🚨 Cyber Alerts: like Hurricanes, an Alert Level Framework is Required

If you are eager to access, as promised, our ressources on DORA, it’s right below.

StratOps: Should Cybersecurity Have an Alert System Like Natural Disasters?

This week, Cyclone Garance wreaked destruction in La Réunion, with at least three casualties and significant damage. Fortunately, preparedness levels were high, and the local authorities declared a “violet” alert, enabling residents to take the necessary precautions. This response likely saved lives. Today, the now “red” alert level is expected to lower again.

But what if cybersecurity threats were handled the same way?

Every year, cyberattacks cost trillions globally and disrupt businesses, governments, and critical infrastructure. Yet, unlike hurricanes, earthquakes, or terrorist threats, there is no widely recognized cybersecurity alert system that helps organizations assess risks and take immediate, appropriate action.

Why Cybersecurity Needs an Alert System

In the physical world, alerts are structured and well-understood. Cyclones, for instance, are classified into color-coded alert levels (see SSHWS scale). Here is the principle:

🟡 Yellow: Be aware, prepare.
🟠 Orange: Threat is imminent, take protective action.
🔴 Red: Danger is here, take shelter. Emergency services can still operate.
🟣 Violet: Extreme crisis, total lockdown, no movement allowed, even from emergency services.

These alerts don’t just inform people—they provide a clear framework for response actions. In cybersecurity, however, the same landscape is chaotic. Mature organizations rely on threat intelligence, provided by CERT / CSIRT, but most alerts are either for a technical audience (“CVE-2024-XXXXX detected”) or vague (“be careful”), leaving decision-makers without clear guidance.

The result? Many organizations underreact, dismissing real dangers because they receive too many “critical” alerts and suffer from alert fatigue.

The Problems with the Current Approach

1. Threat Intelligence Alone Is Not Enough

While cybersecurity teams use threat intelligence feeds, these don’t translate into concrete, organization-wide and localized action plans. A structured alert system could bridge this gap by mapping threats to specific actions at different levels.

2. Awareness Training Assumes We Are Always at “Yellow” or “Orange”

Many organizations treat cybersecurity as if they are permanently in a moderate-risk state, keeping employees in a perpetual ‘yellow alert’ mode. But this creates a disconnect: either employees tune out security messages because they never change, or they panic when a real attack occurs.

Introducing a Cybersecurity Alert System

A standardized cybersecurity alert system—modeled after natural disaster response frameworks—could help organizations assess risk and take action accordingly. Here’s what it could look like: