The Keops pyramid of cybersecurity represents the 5 levels that every company must apply in ascending order to ensure the protection of its business assets and a complete defense on exposed surfaces susceptible to attack. Want to know how you can build your own? So let’s get to work.
In the middle of the Egyptian desert, a construction of more than 146 meters high and 5.7 billion tons stands out: The Pyramid of Giza, also known as the Pyramid of Cheops. Its perfect structure makes it seem indestructible. Therefore, it is used as a reference in cybersecurity to represent how companies should organize and build their threat protection levels.
In this article, we will detail what each of the levels of the Keops pyramid in cybersecurity consists of, which has measures from the most basic to advanced approaches that will allow you to have an extremely robust protection.
Level 1: Basic Cybersecurity Solutions
Like any construction, the Keops pyramid of cybersecurity must start at the base. This first level of the pyramid is the one that will later support the rest of the structure and, therefore, it should be given the same importance as the rest, no matter how basic it may seem.
To begin with, it is essential to have minimum protection measures in place, such as firewalls, EDR antivirus, back-ups, multi-factor protection (2FA) and hardware encryption, among other measures. In this way, you can be directly protected against attempted attacks on your company’s network.
However, none of these protective measures would be of any use if you do not train your users on the types of threats they may receive and the risks associated with them. Therefore, another fundamental point at this level is the awareness of users so that they can recognize attacks and avoid falling prey to them with just one click.
Level 2: Attack vector protection and data classification
Once we have a solid foundation, we can move on to the second level of the KEOPS cybersecurity pyramid. Here we will focus on solutions aimed at protecting various attack vectors such as mail, password vulnerabilities and remote access to applications and data.
It also focuses on classifying data to become aware of its location, content and permissions to move on from there to more advanced levels of cybersecurity.
Some of the measures to be implemented at this level are password managers, web security, data and permissions auditing, software patch and digital certificate management, mail protection and zero trust access.
Level 3: Data and identity protection
The third level incorporates more sophisticated and specific solutions to protect user data and identity. Here, technologies are applied to prevent information leakage, exfiltration, control of data once it has left the company, advanced identity management and enterprise security both on-premises and in the cloud.
In recent years, as hybrid work has taken center stage in most enterprises, maintaining control from anywhere over your users and devices has become a major challenge.
If you are already at this level of protection and want to learn more about it, we recommend this demo on how to simplify identity governance and business asset protection with Microsoft Entra.
Level 4: Active robustness check of the system
The fourth level introduces a dynamic and constantly evolving perspective, in which cybersecurity adapts to the changing conditions of the environment. This involves the adoption of risk analysis solutions, vulnerability scanning and intrusion drills to effectively and continuously assess the security of a company.
At this level, the solutions adopted must be regularly updated to ensure that they remain effective in protecting a company against cyber threats.
Level 5: Active monitoring and SOC
The fifth and final level of the Cheops pyramid represents the most advanced approach to cybersecurity, focusing on resilience and proactivity. Here we work on the identification and neutralization of threats before they have a significant impact on the company, the implementation of incident response policies, as well as quick and efficient recovery in the event of an attack.
Companies that reach this level of security are already enabled to implement a modern SOC, through which they will be able to monitor and protect their company 24×7 against all the cyber threats to which they are exposed.
Start building your own Keops pyramid of cybersecurity
Building the Keops pyramid of cybersecurity does not require 30,000 people or 20 years of work as the original version did. However, not all solutions are suitable for all companies, and their analysis and implementation must be carried out by cybersecurity experts who have a good understanding of the complexities involved and have mastered the technology.
Let’s move forward together to start building your own protection pyramid. This is one of our experts.