Common security pain points can be addressed with layered security

With technology playing an increasingly important role in everyday life, cybercrime has evolved to become the work of sophisticated cyber gangs instead of a single actor. As hacker groups grow more active, their attacks have become more advanced and effective at stealing sensitive corporate data.

Because of the increased pressure being put on enterprise data resources, CTOs and IT administrators need to streamline their focus and increase their network defenses. A large part of creating a stronger cybersecurity solution is realizing that defense is not static, but something that grows and changes continuously. In an effort to improve the corporate security landscape, IBM has released a list common pain points facing businesses and ways to address those challenges in order to start winning the war against cybercriminals.

1) Security’s level of difficulty
Many companies try to bypass the heavy lifting required to create a truly strong defense solution and instead put their faith in the newest tools that promise to be the answer to all of their security woes. The result is businesses ending up with disjointed strategies cobbled together from multiple vendors that don’t integrate with one another or provide insight into the right types of data, leaving the door wide open for hackers.

Instead of looking for a silver bullet, enterprises need to go back to basics. Creating a solid defense foundation is hard work, but once the work is complete the result is a much stronger strategy. An inventory of current solutions should be taken and those that are not effective should be removed. Programs with known vulnerabilities should be patched, and privileged users monitored so risks can be identified and gotten under control.

2) Cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated all the time
According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, more than 80 percent of modern cyber attacks are the work of organized crime rings, rendering traditional cybersecurity solutions practically useless. Most current malicious programs wait undetected in systems for weeks, even months while so-called protective tools completely miss them.

In order to stop these increasingly sophisticated threats from stealing sensitive data, businesses need to be able to perform network analysis and detect any anomalies in their systems to identify unknown threats and advanced malware. Both minor and major anomalies – like spikes in traffic at unusual hours or repeated login attempts – should be taken into consideration as anything that seems off might be the necessary clue that leads to catching a breach early. Once these anomalies are spotted, businesses must work quickly to mitigate the effects of an attack and save as much data as possible.

3) Lack of collaboration
One of the reasons hackers have become so effective is because cybercriminal groups talk to one another, sharing secrets and tips of the trade. The good guys need to start collaborating with one another in the same way to prevent the breaches that affect all businesses instead of trying to go it alone. IBM made 70 terabytes of data on cyberattacks available to the public in an effort to start a conversation on cybersecurity, and within just 30 days thousands of people have logged in to try and increase their understanding about current threats, as well as to share their own threat data and create new ways to combat hackers.

One of the best ways businesses can create a strong security foundation is to implement a endpoint security solution and ensure that multiple forms of defense are working together in concert to protect sensitive assets. Solutions like Faronics Anti-Virus offers traditional levels of protection, as well as Anti-Spyware, Anti-Rootkit, Anti-Virus and Web filtering. Layered security addresses many of the pain points experienced by enterprises as they try to create a more effective protection strategy.