June 6, 2017

Has Cybersecurity Become Too Reactive in this Day and Age?

By Josh Hamilton

Cybersecurity Too Reactive? Cybersecurity today has become far too reactive. The constant innovation of hackers has meant that defenses are made up of a patchwork of web application firewalls, end-point protection, data-loss protection, and more. This can lead to a combination of end-point protections that don’t function well as a whole. John Davis, CSO of […]

Cybersecurity Too Reactive?

Cybersecurity today has become far too reactive. The constant innovation of hackers has meant that defenses are made up of a patchwork of web application firewalls, end-point protection, data-loss protection, and more. This can lead to a combination of end-point protections that don’t function well as a whole.

cybersecurity leadership

John Davis, CSO of Palo Alto Networks’ federal division, suggested that too many firms have given in to the hackers by resigning themselves to this reactionary approach. They accept that the hackers will access their network and therefore focus their time and resources on minimizing the damage. “Some of our industry has given up on the ability to prevent and is focused primarily on detection and response, which means, with a mindset like that, it means you’re always involved in cleaning up aisle nine, as some people like to say.”

Instead, he urges companies to adopt a more forward-thinking approach, an enterprise-wide culture that starts from the top. “Look at the headlines—breach after breach after breach. And so, these issues today are becoming CEO and boardroom issues. They are not dealt with strictly in the environment of the IT world.”

A recent Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey (sponsored by VMWare) found that nearly half of C-suite respondents felt that cybersecurity measures were a hindrance to critical functions, delayed product launches, and stifled innovation. Given that average costs for each lost or stolen record containing sensitive and confidential data hit $158 this year, it seems counterintuitive to adopt a reactionary security policy that drains time, money, and resources.

Jim Payne at Ring Central argues that this culture leads management to becoming apathetic and resentful of cybersecurity spending, fuelling a reactive culture rather than a proactive one. By allocating your cybersecurity budget to plan ahead, you allow IT executives to prioritize against the greatest threats and deploy next generation defenses before potential breaches are exposed.

Effective planning and prioritization also gives IT a fighting chance of deploying flexible, adaptive solutions versus asking management to allocate budget for cybersecurity that will be outmoded by the time it is deployed,” says Payne.

Another study performed by the EIU found that a proactive, enterprise-wide cybersecurity strategy could reduce the growth of cyber attacks and breaches by 53% over comparable firms.

cyber reaction

Board engagement is key to this strategy succeeding: only the C-suite has the influence and resources to effect a truly efficient and effective transformation of cybersecurity policy. Jeffrey Ritter, author of Achieving Digital Trust, states that, “Boards become actively involved in security when they realize that security drives revenues and customer loyalty… If partners or customers are not confident about how secure your business is, they will decide to not do business with you.”

As well as changing policy from within, there are measures that can be taken to find bugs that you miss, such as “bug bounty” programs—offering rewards to ethical hackers for discovering flaws before they can be taken advantage of.

This isn’t a change that can be made overnight. It takes time and effort to develop good security governance across an entire organization. However, with a forward-thinking and education-driven security policy, you can expect to see significant savings and a reduction in cybersecurity breaches. It is critical that this culture is adopted and driven from the top down, or the reactive and unreliable approach may start to creep back in.

Sponsored series courtesy of Ring Central 

By Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton ​is an aspiring journalist and writer who has written for a number of publications​ involving Cloud computing, Fintech and Legaltech​. ​Josh has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Law​ from ​Queen's University in Belfast​​. Studies included, Politics of Sustainable Development, European Law, Modern Political Theory and Law of Ethics​.
Steve Prentice

Get Smarter – The Era of Microlearning 

The Era of Microlearning Becoming employable and then staying employable requires ongoing, up to date [...]
Read more

AI at the Gate: Navigating the Future of Cybersecurity with SonicWall’s Bobby Cornwell

Navigating the Future of Cybersecurity In the face of the digital age’s advancements, AI’s role [...]
Read more

5 Azure Cost Management Strategies

What Is Azure Cost Management? Azure cost management refers to the practices and processes that [...]
Read more

Exploring SaaS Directories: The Path to Optimal Software Selection

Exploring the Landscape of SaaS Directories SaaS directories are vital in today’s digital age, serving [...]
Read more

A.I. is Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be…At Least Not Yet!

Exploring AI’s Potential: The Gap Between Aspiration and Reality Recently Samsung releases its new Galaxy [...]
Read more
Steve Prentice

Episode 19: Why AWS Needs to Become Opinionated about FinOps

On today’s episode of the CloudTweaks podcast, Steve Prentice chats with Rahul Subramaniam, CEO at CloudFix [...]
Read more

SPONSORS

Interviews and Thought Leadership

AI at the Gate: Navigating the Future of Cybersecurity with SonicWall’s Bobby Cornwell

Navigating the Future of Cybersecurity In the face of the digital age’s advancements, AI’s role in cybersecurity presents both innovation and challenges. CloudTweaks welcomes a Q&A with Bobby Cornwell, Vice [...]
Read more
Jeff DeVerter

Charting the Course: An Interview with Rackspace’s Jeff DeVerter on AI and Cloud Innovation

Rackspace’s Jeff DeVerter on AI & Cloud Innovation In an insightful conversation with CloudTweaks, Jeff DeVerter, a seasoned IT and technology veteran with over 25 years of experience, sheds light [...]
Read more

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Insurance Claims Analytics Software Development

Enhancing Insurance Claims Analysis with AI Technology Nowadays, digital technology affects all aspects of our everyday lives, and the insurance [...]
Read more

Top Cloud Cost Optimization Strategies for Multi-Cloud Environments

The age-old saying “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” has found a new resonance in today’s cloud landscape. [...]
Read more

How AI is strengthening XDR to consolidate tech stacks

Deciphering weak telemetry signals by using AI to analyze behaviors and detect threats in real time is the future of [...]
Read more

SPONSOR PARTNER

Explore top-tier education with exclusive savings on online courses from MIT, Oxford, and Harvard through our e-learning sponsor. Elevate your career with world-class knowledge. Start now!
© 2024 CloudTweaks. All rights reserved.