Trend Micro’s four pillars of cybersecurity strategy
As digital transformation picks up the pace, so too does the evolution of cybersecurity risks to those increasingly digital institutions.
Gone are the days when cyber attacks were amateurish probes into unsecured systems; in fact, serious cyber attacks on Australian businesses have almost doubled since last year.
The threats may be greater than ever, but there are steps that businesses can and should take to protect their data systems – and the privacy of their customers.
There are four pillars that should prop up every company's cybersecurity strategy, and guide its implementation throughout any organisation.
Prediction: Staying a few steps ahead
Aircraft pilots, particularly those flying at night, can often fall victim to what's called the false horizon effect.
They mistakenly think a series of lights in the distance as the horizon, become disoriented and endanger their passengers – if not for the aviation instruments that tell them otherwise.
Similarly, the enterprise security cloud can act as the instrumentation for companies looking to combat cybersecurity.
The level of visibility and connectivity of the cloud allows it to pool various shapes of data from across a business, and channel this data to AI components to detect patterns and predict possible future outcomes.
Through this level of predictive analysis, businesses can better assess risk, anticipate threats and be more informed in their decisions, making prediction a necessary pre-emptive component to any business' security strategy.
Prevention: It's better than cure
Research shows that the global average cost of a security breach to an organisation is almost US$4 million, meaning hackers and cyber attackers continue to follow the money and hit businesses where it hurts the most.
But two strategies can help prevent unwarranted attacks: system hardening to eliminate the number of entry points accessible by outsiders, and network isolation to ensure that a compromise in one sector will not affect the entire ecosystem.
On top of that, an analytics-driven system run on the cloud should be able to detect threats on the fly and engage automated real-time protection, fending off attacks before they penetrate even the first layer of defences.
Prevention may seem difficult but will ultimately pay off as businesses come under pressure to stay resilient and protect their networks.
Detection: Powered by artificial intelligence
For many businesses, the time between when a breach happens and when they detect it is way too long, but employing teams to constantly comb networks to detect intrusions is a costly and timely affair.
Automated cloud solutions leverage constant monitoring, analytics, and AI algorithms to watch networks and workloads across multiple cloud or hybrid cloud systems, detecting anomalies and attacks even as they happen.
Not only is detection faster and more accurate, but such security platforms also score the riskiness of user behaviours across the network and alert teams to any potential breach.
This reduces time to detection, allows teams to confirm and prioritise threats, and provides the means for more accurate containment – resulting in stronger risk management throughout the business.
Response: Swift, effective and AI-supported
But more than anything, businesses need to ensure that they have policies in place that prioritise the execution of their cybersecurity strategies, and processes to address weaknesses within and without after an attempted attack.
The best method to combat cybersecurity, at the end of the day, is still awareness, and businesses must make it a priority to educate and remediate flaws within departments, parties and networks within their organisation – or remain hampered in their ability to protect their networks.
As more and more data points and networks of businesses are connected digitally to the cloud, the effort it puts into prediction, prevention, detection and response to cyber attacks will ultimately determine its effectiveness of combating today's digital menaces.
