Seven Touchpoints for Complete IT Security

If we look at the IT departments today, they have become very interesting! It is not just about computing and networks, there is more to it – including IT Security, risk management, access & identity dynamics, cloud, hybrid systems, threat intelligence and the list goes on as we proceed through this article. The leaders and heads of IT departments, including the Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) and Enterprise Security & Risk Professionals (S&R Professionals) need to be cognizant of the complete enterprise IT dynamics.

IT is highly complex and connected through dynamic technological elements. It is therefore, important to talk about each of those elements and how they add value to businesses – be it in terms of automation, efficiency or minimizing IT security risk. Seven aspects of IT Security that CISOs and Enterprise S&R Professionals should not ignore in order to achieve complete IT Security are as follows:

1. Stay a step ahead of the rest by timely update of solutions Take complete advantage of existing technology by keeping up with time and innovation, when it comes to the security portfolio of your organization. First and foremost, is to stay updated and upgrade the technology solutions. Updated solutions offer greater controls in terms of customization and optimization, helping IT departments stay on track with existing developments in information technology, compliance and business space.
2. Focus on Super Accounts as much on network border. Session monitoring and session playback are some of the features of Privilege Accounts that can go a long way in ensuring security of digital assets. Moving ahead of upgrades, it is crucial to keep a check on super accounts. Understanding how a privilege user enters the system – uses the devices and login credential can be instrumental in blocking suspicious entrants. It also arms organizations to close IT security related loops in the IT Systems. Therefore, checking super user accounts cannot be ignored. It is as important as keeping a check on network borders.
3. Make Cloud Security a shared responsibility. Cloud is gaining grounds! With single tenant (private) cloud infrastructure and Bring Your Own Encryption (BYOE) provisions, you can setup all necessary controls in ensuring safety. Companies should look at securing cloud based capabilities. It can be achieved by bringing your own encryption, going for single tenant cloud infrastructure, placing appropriate checks in access to cloud based servers.
4. Adopt SUBA to gain an edge in IT Security. Get complete picture of users’ action, rely on log data, data exfiltration and detect fraud and get a unified view of users’ activities. Another important technological check point that has come up recently is Security User Behaviour Analytics (SUBA). As a tool SUBA helps IT Admins with details of user logs, data access – enabling fraud detection.
5. Bring accurate insights with SIEM Employing SIEM in corporate setup to secures data, access to digital assets and generate reports for compliance purposes. Moving on from SUBA, an important aspect of technology monitoring is Security Information and Events Management (SIEM). It shows a complete picture of logs, accesses to various applications and related details. It helps in achieving compliance and discourage undesired access.
6. Don’t underestimate power of ‘Compliance’. Many Government regulations enforce adoption of basic security practices in bringing complete enterprise security across industry. Complying to regulations is a must. Compliances are the basic guidelines that are to be followed to ensure complete IT Security. Organizations must never underestimate the power of compliance in matter of IT Security.
7. Aim for achieving Data Security. Big Data Management & its Security go hand-in-hand, therefore, taking extra steps to achieve data security by bringing strategic insights, tools and custom data-management technologies is crucial. The data generated in an organization differs as each organization is unique depending on user base, industry and business objectives. Corporate insights need to be safeguarded from cyber and IT thefts.

IT Security is not static, it grows as the digital dimensions grow. There is more being added to this list as you read this article, stay tuned this space to learn more!