The bottom line: The pandemic and other issues have put security weaknesses and new requirements into sharp relief. Travel limitations and other obstacles are hampering efforts to address these. To adapt and reopen, security managers have heightened expectations of their integrators to be more informed, transparent, and digitally advanced.
Few cybersecurity components are as familiar as the next-generation firewall (NGFW) for enterprise protection. Despite this ubiquity, it is common for security teams to operate their NGFW in a suboptimal manner. The TAG Cyber team has observed, for example, that many enterprise teams operate their NGFW more like a traditional firewall. This can result in a reduction of traffic visibility, which in turn degrades prevention, detection, and response.
There is an opportunity here for IT teams to stabilize their work-from-home situations while also preparing for the future back in the office, or for many, supporting a hybrid model. Long term solutions are needed for organizational success. There are many steps that can be taken to ensure infrastructure is properly cared for and ready to be used when teams are able to return to the office.
Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is having a moment. Just a few years ago, presentations on OSINT began with a quote from one of a few different senior intelligence community officials who reportedly said that somewhere between 80-90% of valuable information comes from public sources. Many presentations today start similarly, but OSINT no longer needs the validation of government greats. Films like Searching and Don’t f**ck with Cats have introduced the discipline to a wider audience, organizations such as Trace Labs host popular OSINT competitions for the common good, and the investigators associated with the website Bellingcat are now media fixtures.
In today's ever changing environment, no organization and enterprise is immune from violence. Whether it is a church, movie theater, mall, or healthcare setting the need to plan for an act of violence, including active shooter events, is of paramount importance. And while public safety situational awareness and vigilance is an absolute must in our modern world, much thought has been given to how to develop plans, procedures, training and technology to stop these acts of violence. Here, we talk to Tim Sulzer, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of ZeroEyes, about how physical security technology has evolved over the years to help make a difference in situations involving an active shooter or to reduce workplace and gun violence in various settings.
Working at home poses many challenges. One smart solution for enterprises that continues to help maintain business continuity is Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). It enables IT organizations to deliver a corporate endpoint experience on relatively inexpensive hardware while maintaining strict IT standards that will provide benefits well into the future.
The Principle of Least Privilege is one of the longest standing principles of security. People (as well as applications) should only have access to the things they need to do their job, and nothing else. While being overly permissive may make life a bit easier in the short-term, it can easily come back to haunt you long-term, whether due to a malicious attack, misplaced credentials, or even an honest mistake.
Machines are better at speed and scale than humans. But humans have the edge over machines at thinking outside of the box, using their curiosity and creativity to come up with solutions, and reasoning that machines cannot define or replicate. When it comes to security operations, humans and automation are the duo that’s stronger and more effective in partnership than when they’re apart. Using extended detection and response (XDR) can bring these skills to the forefront of the Security Operations Center (SOC), leaving the repeatable, boring tasks to the machines and allowing for these human traits to shine.
No matter how much you spend on your security infrastructure, it won’t do a bit of good if the people you employ aren’t using it correctly. For example, you could install the best antivirus in the world, but if an employee falls for a spear-phishing scam and inadvertently gives their password to a hacker, it’s all for nothing. That’s why it’s more critical than ever to have a culture of security.
Basketball can teach us a lot about managing the cybersecurity of an enterprise: it takes teamwork. This is perhaps most evident as organizations seek to adopt zero trust principles. The zero trust concept is not new, but I hear more organizations discussing it than ever before — driven by a desire for greater security, more flexible access, and accelerated by the shift to remote work due to COVID-19. At its core, zero trust focuses on providing least-privilege access to only those users who need it. Put it this way: don't trust anyone and even when you do, only give them what they need right now. This security philosophy would make Jordan proud, but in that vein, zero trust would not work without another player: identity management (perhaps it’s the Pippen factor!).
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