centre of attention
In addition, the seemingly ever
increasing number of devices used
by employees to undertake tasks ‘on
the go’ means that private company
information, once kept relatively safe
in the preserve of the data centre,
is now scattered across a range of
endpoints (employee laptops, tablets,
and smartphones). Each additional
device provides another potential
entry point for cyber criminals, or
an opportunity for careless usage
to result in a compromise of critical
user credentials and/or data loss.
So how can CIOs and CISOs explain
the return on investment for a
comprehensive security strategy in
purely financial terms?
The business case for security
The good news is that evidence from
studies such as the Verizon 2015
Data Breach Investigations Report
help to provide justification for data
loss prevention methods – the total
number of compromised records
drives the total cost of a data breach,
because more widespread breaches
result in a greater loss of customer
trust. This means that mitigating
factors (including data loss prevention
measures) effectively reduce total
breach cost by reducing the total
number of records lost.
Simply put, each lost record costs
the enterprise money. So, while
data loss prevention measures may
not eradicate breaches, their value
lies in minimising the total number
of records lost, and therefore the
overall financial damage. Perhaps
most importantly, 40 per cent of the
data loss incidents examined by the
Council on Cybersecurity could have
been prevented or mitigated by the
following ‘quick win’ measures.
To gain support from the C-Suite,
mitigation strategies should also
focus on incidents that could cause
the CEO to make public statements
or, can affect the valuation of the
company. With that in mind, solutions
and mitigation strategies should focus
on approaches that are meaningful
and actionable.
50 per cent effective in identifying
malware. That said, AV still remains
a valuable form of defence when
implemented as part of a multilayered security stack, and in
many cases is a requirement for
regulatory compliance.
Multi-factor authentication
Real time data recovery
The idea behind multi-factor
authentication is that it embraces a
‘defence-in-depth’ security practice
by adding another layer of defence to
login processes. An example of two
factor authentication (2FA) requires
at least two independent credentials
from the user – ‘something you
know and something you have’ – a
password (something you know)
and your bank card (something you
have), for example. These extra layers
of defence make it more difficult
for hackers to break into accounts,
because even if one of the factors is
compromised, a barrier to access still
remains in place.
Endpoint back up provides
complete visibility and control over
company data, by continuously and
automatically backing up the data
stored across a company’s entire
range of endpoint devices. This not
only provides security professionals
with the ability to identify suspicious
user behaviour and prevent data
loss through malicious activity on
their behalf, it also guards against
one of the biggest security threats
out there – ransomware.
Ransomware works by encrypting
all of the data on infected devices,
then demanding the payment of a
‘ransom’ to a cyber criminal in order to
unscramble the data. For businesses
that do not have a back up solution in
place, ransomware attacks can result
in huge financial losses due to the
inability to access your own data files.
However, with a real time recovery
solution focused on endpoints, all the
backed up data can be restored by
the end user within a few minutes,
keeping downtime to a minimum.
To conclude, while the number
of data breaches is increasing to
the point where it is likely that most
companies will fall victim at some
point, implementing a multi-layered
security strategy can effectively
mitigate the damage that is caused
as a result. Also, by partnering with
best-in-class security companies
and implementing focused, action
oriented solutions, the C-Suite can
support a solid ROI.
Antivirus protection
In times gone by, back when mission
critical data was stored within the
confines of the data centre, the
traditional antivirus firewall offered
a far more effective method of
protection. Antivirus (AV) software
scans files to detect and remove
malicious software by examining
a database of known viruses or
identifying suspicious behaviour. Many
of these approaches are signature
based that don’t defend against the
newest malware threats.
This means that the exponential
growth of sophisticated malware
types means that keeping the
database up to date is a key
challenge for antivirus providers and
users, and has led industry experts
to suggest that AV software is only
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