It’s time to get proactive about enterprise security

Did you know that: 

• Over 75% of professionals think that the speed and scale of cyber-attacks will increase even beyond what we are seeing today (Source: Darktrace & Forrester) 
• It takes around 56 days for an organization to detect a breach (Source: M-trends report) 

In the modern digitized world, cyber security threats have also increased dramatically and it’s becoming harder to identify them in time to act. This is a massive problem because of the sheer scale of damage that such attacks could precipitate, especially in the prevailing geopolitical climate!  

Cyber-attacks can lead to the failure of military equipment, electrical blackouts, national data security breaches, and disruption of computer and mobile networks. Cybersecurity threats manifest themselves in many ways and there are an array of problems that enterprises need to be conscious of. These include: 

• Sophisticated phishing attacks 
• Evolved ransomware threats
• Malicious crypto mining
• Attacks on IoT devices and the underlying infrastructure  
• Security risks to smart medical devices and records  
• Cyberattacks on connected cars and autonomous vehicles  
• Insider threats due to deliberate or negligent “bad behaviour” by employees or contractors 

 While most organizations are aware of these threats, for years cybersecurity has been dealt with a reactive approach. The incidents were attended to after discovery. That’s the same as trying to plug a hole in a boat that has already started taking on water. On the contrary, the proactive approach ensures that the hole in your cybersecurity never happens. All it needs is to discover the security vulnerabilities like unpatched applications, unauthorized user access to sensitive information, weak passwords, misconfigured firewalls, and more. While cyber threats are getting more serious, it is time to adopt a proactive approach to cybersecurity. 

What is proactive security? 

It focuses on the prevention of cyber-incidents; for example detection and response actions are taken before any malware enters the enterprise or exploits the vulnerabilities. Proactive security often requires specifically built applications for the detection of potential attacks before they turn into cyber attacks. Another important aspect of proactive security is that it provides key vulnerability insights so that the necessary remedial actions can be taken by administrators. Proactive security focuses on aspects like: 

• Regular training on security awareness 
• Penetration testing 
• Threat intelligence
• Intrusion prevention with AI and machine learning 

What is reactive security? 

It is the process of evaluating and responding to threats that have already been raised within the system. It focuses on building defence strategies against common cybersecurity risks and taking corrective measures. Reactive security is based on the conventional approach of fixing the system after it is broken. Reactive security covers: 

• Most Anti-malware and anti-spam solutions 
• Incidence response and forensics
• Evaluation of anomalies  

Benefits of Proactive security

• Identify vulnerabilities before attackers find them 
   The proactive approach is built on the existing measures of reactive security. This holistic approach ensures that all the possible barriers are in place and prevent the exposure of accidental data and exploitation of vulnerabilities.  
• Stay compliant 
  The proactive approach ensures that there are multiple defence layers of security. When proactive security is adopted, it is vital to understand the risk levels, analyze the risks and determine the best practices to mitigate risks. It is in line with various laws of data protection that require privacy and security by design. 
• Seamlessly uncover insider threats 
  The latest data breach investigation research report from Verizon 2021 indicated that insiders are responsible for around 22% of security threats. While reactive cybersecurity strategies address external threats to the organization, a proactive approach allows you to look inwards and stop insider threats too.  
• Reduce investigation and incident response costs 
  A proactive approach ensures the timely identification of cyber security threats. The early identification of insider and outsider threats can help reduce turnaround time and price during an incident. Moreover, there will be no waste of time looking and contacting the investigative agencies to resolve the cybersecurity issues. 
• Prevention of crime  
  One of the biggest benefits of a proactive approach is a better ability to prevent criminal acts. Rather than always living in fear, a proactive plan identifies the upcoming threats and allows you to detect any kind of abnormalities and malicious activities.  

Reactive Versus Proactive Approach 

Reactive Security 

The reactive approach will only react or respond to deal with the threats and damages. This approach is no longer effective as a cybersecurity method and can only be used in combination with proactive security techniques. Some of the reactive security measures include: 

•  Incident response planning
• Reporting and investigation 

Proactive Security 

A proactive approach is useful in predicting and identifying the potential threats before their occurrence, allowing cybersecurity teams to mitigate cyber-attacks before any damage. Some of the proactive security measures include: 

• Threat hunting 
  Cyber threat hunting is the method of proactively searching different networks to identify and isolate advanced threats on an ongoing basis. The aim is to spot issues early and find relevant security solutions. This process usually involves correlating data from many sources to zero in on the most vulnerable spots of the system. 
• Ethical hacking 
  Just like Google announced that they employ hackers to break their security system, ethical hacking has become a buzzword in the technology world. It is also called penetration testing. Rather than stepping into a cybercriminal mindset, ethical hackers perform the attacks with the right intentions to help the companies. They identify the weaknesses of the network by exposing them to the organizations which can then utilize the learning to strengthen the security system. 
• Network and Endpoint monitoring
  It includes an automated program that checks for the system’s irregularities and instantly reports the potential issues. These programs scan for malware invasions and system errors to notify in real-time in case of any occurrence of errors. The monitoring of endpoint involves continuous checking of remote devices security that have access to business accounts such as laptops, mobile devices, servers, tablets, etc. Endpoints are the easiest way for cybercriminals to access the network. While these endpoints have anti-virus software, the endpoint monitoring strategy involves effective security tools, related logs, detection of hidden threats, ensuring the recovery of patches, and more. 

Take your cybersecurity to the next level with us 

While a reactive approach resolves the issues up to a certain extent but it is only one part of the puzzle. With the increasing complexity of cyber threats, it is important to adopt a well-rounded approach to mitigate security risks. With the current advancements in self-learning AI, Darktrace protects against a variety of unpredictable and unknown threats.  

The self-learning capabilities help in analyzing the historical cyber-attack patterns to predict the next threat.  The ability of Darktrace to distinguish between benign and malicious behaviour helps in identifying the potential cyber-attacks that would otherwise go unnoticed. Now is the time to stay ahead of cyber threats and strengthen your security posture with Novigo Solutions. Get started now.