7 Initiatives to Help Solidify Cross-Team Cybersecurity

Great work doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It happens when a team works in unison towards a common goal. The best collaborators are accountable, communicative, and most importantly, have each other’s back.

Staying cyber vigilant is a critical way modern teams can commit to looking out for each other. If you want to get everyone in lockstep, look to these cross-team security initiatives for inspiration.

Tactics That Ensure Successful Cross-Team Security

Cross-team security initiatives are key building blocks of an ironclad, cyber-informed organization.

Want to remove any impediments to their success? Ensure your plans include:

1. Support at the highest levels.

Don’t hesitate to get the c-suite involved. To be truly cross-functional, you may need the higher ups to adjust or implement certain success metrics as they relate to security. It’s also a top-down way to ensure everyone is on the same page.

2. Transparent expectations.

Your security priorities need to be broken out into digestible pieces. This ensures your teams have a clear picture of what to focus on and what their place is in the broader cyber strategy.

3. Leaders and decision makers.

Someone always needs to be steering the ship. If not, important details can slip through the cracks, leaving your organization vulnerable. Some companies choose to have a point person for each team who works directly with the security lead and communicates changes or best practices. Other teams are small enough to have a single decision maker at the helm. Either way, choose a responsible party who’s capable of making informed, timely decisions.

4. The right resources.

Whether you have to revamp your budget, purchase new security tools, or promote from within your organization, make sure you have the funds, solutions, and people power to see your security initiatives to fruition (and monitor their effectiveness over time).

5. Bridge building initiatives.

If your teams are new to working in tandem or you sense distrust among different departments, spend some time helping everyone re-connect. Without an established foundation of trust and honesty, your security initiatives are likely to end up a nonstarter.

6. A way to track your progress.

How will your teams know if they’re headed in the right direction if they don’t have defined milestones along the way? Just make sure they’re both realistic and achievable. Otherwise, you could create a catastrophic dent in their confidence.

7. Dedicated communication touchpoints.

Even if you have to over communicate, make sure teams have frequent opportunities to touch base. Those can be short, recurring check-ins about their progress, non-judgemental spaces to share challenges they’re having, or opportunities to give feedback about what is or isn’t working.

From there, it’s a matter of evaluating and updating your security strategy regularly – and repeating these steps anytime there’s a major change or new initiative added.