How to navigate the changing landscape of cybersecurity

The world of cybersecurity has changed drastically over the past couple of decades. We have evolved from a world of keystroke logging and trojans to a universe of full fledged ransomware and cyber warfare. From a governmental, corporate and personal standpoint, the increasing frequency of cyber attacks combined with their severity is unnerving, to say the least. Add to that the fact that the cybersecurity workforce is expected to see a shortage of 1.8 million employees in 2022, and the unsettling feelings are magnified.

As malicious threats are becoming more prominent, and perpetrators salivate at the newfound opportunities to make an impact, here are some ways that industry experts are approaching the modern landscape of cyber security:

Incident response

The concept of incident response is predicated on a harsh truth: attacks will happen. With today’s massive, unprecedented volume of cyber attacks, the acceptance that breaches will occur is the new  reality. With that acceptance, and the recognition that accelerating response is critical, comes the basis of an effective strategy. Companies like Siemplify have seen great success in this approach. By accepting that an attack will occasionally slip past the front lines, you are able to bolster the other end, minimizing any amount of damage that can occur as a result of any given attack.  

Critical to this approach is focusing on understanding the complete threat storyline and arming analysts with tools that connect the many controls across security operations to accelerate response.  By minimizing an attack’s damage, you will save serious money in the long run that it would have spent making up lost ground and any other damage control that comes as a result of a major attack.

Premonitions

Contrary to the ideology of incidence response platforms, some people believe predicating your cyber security plan around predictions is the method by which you prevent attacks from happening in the first place. Groups like roots9b, for example, operate within this framework. The general belief is this: single out planned attacks or already existing attacks by following a premonition of sorts. These premonitions come by means of industry trends and expert insights. Having a comprehensive understanding of what may come can provide corporate networks with the means to defend themselves from any given angle before it is exposed to individuals with bad intentions.

Combine and conquer

Sometimes, recruiting the tools and ideas of several cybersecurity approaches and putting them into one cybersecurity strategy is ideal. It gives you (individually or collectively) a multifaceted approach for protection, defense and mitigation. Companies like Palo Alto Networks consider this their bread and butter approach. By fusing together one platform that represents many tools (firewall, endpoint protection, etc.), companies strategizing will be covering all bases. Some companies, on the other hand, are better off with a specialized approach that tailors to their specific vulnerabilities, depending on their industry.

Cyberspace is an increasingly challenging place to navigate. There is a substantial rise in the occurrence of threats along with their unprecedentedly severe consequences. On top of that, the workforce in cybersecurity is drastically understaffed worldwide, and the situation is not getting any better.

That being said, it is of the essence that the cybersecurity analysts that we do have are equipped with the most effective strategy for their respective companies or clients, and can tailormake a solution on a minute’s notice. By utilizing an incident response platform, companies can mitigate damage and truly nip an infiltration in the bud from the get go. By making security decisions on an educated premonition, you are betting on stopping a threat before it has the chance to approach. Combining the tools and efforts of several cybersecurity tools can be conducive to creating a multifaceted approach, but lacks in catering to a given company’s specific needs. Either way, investing in a thorough cybersecurity plan is an ROI you can see from a mile away.