Keeping up with cyber attackers, hackers, hacktivists, and cyber thieves is a daunting task. According to Robert S. Mueller, III, Director at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Technology is moving so rapidly that from a security perspective, it is difficult to keep up. Consider the evolution of cyber crime in just the past decade."
Speaking in San Francisco at the RSA Cyber Security Conference, Muller was heralding the needfor security experts to be ready. The consequences of a security breach could be significant: "The end result of these developments is that we are losing data. We are losing money. We are losing ideas and we are losing innovation. And as citizens, we are increasingly vulnerable to losing our information," he concluded. "Together we must find a way to stop the bleeding."
Consider this:
- Most of the popular security controls and security management tools that are in use today were conceived for a completely different computing environment.
- Firewalls, intrusion prevention and other security controls are hard to keep configured securely in rapidly changing and complex networks.
- Network complexity has been increasing exponentially for the past decade; virtualization of network environments is well underway where we've hit the 50% point for virtualized systems. Mobile systems are exploding.
- Vulnerability scanners, security event management systems, configuration management systems and other management tools now have to deal with much more info than ever before and they are breaking down.
In government, lengthy procurement cycles and budget constraints present added challenges for adopting state-of-the-art-security solutions. And when you finally get something implemented, it's no longer cutting edge –technologies have evolved and you are once again behind the times.
Given the speed of change, it’s imperative that any technology you implement be flexible and adaptable. You need a cyber security partner that helps you leverage your existing defenses, making them more effective at minimizing vulnerabilities and threats.
Look for:
- Visibility– First and foremost you need to see what's happening on your network so you know how to protect it. With risk modeling and attack simulation you can conduct ‘virtual penetration tests’ and see your network from an attacker’s point of view.
- Information– Continuously monitor your entire network, and apply predictive analytics, based on your unique network content, to identify potential attack paths and remediation recommendations so you can eliminate vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
- Automation– Administer daily security and compliance management tasks such as firewall audits and optimization, vulnerability management, threat management, and secure change planning with minimal effort. All this allows you to focus limited resources on key business services and initiatives.
- Compatibility– Correlate information from network devices, vulnerability assessments and threat intelligence for holistic view of the network. Skybox Security works with more devicesthan any other solution.
- Speed– Reduce potential downtime due to configuration errors, attacks and breaches while managing large-scale, complex networks so you always have situational awareness and control, while keeping services up and running.
For those working in the government or defense sectors, time may not be on your side. But choosing a solution that solves today's problems and prepares you for the future will help you beat the rate of change. Defend your network by connecting your existing security tools to a solution that lets you proactively manage risks.
