Discover How an Enterprise Cybersecurity Team Can Protect Your Organization’s Assets and Data

 Digital security affects all levels of business. As departments digitize and automate operations, the risks multiply. Everything from robotic process automation to massive data analytics has security implications. And as we shift to a remote workforce, enterprises face additional risks presented by home networks. As a result, security teams face additional pressure to reduce risk and prevent leaks.

Digital security is a priority for enterprises who understand the risks of a serious incident or data breach. A single incident could impact profit and growth, while the costs to remediate the situation can run into the millions.

Enterprises are responding to these threats by establishing or expanding the role of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). CISOs oversee a team that monitors risks and deploys necessary security strategies to minimize these risks. A CISO is an important business leader who works collaboratively with IT, audit, risk and legal departments to establish the necessary security technologies and processes.

But how do CISOs drive results and achieve compliance? What are the biggest security challenges and threats? And how can your security operations team continue to look forward rather than backward?

This article explores the important role of the CISO and your security operations team. We’ll also discuss today’s top security challenges and why your organization should consider partnering with a managed security service provider, or MSSP.

Security Operations in Today's Enterprises

The security needs of enterprise organizations are evolving. Our increased reliance on cloud based and IoT workplace technology requires the right people, processes and technology to continuously monitor and improve an organization's security posture. Organizations must align their teams to defend against risks and protect business critical data.

The Role of Security Operations

Security operations teams are tasked with monitoring and protecting assets, IP, business systems and personnel data. They serve as a central point of collaboration for preventing, detecting and analyzing security incidents.

The team often functions like a homicide detective, combing through alerts and trends to protect enterprise assets. With proactive monitoring, log analysis and root cause investigation, these teams ultimately find what’s causing the issue and take steps to remediate it—or alert their client.

The Role of IT

The skills and expertise of a dedicated security operations team differ from a traditional enterprise IT department. IT departments are responsible for the continuous delivery of high-quality end-user experiences and play a central role in data management and the delivery of advanced analytics.

Behind the scenes, they are critical for day-to-day operational support. By reading logs, writing scripts and developing a strong understanding of both Windows and Linux, they play a pivotal role in defining how an enterprise manages software and hardware.

IT operations and security operations experience overlaps in technology which creates the opportunity for tension and conflict. While the structure of each enterprise varies, it’s imperative to clearly define roles and responsibilities and facilitate collaboration between these two departments.

The Role of the CISO

While IT and security operations teams are focused on incidents, the CISO is responsible for the larger picture of risk and compliance. CISOs were once focused strictly on technology, but the role has evolved to focus on business and process. It’s a dimensional role that involves understanding enterprise assets, long-term objectives and the ability to build relationships with different business units.

CISOs mix technical skills and soft skills to facilitate digital security governance and build a culture where accountability for digital security falls on all employees. Security is not strictly a technology challenge, it’s a business challenge. Working collaboratively with adjacent departments such as IT, audit, risk and legal ensures that the right security technologies and processes are in place to protect the organization.

Top Challenges of Today and Tomorrow

As technology use increases, enterprise security teams are under more pressure to reduce risk and prevent and mitigate leaks. Companies strive to create more digital experiences—for both customers and employees—but they must also implement strong security procedures.

Lack of Resources

Business leaders and security teams are aware of the risks associated with external cybersecurity attacks. Threats such as executive impersonation, social engineering exploits and zero-day exploits require expertise and resources that many security teams lack.

Security professionals often feel like an island. They have the playbook, but don’t receive the necessary resources until an incident occurs. Enterprises should recognize the gaps in their defense against these threats and continually invest resources to ensure security practices are given appropriate attention.

Ransomware

Malicious software installed without your consent is incredibly common, lurking in useful applications and replicating itself across the Internet. Ransomware in particular shines a light on basic security practices all enterprises should be doing—backing up data, patching software regularly and enabling multi-factor authentication. These attacks are becoming more sophisticated and disruptive. Enterprises must take adequate steps to protect their perimeter and educate their employees about cybersecurity threats.

Insurance Costs

Cyber liability insurance helps companies recover from a data breach. It covers the cost of investigating, responding to and cleaning up damage caused by a cyberattack. Like any insurance policy, it’s a risk management tool that involves deciding which risks to manage, avoid, accept, control or transfer.

Cyber liability insurance has become exponentially more expensive to the point where some companies are leaving the industry entirely. Those that remain are pushing more and more responsibility to internal IT and security operations teams. Insurance is also pushing the industry forward by requiring companies to name a CISO, have a written incident response plan, and deploy multi-factor authentication and endpoint detection and response.

Security Challenges During the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic created additional risk for enterprises with employees working remotely. The traditional perimeter-based model no longer applies with BYOD and work from home, creating a patchwork of networks and systems that still must be kept secure.

Cyber criminals saw the pandemic as an opportunity to increase their attacks and exploit the vulnerabilities of employees working from home. According to a Deloitte study, 47% of individuals fell for phishing scams while working at home. With IT and security operations teams facing more sophisticated attacks, it’s a reminder that enterprise cybersecurity best practices should not be overlooked.

Upcoming Challenges Facing Security Operations

Industry regulations are also pushing companies to develop more robust digital protection. Currently, there is a patchwork of regulations by state and industry, but experts predict there will soon be more sweeping regulations at the federal level. Organizations should continually assess which laws and acts apply to them and modify their policies accordingly.

Outsourcing Your Security Operations

Having the right people, processes and technology in place to mitigate risk and ensure compliance is becoming increasingly difficult for in-house teams. An estimated 50% of enterprises don’t have a dedicated security operations team, and the tipping point is often a serious incident or data breach.

Enterprises must decide if they are willing to make the long-term investment for an internal security operations center. Few organizations have the expertise to manage the necessary systems and software, plus attracting and retaining top talent requires considerable resources. It’s usually ideal to partner with an MSSP to fill the gaps required to keep up with modern threats. This gives organizations the ability to expand their bench without burdening internal teams.

Partner Evaluation

Partnering with an MSSP isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Size, industry, geography and existing technology play a role in partner selection. An MSSP should be willing to customize services to suit your organization’s compliance requirements and governance policies.

First, consider their overall experience level. What is their breadth of experience across the entire team? Do they have only a few people with the expertise you need? New players are entering the market, but they may not have the experience level your enterprise needs.

Next, evaluate who is doing the work. Who is looking at your logs and analyzing threats? You probably don’t want a new employee or junior consultant responsible for protecting your data. Ideally, you want someone with training and perhaps certifications that apply to your industry.

Obtain clarity around your partners and critical services, strategy and response time. Assessment based consultants aren’t always available and probably aren’t ideal. A strong security operations team should operate around the clock, serving as an extension of your team to monitor and respond to security threats.

Find a Partner with a Comprehensive Breadth of Services

As enterprises digitize and automate operations, security teams must defend against increasingly sophisticated attacks to protect business critical data. It takes an experienced team to monitor, detect, investigate and respond to threats 24/7/365. Your security team needs the skills and resources to minimize risks, while your CISO must oversee security strategies and establish the necessary processes to keep your enterprise safe.

At TRG, we have established a track record of success with purpose-built security solutions. If your organization has been looking for support with managed security services, contact TRG to get in touch with our team. We’ll be happy to talk through your goals and develop a solution to help you achieve them.