you open LinkedIn or your Outlook, there’s a new product claiming to be the solution, the silver bullet that will finally keep those bad actors at bay! But in reality, not all cyber controls are created equal. Some deliver measurable risk reduction. Others… less so.
For fast growing businesses especially, where time and budget are a rare commodity, the question isn’t “How many controls do we have?”... it’s “Which controls actually make a difference?”
Spreading effort too thin across dozens of tools can create the illusion of security, without delivering the effective sleep-easy protection.
From a cybersecurity risk and control perspective, the most effective controls tend to focus on a small number of well-worn attack paths. The same routes attackers use again and again.
Get these right, and you dramatically reduce both the likelihood and the impact of an incident.
Identity protection sits firmly at the top of the list. Compromised credentials remain one of the most common entry points for attackers, which is why multi-factor authentication (MFA) across critical systems consistently delivers one of the highest risk reductions of any control available.
Close behind is device management. Managed and monitored endpoints ensure laptops, desktops, and servers are patched, protected, and visible. When a device goes rogue, you know about it and can act before it becomes a wider problem.
Then there’s monitoring and visibility. Centralised logging and alerting allows suspicious activity to be detected early, rather than discovered weeks or months later during a possibly emotional forensic investigation. Faster detection almost always means less damage.
And finally, resilient, tested backups. No matter how strong your preventative controls are, incidents still happen. The ability to recover quickly is what turns a crisis into a disruption, rather than a business-ending event.
The benefits of prioritising high-impact controls go beyond security alone.
From a commercial perspective, fewer incidents mean less downtime, lower recovery costs, and far less leadership time spent firefighting. Instead of reacting to emergencies, teams can focus on growing the business.
This predictability is often overlooked, but very critical. When systems are reliable and recovery processes are tested and proven, organisations operate with greater confidence. Decisions are made faster. Risk is understood and growth feels safer. Security Enables Momentum.
Operationally, businesses see the strongest returns when they focus on well-managed controls.
In practice, that usually means prioritising:
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) across critical systems
Managed and monitored endpoints
Centralised logging and alerting
Tested backup and recovery processes
A common mistake is implementing all of these, and then assuming the job is done. Controls that aren’t actively managed, reviewed, and improved quickly lose their effectiveness.
The organisations that handle cyber risk best are the ones that choose controls based on real-world threats, ensure those controls are properly configured and monitored, and revisit them regularly as the business, and the threat landscape evolves. When you focus on what genuinely reduces risk. Clarity replaces noise and confidence replaces chaos.
For more insights on practical cybersecurity for growing businesses, check us out on unizen.co.uk or give us a follow LinkedIn.