Security is only as strong as its weakest link

By CIOReview | Friday, August 24, 2018

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The business and technology worlds have time and again reiterated the importance of state of the art enterprise security to protect data and keep cyber threats at bay. However, the rise of security breaches recently illustrates the fallibility of the current cybersecurity ecosystem. As the enterprise IT environment has moved beyond just traditional systems to mobile-driven strategies such as BYOD, conventional security implementations and safety measures are, simply put, insufficient.

In this scenario, business leaders need to revamp security. There have been increased identity breaches through attacks such as phishing scams through which attackers have appropriated identities and passwords. Apart from the fact that there are malicious applications that are created for stealing credentials, lack of action and drive for cybersecurity proves detrimental to security effectiveness. Black-hat hackers can get a clear picture of the cost that is invested into the cybersecurity of an organization. The attackers thrive on the prevalent laxity of internal teams in an organization and other users toward adhering to security best practices.

In order for organizations to prevent the cybersecurity breaches, they need to be able to challenge the way they approach security. With the sudden surge in the number of mobile endpoints, the security stance of an organization is highly jeopardized. In this scenario, it is imperative for decision makers to alter their cybersecurity strategy into one that is aligned with the present day requirements.

In the wake of reports that highlight the damages caused due to insider attacks, it is crucial for an organization to monitor every person and every entity that is using the organization’s network and endpoints. Zero trust has become a much-needed model for enterprise security. A model in which username and password are considered to be obsolete. The use of other means to verification, such as fingerprint and retinal scan can provide better security.

The strategy, budget, and priority has to align with identity risk management, instead of just placing a plethora of hardware to stop the spread of malware.