Today’s threat landscape is unrecognisable from the one that we knew five years ago. Cybercriminals are no longer pimply teenagers in basements, but sophisticated, well equipped and well-funded thieves.
Organised crime and nation states play a role too, funding the development of cyber weapons and capabilities, all with two aims in mind – stealing your most sensitive data or generating revenue. Malware toolkits are brazenly sold online, allowing even those crooks with minimal technical ability to start making a profit off cybercrime. Even more outrageous, many of these crimeware sellers offer service and support.
Jayson O’Reilly, director of sales and innovation at DRS, says the vectors through which cyber criminals attack have also changed, moving from infrastructure, to the user themselves and the endpoint.
The insider threat has been well documented he says. “Not only your careless user who leaves a flash drive or laptop lying around unguarded, but malicious insiders, such as disgruntled ex-staff who will deliberately sell or give away your most private information. Social engineering too is a factor, targeting individuals within your business, with mails that appear so genuine, even the most sceptical of us can be fooled.”
He says in this way, the endpoint is essentially the new perimeter, and must be secured at all costs. “Keeping all your information and systems safe has never been trickier. Security is a catch-up game at best, with the criminals always having the upper hand. Unless you want your company to be the next breach headline, new tools and tactics must be used to prevent data breaches.”
O’Reilly adds that for some time, DRS has recommended a layered approach to security, which includes firewalls, anti-virus, IPS, DLP and the expected elements.
“With the perimeter becoming the new focus, we need to revise traditional thinking, and develop a layered approach for the endpoints themselves. Don’t get me wrong, all those other tools still have their place in the security ecosystem, but more focus on the endpoint is needed, and this includes solid authentication beyond the password, encryption of the most private company data, regardless of where in the organisation it resides, and the best anti-malware solutions that offer proactive defence.”
Moreover, in order to effectively defend this new perimeter, O’Reilly says other important considerations must be taken. “End users must be aware of the tools in place, IT policies and processes must be laid out, centrally, and of course let’s not forget integration between security services, hardware and software.”
Only with tight integration between a business’ security software and the hardware it runs on, can authentication credentials and encryption keys be properly monitored and maintained, and the systems monitored to ensure their integrity, he explains.
He says concentrating on these three areas will ensure the maximum endpoint security for any organisation, and will help the businesses adhere to the ever tightening compliance and regulatory environment. “Compliance and security do not have to be cumbersome or disruptive to the business. DRS offers several endpoint solutions that will protect a businesses’ data wherever it is, and no matter who is using it, without impacting on productivity.”
