Build a fortress with the seven layers of security
Cyber threats have evolved.
Today’s attackers are faster, smarter, and armed with AI, social engineering, and sophisticated digital weapons. Basic antivirus and backups aren’t enough. To stay secure, your organisation needs a multi-layered defence - one that blocks threats, detects breaches, contains damage, and recovers fast.
That’s the power of the Seven Layers of Security.
Each layer strengthens your protection against modern cyber risks - and with rising compliance demands, this approach isn’t optional. It’s essential.
Do you have all seven layers in place?
Explore them below and start building your cyber fortress today
Layer one – the human layer
Your people are the knights of your fortress and cyber awareness is their armour. With regular training, you turn every employee into a human firewall, alert to phishing, social engineering, and risky behaviour. Empowered with knowledge, they don’t just follow protocol - they defend it. Your fortress stands stronger with every informed mind. And you can make sure your teams are trained and ready with phishing tests to check whether they’re skilled enough to spot malicious activity.
Layer two - perimeter security
Your perimeter is like the drawbridge entering your fortress and moat surrounding it. With user-based access, privileged access management (PAM) and password policies, you control what enters and exits. Every connection is inspected, every threat repelled. Your fortress begins with a secure boundary.
Layer three - network security
Your network are like the walls of your fortress - connecting every system, user, and device. With firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and segmentation, you protect every pathway, blocking threats before they infiltrate. From the watch tower, you monitor, control, and defend, ensuring safe passage for your data. Your fortress stays connected - and impenetrable.
Layer four - application security
Your applications are the day-to-day items you use within to your fortress - essential, but vulnerable. With application security, you reinforce every line of code, blocking threats before they breach your walls. From development to deployment, you embed protection, ensuring your apps remain trusted, resilient, and secure with static code analysis, web application firewalls (WAFs), and regular patching.
Layer five - endpoint security
Your endpoint devices are the gates to your digital fortress - shielding every laptop, phone, and server from intruders. So, you need the best weapons to protect the gates by ensuring that even the smallest breach point is fortified with powerful, intelligent protection. Your fortress stands strong - because you secure it. And if you don’t have a team in-house to do that, then rely on experts to do the job for you through managed services.
Layer six – data security
Data security safeguards your organisation’s most valuable treasure - its information. It’s the vault that focuses on protecting data across its lifecycle, using encryption, access controls, and vigilant monitoring to prevent breaches, leaks, or loss. Regardless of where your data is stored, shared or in motion, your defences ensure data integrity, confidentiality, and availability – whether it’s stored on-premises, in the cloud, or in transit.
Layer seven – mission critical asset security
Mission critical assets are at the centre your organisation - your most important jewels and tools. Any key data, systems or applications that are essential to operations. This layer focuses on identifying, classifying, and protecting these high-value targets with advanced controls, backup and disaster recovery, ensuring they remain secure, resilient, and recoverable even in the face of sophisticated cyber threats.
For optimal protection, implement the hidden extra layer of security
Once you have all seven layers in place, you need to check they have the might to repel even the strongest of threats. That’s where things like pen tests come in. Ethical hacking to find the gaps and flaws in your security with advice on remediating. This is something we recommend you do on a regular basis. You can either choose in-depth tests or regular automated tests.
There are also frameworks like Cyber Essentials – certifications you can get to showcase to your partners and clients that you keep their data safe, making them more likely to work with you. And there are platforms out there that can help you monitor and keep track of this.
And finally, you can't forget email security. Prevent cyber threats like phishing and malware, and maintain trust with your customers and partners.
Want to learn more about each of the layers?
Join our webinar on 5 November at 3pm GMT with our cyber security expert, Scott Harrison. Get a deep dive into each of the layers - what they are and why they're important for ensuring your digital fortress is protected. From all angles.
Security vendors you can use to build your fortress
Do you have all the layers in place?
Get assessed for free
Our team's Seven Layers of Security Assessment goes through each layer. We discuss and assess:
- Which security solutions you already have in place in each layer, and whether they meet your needs.
- Advice on suitable security solutions and measures you can put in place to plug any gaps in your defence and remediation.
- Good, better, best options for each element within the layer – based on your technical, compliance and budgetary needs.
Book your free assessment now
Lead the way in making your business safer and more compliant. Schedule your free assessment today - 90 minutes of valuable insights at no cost.
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