Solutions Review’s Contributed Content Series is a collection of contributed articles written by thought leaders in enterprise software categories. Nima Baiati of Lenovo answers the question on everyone’s mind: “Is AI Going to Change Everything in Cybersecurity?” Yes… but not like you think!

Perhaps not since Gutenberg’s printing press has a technology simultaneously created as much uncertainty, doubt, and fear of missing out as Artificial Intelligence (AI). There is enormous potential for disruption and productivity, particularly in cybersecurity, where the stakes for enterprises are already high and continually rising.

However, with that being said, chief technology officers (CTOs) and chief security officers (CSOs) have no more reason to panic or stress than usual.

Is AI Going to Change Everything in Cybersecurity? Yes! But Not Like You Think.

Better Spears, Better Shields

Security has always been a tough game, and there’s no reason to believe it’s going to get any easier. It is undoubtedly concerning that Generative AI (GAI) has the potential to provide malicious individuals with more advanced capabilities. Passwords may be compromised more readily, deepfakes could exploit vulnerabilities in social engineering, and hackers might enhance their malware with greater ingenuity, resulting in an acceleration of cyber-attacks.

Nevertheless, the good news is the same tools available to potential attackers will also be in the hands of defenders. This means an increasing number of cybersecurity activities can be automated and, therefore, more efficient. AI is being used for better risk analysis, threat detection, and automating alerts and responses. AI can also help balance security and user experience (UX) by analyzing behavioral data and simplifying verification— this is critical because an overly secure gate ceases to function as a serviceable passageway.

The new efficiencies gained by AI-enabled cybersecurity tools can help address the critical shortage of skilled labor in the field. Smaller organizations, such as small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and educational institutions, that lack the budgets and resources of government and large enterprises, will be able to automate more security solutions and become somewhat harder targets. Overall, while technology advances, the core infrastructure of every organization’s security system will remain constant.

The Hands That Make and Hold the Shields

People, not technology, are the most critical components of any security system. A castle may have impregnable walls, but they do not matter very much if the guards are poorly trained, complacent, or corruptible. For hackers, a misappropriated key is always better than a battering ram.

Now, more than ever, organizations need to build better security cultures, especially since one of the biggest challenges with making systems and companies secure starts with people. Employees must be equipped with the training and support to maintain constant awareness of the nature of threats and vigilance against attacks. For example, social engineering for phishing attacks is becoming much more sophisticated because of deepfakes, but they can still be defeated when employees adhere to proper protocols.

Even more critical than end-user vigilance is security by design. Not only should software be reviewed for security, but it should also be built with security embedded in it. Device manufacturers and purchasers must make better decisions based on security outcomes, rather than just form, function, and cost. Computer original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), for example, should provide protection throughout the lifecycle of a device. This includes a transparent and secure supply chain to protect devices from the bottom up, defending against below-the-operating-system threats like a basic input/output system (BIOS) attack, and ensuring data protection between the operating system and the cloud. Buyers of computing devices who don’t audit for security by design and rely too much on after-market or bolted-on security should be aware of the risk they assume.

AI for All

The only thing limiting the impact of AI is our imagination. The ability to exponentially process more data and make more decisions will change everything for everyone, similar to how the internal combustion engine and electricity empowered us to do more, faster.

This is a positive development because there are vastly more people striving to achieve good outcomes than bad actors looking to steal data or destroy value. However, to protect our organizations and harness the benefits of AI, we will need good decisions and vigilant behavior.

A critical aspect is ensuring that security is intrinsically built into every stage of development and deployment. Each organization will have its own security needs, frameworks, and different types of security threats, so it will be important for organizations to identify those nuances. When examining devices, for example, it is vital to integrate security into all layers of the platform: supply chain, below-operating system, and above-operating system.

Not all data can be protected equally, and the goal of achieving zero cybersecurity breaches is simply unattainable, given the vast threat of the landscape. Therefore, business leaders and security experts must make strategic decisions about their prime concerns and how to protect their assets. Overall, AI tools that support security-minded cultures with the right priorities will be able to achieve better defenses.

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Solutions Review’s Contributed Content Series is a collection of contributed articles written by thought leaders in enterprise software categories. John Wilson of Fortra’s Agari breaks down common social media scams, their impact on businesses, and how to protect yourself against them.

Social media has become the proverbial double-edged sword, equal parts meaningful connection, and highly convincing fraud. The challenge is that it’s sometimes hard to spot the difference. Threat actors use social media to target companies and individuals alike with the goal of stealing information they can monetize or hocking lookalike goods. As a Senior Fellow for Threat Research, I work daily with those targeted by these criminals to take down their scams.

According to research from Fortra’s PhishLabs, attacks on businesses were nearly 19 percent more common in Q4 of 2022 than in the same quarter of 2021. Companies faced an average of 73 attacks per month on their social channels. On the consumer side, the Federal Trade Commission found that in 2022, end-users lost $1.2 billion as a result of scams originating on social media. Fraudsters worldwide are flocking to these platforms as an attractive attack vector. It’s easy to see why: they offer the ability to reach a mass audience quickly and at a very low cost.

Here, we’ll highlight the most common scams and how to protect yourself, your organization, and your data.

Social Media Scams Impacting Businesses and Individuals Today

Threat Actors Excel at Social Engineering

Social engineering is the basis for every social media scam. A threat actor’s goal is to lull a target into trusting what they see or hear so they lower their guard and ignore red flags. Cyber-criminals can easily set up convincing spoofed websites with pilfered IP, including legitimate-looking images, logos, and text.

Threats can arise through ads or direct messages that take someone to a malicious website or ask them to call a phone number. These venues seek to capture credentials, sell you imposter goods, or defraud you in another creative way.

Social Media Scams Affecting Individuals

I received a Facebook notification that a recently deceased friend was tagged in a post. When I viewed the post, I was horrified that it used a “look who just died” video lure, asking victims to provide their credentials to view the video. Once the criminals have end-user login details, they’re free to perpetuate further bad behavior.

Naturally, I reported it to Facebook right away, praying that the post would be removed before my friend’s grieving widow had to endure the additional pain of seeing her deceased husband’s account used in this way.

Social Media Scams Affecting Businesses

Attackers can interact with your employees, customers, and partners on social media. According to research, banking is the most frequently targeted industry, followed by retail and financial services.

Social media scams can attack organizations from different angles. A threat actor could lure customers into fraudulent campaigns or impersonate an executive. Employees using your corporate network can also check personal social accounts during the workday and unwittingly download malware, including ransomware, that spreads from their computer to other devices on the corporate network.

• Impersonation: In another report, impersonation was cited as the top risk for businesses, representing 36.4 percent of threats assessed. Impersonation ploys appear to be credible and can include scammers masquerading as executives.
• Counterfeit campaigns: One particular form of impersonation includes counterfeit retail ads that lure customers to a malicious website or fake social media page. These start with ads for an amazing deal, usually with some urgency attached to ‘act now’ before the item is gone. Those who fall for these campaigns may receive counterfeit goods, or they may find their payment card information has been stolen. For companies, this erodes their brand reputation and could cannibalize sales.
• Steganography: Steganography is the practice of concealing a message, file, or data within another seemingly innocuous medium, such as an image or audio file, to hide its existence. Social media ad campaigns rely heavily on interesting visuals to entice end-users, and malicious campaigns are no different. Malware can be baked into these images using steganography, and clicking on the picture will deliver malware right onto the person’s computer.

How to Protect Your Business

Companies can take several social media protection measures to prevent or minimize the impact of these threats.

• Employee training: As employees are your first line of defense, invest in hands-on training that simulates fraudulent social media and phishing campaigns. These teach employees to recognize threats and understand how to react.
• Partner with a company that has close relationships with social media admins: It’s easier to report and resolve brand impersonation when you have a relationship with a channel. Then, if you need to submit evidence of a problem (links, screenshots, etc.), you have a point of contact who can help.
• Technical controls: Besides implementing robust firewalls and antivirus software, partner with a provider that can monitor, detect, and take down malicious social media profiles and ads to safeguard your brand.

Social Media Scams Affecting Individuals

Many of us visit social media channels as a distraction or a way to unwind. Scammers know our guards are down and devise tactics that trick us into inputting credentials or high-value data such as payment information. Beware of these types of social media scams:

• False financial, banking, and crypto companies: Scammers create fake profiles impersonating trusted financial institutions or cryptocurrency platforms to steal your financial information or investments.
• Amazing retail deals, especially near holidays: Be cautious of too-good-to-be-true discounts on social media, especially around holidays, as scammers may lure you into purchasing counterfeit or non-existent products.
• Dating or confidence scams with people you’ve never met asking for money: Scammers create fake romantic relationships to gain your trust and then request money under false pretenses.
• Fake vacation rentals you can’t find on a map: Scammers offer enticing vacation rentals that don’t exist or aren’t located as advertised, leaving you without a place to stay.
• Fraudulent charities or ones posing as legitimate charity organizations: Beware of fake charities on social media seeking donations; they may divert funds away from genuine causes.
• Loan scams with extremely low rates: Scammers promise low-interest loans but often demand upfront fees and disappear after receiving payment, leaving you without the loan.
• False job postings: Scammers post fake job opportunities, aiming to steal personal information or money through application fees or phony background checks.

How to Protect Yourself

Always approach social media with a degree of suspicion and consider these aspects:

• Streamline what you share: An attacker can glean a lot about you from your public profiles, which can then be used to target you for fraud via social engineering. Ask yourself how much you need to share and how often. Lock your profiles down so only verified contacts can see them. Be sure to review the audience for your older posts. When you change your default audience for new posts, this usually does not impact existing posts.
• Use your intuition: If an ad promises something too good to be true, it likely is. If something seems amiss, it’s worth a second look.
• Do your research: If you haven’t heard of an advertiser, search online for their name followed by ‘scam.’ You can also map the business to see if they have a physical address. Watch for website URLs that are similar to those of well-known companies. Domain registrars list creation dates for websites. A recently created domain could indicate a scam.
• Verify through a second avenue: If something or someone on social media tells you to call a particular number, especially for financial purposes, find the number another way. This could be using your banking card or statement.

Final Thoughts

In a world where social media serves as both a bridge to connection and a gateway to deception, vigilance is paramount. Social media scams have grown rampant, infiltrating professional and private lives, and leaving a trail of financial losses and personal distress in their wake.

The post Social Media Scams Impacting Businesses and Individuals Today appeared first on Best Endpoint Protection Security (EPP) Tools, Software, Solutions & Vendors.

Solutions Review’s Contributed Content Series is a collection of contributed articles written by thought leaders in enterprise software categories. Neko Papez of Menlo Security guides us through the digital landscape and how to stay safe against malvertising.

Your responsibility is the security of your enterprise and ensuring that even the most widely used enterprise application, the browser, is secured. You know, better than anyone, that your users are still consumers when they are at work. Maybe your organization has shut down access to social media sites like Instagram or Facebook, or prevents shopping from Amazon, but users still interact with websites daily that either sell them products or serve them ads. Even granting access to legitimate news outlets that many users need to do their jobs means that they are targeted and retargeted by digital advertisements daily.

Those ads, and how they are served, are designed by digital marketers who have greatly leveraged the advantages of modern technologies. Today’s marketers know exactly who to target, how to reach them, and what content to serve to move a prospect from an interested party to a paying customer. With artificial intelligence (AI) access and adoption growing at breakneck speeds, digital marketers have what might be the most powerful tool in their toolbox to help them do their jobs effectively.

Thanks to AI, customer segmentation, personalized campaigns, and timed messages have become easier than ever. With tools like ChatGPT, as well as AI-based graphic design tools like Alibaba Luban, marketers can quickly produce highly effective advertisements that welcome potential buyers. Consider this statistic from Alibaba: Luban can create 8,000 banner ads every second.

But as with every technological advancement, there’s a dark side. In the world of digital advertising, that dark side is malvertising. It’s estimated that nearly one in every 100 online advertisements is currently malicious, which means that for your users, who still access advertisements at work, malvertising is now your concern, too.

The Rise of Malvertising and How to Stay Safe

Malvertising: A Highly Evasive Threat

You might be familiar with highly evasive threats such as HTML smuggling or MFA bypass attacks. We call them highly evasive because they use sophisticated techniques such as dynamic behavior, fileless attacks, and delayed execution to evade traditional security measures. They are designed to fly under the radar and bypass commonly deployed security found in your enterprise security stack.

Malvertising fits nicely into this category of highly evasive threats. These sophisticated attacks can be especially hard to detect by anyone – brands, advertising publishers, or internet users. And, because it’s a novel tactic, not many people know about it, so spotting it becomes even harder.

Malicious actors begin by infiltrating a third-party server to embed malware within digital advertisements, such as videos, banners, or even brand logos. Unsuspecting users who click on these tainted ads or images may either be redirected to a fraudulent site or immediately have malware installed on their devices. Once malware breaches a system, it grants bad actors vast capabilities to delete, modify, or encrypt data. These bad actors can even redirect internet traffic from legitimate websites or develop backdoor access routes to a network system.

Detecting an infected logo or suspicious URL is challenging, but not impossible. We’ll get into what your users can do to help prevent malvertising from entering your network in a bit, but there are also browser security solutions that use AI-based computer vision algorithms to analyze data in tandem – things like URL characteristics or a logo located where it should not be – resulting in identification of infected brand logos and questionable URLs.

AI-Driven Digital Advertising: Your Users Aren’t Prepared

According to Statista, and published by HubSpot, AI usage in marketing activities was estimated to grow from $15.8 billion in 2017 to $107.5 billion by 2028, with more than 80 percent of professional marketers integrating some kind of AI technology into their current marketing activities.

Further, according to a recent survey by CensusWide for Menlo Security, 54 percent of U.S. consumers believe that at least half of all advertisements on websites or social media are AI-generated. As noted above, from a marketer’s perspective, AI-driven campaigns can be highly efficient and yield impressive results. But these advances also offer unique avenues for malicious actors to exploit.

Interestingly, there’s an alarming disparity between users’ knowledge of AI usage in marketing programs and their understanding of the threat it poses. For instance, three-quarters of respondents understand that they can be infected by a link in a phishing email, yet 63 percent do not yet know they can be similarly impacted by clicking on a brand logo, despite an increase in impersonated brands such as Google or Microsoft. This becomes a major concern for enterprises as 81 percent of respondents noted they click on internet advertisements “to some extent”, while a shocking one-quarter do so “very often” or “always.”

Countering Malvertising

No website, advertisement, or brand logo is foolproof against malvertising. Even the most credible brands and websites we’ve all come to familiarize ourselves with are not immune to malvertising. And, as shown previously, internet users are not aware of the threat it poses. As digital landscapes evolve, users need to stay vigilant. Here are five guidelines to reduce the risk of malvertising:

1. Examine URLs Thoroughly: Hover over an ad to reveal the destination URL. Ensure that it hasn’t been tampered with by looking for commonly misspelled words and making sure that the URL matches the image being provided.
2. Inspect Logos for Authenticity: Watch for any irregularities in a brand’s logo, like image distortion or odd coloring, which could hint at a counterfeit ad. Also, make sure the logo isn’t an outdated version like that which was used by the Witchetty espionage group in the Microsoft example above.
3. Evaluate Advertisements’ Intent: Malicious actors often use direct calls to action, like “buy now” or “act now before it’s too late.” Approach such ads with skepticism. You can always find the same “great deal” by going to the website directly rather than clicking on an ad.
4. Adopt a Cautious Approach on All Sites: Even trustworthy websites can inadvertently host malicious ads. Always practice caution, regardless of the site’s reputation.
5. Limit Redirections: The more ads you interact with, the higher your risk. Each subsequent site you’re directed to might have laxer security so avoid using redirects where possible.

Remember, your users are just a handful of clicks away from exposing your corporate network to malware online; our own research has shown users are only three to seven clicks away from malware at any given time. As malvertising threats continue to evolve, it’s imperative that your users are educated and remain vigilant while practicing safe browsing habits. Teach your users to follow the guidelines for countering malvertising and reach out to your security partners to ID if they have visibility tools that can spot malicious logos, URLs, and ads on your behalf.

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Solutions Review’s Contributed Content Series is a collection of contributed articles written by thought leaders in enterprise software categories. Lee Waskevich of ePlus Technology notes that adapting AI requires striking a balance between innovation and business continuity. 

There’s no question that artificial intelligence (AI) is radically transforming business and society as we know it, driving unprecedented innovation and unleashing creativity across virtually every sector– from healthcare to retail to manufacturing. Further, the generative AI market, which is expected to demonstrate an annual growth rate of 24.4 percent from 2023 to 2030, is just beginning to scratch the surface of what’s possible.

However, while the new wave of AI continues to make the previously impossible, possible, it is also accompanied by a host of new risks and security challenges. Landing in the right place when it comes to AI starts with striking a delicate balance between accelerating innovation and minimizing threats.

Two Sides of the AI Coin: Balancing Innovation and Business Continuity

Three keys to establishing that balance between innovation and business continuity include:

1. Don’t overlook the most common security challenges posed by AI technology.

With generative AI, hackers or other bad actors can now create far more sophisticated and intricate versions of common cyber-attacks, such as email phishing, malware, ransomware, and social engineering. With the ability to create perfectly worded, convincing, and realistic emails on a massive scale, the old tactics of identifying email phishing by peculiarities in language or tone are being replaced by a new level of complexity. In fact, according to a Palo Alto Networks report on malware trends, threat actors are increasingly taking advantage of interest in Gen AI programs, driving a 910 percent increase in monthly registrations for domains, both benign and malicious, related to ChatGPT.

For business leaders, it’s essential to go back to the basics. This means putting mechanisms in place to protect against the risk points associated with the use of AI in potential attacks.  Creating a culture of awareness and education at the workplace and training end-users on security standards and protocols is an obvious but critical block-and-tackle measure that can help ensure that you’re not taking two steps forward to take one step back.

2. Embrace the pros but also take the time to understand (and plan for) the potential cons

Companies are well on their way to understanding the many helpful applications and uses of AI, including maximizing productivity, automating tasks, enhancing customer experiences, developing products more efficiently, and deploying them to market faster.

Likewise, they are also learning how much potential risk is involved and what those risks look like. For example, 11 percent of the data employees input into ChatGPT is currently classified as confidential, increasing the risk of data breach or even identity theft. Further, GenAI projects are linked to data loss or data misuse, especially among sectors that are experimenting with GenAI to eliminate repetitive, time-consuming tasks.

Driving long-term success means first understanding whether and how your company is already utilizing AI to ensure that cybersecurity is embedded across every touchpoint, from the creation of algorithms to training the data. You can’t protect what you can’t identify. Building security protocols into your landscape can help guarantee that you have the right procedures in place to protect customer data, while also safeguarding the company’s most proprietary information from internal and external threats.

3. Strive for AI alignment across the entire enterprise

A common question for leaders across an organization is: Who owns the AI function? Is it the IT team, the C-suite, the cyber team, or some combination of them all? Many times, it’s the IT team. However, it is not uncommon for organizations in various industries, like defense, healthcare, or manufacturing, to have AI-driven activities that are siloed and led by individual business units or specialty teams that are focused on enabling specific research initiatives or projects.

As a result, the AI function can often become disjointed and siloed across business functions creating gaps in the security fabric and enhancing risk. But with one cybersecurity attack occurring every 39 seconds, there’s no time for siloes. It’s vital for risk managers to understand not only who has the oversight from a cybersecurity perspective, but also who has the responsibility to manage and monitor risk.

On the heels of newly released SEC regulations, the ideal scenario is for companies to already have close alignment between all stakeholders involved in any initiative with AI tools, as well as an understanding of an organization’s overall cybersecurity governance, architecture, and risk management and reporting processes.

Conclusion

Artificial intelligence is an exciting new space that welcomes innovation and opportunity in nearly every workstream and industry. However, it doesn’t come without risk. The advancements that AI stewards demand cybersecurity leaders to find the right balance, one that offers safety alongside innovation.

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Solutions Review’s Contributed Content Series is a collection of contributed articles written by thought leaders in enterprise software categories. Dor Zvi of Red Access examines how the current state of web browsing is wreaking havoc on the world of cybersecurity.

In just a few short years, web browsing has gone from something done primarily in our free time, to the primary activity underpinning all of our work. But, with this newfound has also come a great deal of unwanted attention. As web browsing plays an increasingly central role in the day-to-day operations of the enterprise, it simultaneously becomes a more and more attractive target to malicious actors.

But, web browsing is changing in more ways than one, and already over-extended enterprise security teams are scrambling to keep up. In order to face this mounting challenge, organizations must begin by reimagining the idea of web browsing altogether —  including how it is defined, where it takes place and what strategies are needed to secure it.

The Current State of Web Browsing is Wreaking Havoc on Cybersecurity

Why We Web Browse, Then and Now

It wasn’t long ago that web browsing served primarily as a leisure-time activity. Back then, we might open Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator with any number of different goals in mind  — entertainment, exploration, discovery, distraction — but rarely for the purposes of productivity. And especially not in the workplace. In fact, in those days, being spotted with a browser window open at work was often seen as a sign of slacking off — and not without reason. That’s because, back then, work didn’t happen on the web. It happened largely offline — within our own local operating environments, most often in desktop applications like Word, Powerpoint and Excel. Even email, the hallmark of digital connectivity, was accessed almost exclusively via desktop clients like MS Outlook and Apple Mail.

Today, however, all this couldn’t be further from the truth. For many knowledge workers — and especially those working hybrid or remotely — not having a web browser open at work is tantamount to not working at all. Today, web browsing underpins virtually everything we do at work, playing a role that’s more akin to an operating system than merely another application. For many of us, web browsers have become our sole gateway to the digital world; and as a result, our sole gateway to work. With the rise of web-based productivity suites like Google Workspace, the average knowledge worker can now spend the entirety of their workday without ever leaving a web browser. And, increasingly, many of them do exactly that. In fact, as far back as 2018, employees were already spending roughly a third of their workday using a web browser. Ultimately, this isn’t a surprise, considering the ability to check email, write reports, chat with coworkers, schedule meetings — and just about any other job function — is all just a URL away.

Browsers’ Increasing Complexity Complicates Security Efforts

Web browsing’s new, central role in the workplace has both fueled and been fueled by a decades-long run of innovations and advances in the category’s capabilities. Catalyzed by the first “browser wars” of the mid-90s, and again in the early-to-mid-aughts, web browsers went from relatively simple tools to extremely complex, feature-rich platforms capable of far more than the average user realized they ever wanted or needed. Nowadays, web browsers are infamous for being some of the largest, most resource-intensive programs regularly run by average users — gobbling up RAM, taxing CPUs and draining batteries more and more quickly with each update.

This ballooning complexity comes with an even greater cost that’s often overlooked, and that’s to security. Collectively, web browsers are now responsible for well over 8,000 CVEs, and for Chrome specifically, 2022 ranked as its worst year ever for zero-days exploited in the wild. The problem has gotten so widespread that in March of last year, Google’s Chrome Security Team released a statement addressing the uptick and outlining what they intend to do to combat it. In the piece, they offered several explanations for the sudden rise in CVEs, including the simple fact of the software’s complexity.  “..there’s simply the fact that software has bugs,” the statement reads. “Some fraction of those bugs are exploitable. Browsers increasingly mirror the complexity of operating systems — providing access to your peripherals, filesystem, 3D rendering, GPUs — and more complexity means more bugs.”

Although Chrome has been disproportionately affected by this rise in vulnerabilities, it’s almost certainly a byproduct of its relative popularity (having roughly 60 percent of the market share), rather than it being uniquely more prone to bugs. Indeed, the overall trend of complexity-driven vulnerability is common across the web browsing landscape.

The Borders of Web Browsing are Getting Blurry

The web browsing arms race means we can now do a lot more inside a browser than ever before. However, just because so many tasks can be done inside a web browser today doesn’t mean they always necessarily are. There is still a place in this world for desktop applications, and there are users who will defend them vehemently, even when web app versions of the software are already available. For some, it’s simply a force of habit — this is the way they’ve always done things, and they have little to no interest in changing that. For others, it is a more practical consideration, in which certain desktop applications (especially resource-intensive ones) offer superior performance and/or expanded functionality than their web app counterparts. And, of course, there are still plenty of widely used enterprise applications for which web app alternatives simply do not exist.

The once unmistakable line separating desktop applications from the web has recently begun to blur. Capabilities once reserved exclusively for dedicated web browsers (e.g. Chrome, Firefox) are increasingly showing up in other types of applications, blurring the lines between what is and isn’t web browsing and where it does and doesn’t take place. The first and most obvious example of this trend can be seen in the rise of “in-app browsing”. Most prominently found in social media apps like Facebook and LinkedIn, “in-app browsers” are software components like WebView that let users open and navigate web pages inside the app they are presently using (as opposed to launching the page in a traditional, dedicated web browser). Increasingly, researchers are finding that in-app browsers come with a wide variety of security and privacy risks.

However, they are far from the only avenues through which the act of web browsing has begun to extend beyond the boundaries of traditional web browsers. In a sense, any application that enables web access in some way, shape or form is moving the act of web browsing outside the purview of the web browser itself. Whether it be accessing remote files, following hyperlinks, engaging in chat, or viewing web pages, whenever a user initiates a web connection outside the confines of a traditional browser, they’re redefining what it means to browse the web, and redrawing the traditional borders established around it. And there is no shortage of enterprise applications that fit this bill.

Regardless of where the web browsing capabilities are being employed, as soon as a user clicks on a link or opens a remote file within a desktop application, they set in motion web connections that operate independently from the web browser. These connections are exposed to risks like data loss, harmful files, and various other online threats. This not only adds complexity to the conventional understanding of browsing-related vulnerabilities but also highlights a significant gap in the capabilities of many present-day secure browsing solutions.

The Security Implications of Web Browsing’s About Face

There’s perhaps no better illustration of web browsing’s former role in digital society than the now-extinct expression of “surfing the web”. Web browsing used to be a laid back, directionless endeavor motivated by a desire for discovery and entertainment. Now, web browsing is much more akin to running on a treadmill (or a hamster wheel) than it is catching waves at the beach.

In the end, we spend more time doing more things with much higher stakes with modern web browsing. The rise in remote work that has taken place over the past three years has only kicked that trend into overdrive. As a result of these factors, browsing-based threats now constitute CISOs’ number one security concern, and with good reason. With their newfound central role in the workplace and mounting list of capabilities, web browsers have become poorly guarded treasure troves of sensitive data and unauthorized access.

But, hope remains. A vibrant ecosystem of secure browsing technologies has begun to take shape over the past few years. Although this field is still relatively young, it is quickly crowding with competitors, which we can hope will provide the kind of consistent innovation, intelligence and drive we need to successfully navigate the changing face of browsing security.

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Solutions Review’s Contributed Content Series is a collection of contributed articles written by thought leaders in enterprise software categories. Gil Pekelman of Atera shines a light on the shadow IT created by generative AI in the workplace and the importance of safely adopting it.

It is abundantly clear to anyone reading the news or working an office job that 2023 is the year of generative AI. These generative tools have absolutely revolutionized the way we work, enabling users to get answers instantly, write professional statements in mere seconds, and empower people with much-needed information with the click of a button.

While having access to this new technology has the potential to completely transform how we work, learn, and live, it can also pose significant challenges for companies and their IT departments that must be addressed. In fact, the majority (67 percent) of senior IT leaders are prioritizing generative AI for their business within the next 18 months, with one-third (33 percent) naming it as a top priority. But still, 79 percent of senior IT managers are concerned that these technologies bring the potential for security risks.

As with any new solution implemented in a corporate setting, there is a heavy time investment for the IT professionals assisting with the rollout. Security has always been a delicate dance of balancing user experience with efficacy; if a tool or process is too clunky, people won’t use it. If it’s too basic or “easy to use,” it’s often not secure enough. IT teams need to be able to strike that balance.

Let’s examine some of the impacts of generative AI in the workplace and how IT teams and professionals can implement it safely.

Gen AI Generates New Opportunities for Dangerous Shadow IT

Oftentimes, when new workplace tools offer free models and trend in the news the way ChatGPT has, it can result in employees bypassing the IT procurement processes to use their preferred tools — a phenomenon referred to as shadow IT. Those procurement processes are in place for a reason, as employees downloading and using untested programs can come with significant security risks.

When we look at generative AI tools and ChatGPT in particular, some companies are effectively banning the use of the tool altogether. Samsung and Apple recently restricted employee usage of ChatGPT completely because of the dangers of data leakage. In this case, the companies are worried that the large language model (LLM) that ChatGPT is built on will use data inputted into the system to learn and expand its own capabilities.

But there are more shadow IT issues associated with generative AI than just data leakage. Shadow IT can also leave you more vulnerable to ransomware attacks and data breaches — if your IT teams don’t know that an app is in use in a corporate environment, they can’t properly monitor and secure it. In the current tech ecosystem, IT teams already struggle to handle the mounting number of support tickets, so adding to their to-do list to guarantee that each and every employee only uses approved apps and tools is near impossible.

In order for a company to successfully use generative AI, enhanced security measures must also be enacted in order to protect from new security threats effectively, according to 54 percent of IT professionals. If not rolled out with the proper safeguards in place, these threats can encompass all of the standard cyber threats — ransomware, phishing, IP theft — and more.

To Stay Safe, Properly Evaluate the Generative AI Tool and Its Parent Company

While the security risks of generative AI tools range from data breaches to identity theft to poor security in the AI app itself, there are some actionable, quick steps companies can follow to reduce these risks.

For example, to safeguard against unauthorized access or malicious use of data, it’s important to evaluate any app’s reputation. That being said, don’t just evaluate the app on its own. Look into its parent company, as well as its track record with other tools and services. Only enable employees to use generative AI tools created by companies you know and trust.

So, for example, by utilizing Azure Open AI — as opposed to other unauthorized or potentially unsafe generative AI tools — prompts (inputs), completions (outputs), and training data are not available to other customers or used to improve OpenAI models, but can be used only by you and your company.

Additionally, it’s critical to regularly assess the data privacy policies, encryption methods, and access controls implemented by the software vendors you choose to work with. Regulatory requirements are changing frequently, both globally and domestically, and you could find yourself in hot water if your supply chain isn’t keeping up with the times. When you are assessing potential AI vendors and partners, it is imperative not to be distracted by all of the exciting, shiny new features at your fingertips. Make sure to ask the company representative all about their data privacy and security practices before you get any further than the initial discovery call.

Crafting the Future: Concluding Thoughts on Generative AI in the Workplace

Generative AI has the power to make all of our lives so much easier, but only if done correctly. If you are thinking of implementing generative AI in any capacity at your workplace, promote the responsible and ethical use of these tools among employees, and make sure they understand that their use of them is encouraged — so long as they are vetted and pre-approved.

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT offer immense potential for transforming the way we work, communicate, and innovate. Leaders in the ever-evolving tech landscape have a responsibility to strike a balance between harnessing the benefits of these tools, and mitigating the associated risks they bring along with them.

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Solutions Review’s Contributed Content Series is a collection of contributed articles written by thought leaders in enterprise software categories. Eren Cihangir of Outpost24 makes the argument for why pen testing will be the key to meeting PCI DSS 4.0 Compliance.

In a world where cyber-attacks are rife, and data breaches are an unfortunate daily occurrence, we’ve witnessed the disastrous impact when credit card information is breached. In 2017, the Equifax data breach exposed over 209,000 credit card details and impacted over 147 million people. The aftermath resulted in Equifax settling with regulators for $700 million. In 2019, Capital One (the fifth largest credit card issuer in the US) suffered a hack that compromised 106 million customers across the US and Canada. If we look more recently, HRM Enterprises, which owns the US’s largest independent hardware store, had 40,000 credit cards stolen because of a cyber-attack.

To ensure that all merchants, credit card providers, and services that process, store, or transfer credit card data keep such information secure, they must adhere to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This sets out the cybersecurity and privacy requirements to ensure these organizations maintain a safe environment. The compliance requirements are regularly being updated, with PCI version 4.0 announced in March 2022, with a deadline of March 31, 2024, for all organizations to be compliant.

Yet, when examining the new version of this critical standard, penetration testing (pen testing) remains a necessity (under requirement 11), but in what capacity and who must perform this security assessment? Analyzing the new version of the PCI standard, pen testing, and vulnerability scanning are needed to protect payment cardholder data and keep systems secure. Payment card service providers will have to carry out pen test assessments twice a year, with vulnerability scans conducted once a quarter. Moreover, if your organization processes payment card information through business-critical web applications, then these will also need regular tests and scans, especially when these systems undergo significant changes and updates.

So, what are the main differences between a PCI pen test and a PCI vulnerability scan, and what is expected from both?

PCI DSS 4.0: Why Pen Testing is Key for Compliance

PCI Pen Test

This security assessment is designed to unearth and exploit any vulnerabilities discovered in the cardholder data environment (CDE), including the organization’s infrastructure, network, and applications, on a regular basis. This is to test the resilience of the defenses in place and typically, Pen testing is a manual process that can also incorporate automated solutions to locate and trigger the security flaw into operating. An actionable report is then produced based on the findings of the test which detail the vulnerabilities, threats, and risks posed to cardholder data.

PCI Vulnerability Scan

When conducted, a PCI vulnerability scan is an advanced test that produces a report after completion, displaying the most severe vulnerabilities and ranking them in order of importance. With the risk of external IPs and domains being exposed in the CDE, these must be scanned regularly, with PCI DSS demanding that tests be carried out at least four times a year. The tools used to carry out vulnerability scans are largely automated, but these often must be verified manually.

The length of time both assessments take to finish also differs. Vulnerability scans can be completed in a matter of minutes, whereas pen testing can vary between days or weeks depending on the size and scope of the organization’s CDE. Both these tests are integral in reducing the overall attack surface of the CDE and provide security teams visibility on where weaknesses may appear.

With the requirements for PCI DSS readily available, organizations are obliged to define, document, and implement a penetration testing methodology to adhere to a variety of standards, such as:

• Penetration testing provided by industry-accepted solutions.
• Visibility and coverage into the CDE and associated systems.
• Application and network layer pen testing, with documented strategies on how to address the issues found.
• Analysis and recommendations of risks and threats uncovered during the previous 12 months.
• Organizations must keep records of all testing results and remediation activities on file for a year.

Service providers that hold cardholder information must conduct PCI pen tests every six months or when the system has a significant change…but what is meant by this?

Some examples of a significant change that would necessitate a PCI Pen Test include:

• New hardware, software, or networking equipment added to the system.
• If hardware or software is upgraded or replaced.
• When modifications are made that could impact how cardholder data is processed or stored.
• If third-party vendors make changes to their services or processes that help keep the CDE functional.

Always Protect the Customer’s Data to Meet PCI Compliance

While this may have focused on a specific area of PCI, it is critical for all organizations to understand what is expected and to meet compliance before the March 2024 deadline. Pen testing and vulnerability scanning play crucial roles in achieving PCI DSS compliance and are highly effective in reducing vulnerabilities in systems handling sensitive data. With that said, organizations seeking assistance with pen testing or vulnerability scanning must do their due diligence. Firstly, check if the vendor is an Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV). Secondly, the vendor should house a comprehensive suite of services that can continuously assess and analyze the entire network for vulnerabilities.
Lastly, the vendor must be well-equipped to assist the organization in verifying and demonstrating their adherence to PCI DSS standards. This will give you the assurance that you have taken the necessary proactive action to meet the highest standards of data protection.

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Solutions Review finds the best ethical hacking courses available across sites including Udemy, Udacity, LinkedIn Learning, and more. Every security professional should check out these offerings. 

Are you a cybersecurity professional looking to gain new knowledge in ethical hacking or to brush up on your skills? Online courses offered through websites like Udemy, Udacity, and LinkedIn Learning allow cybersecurity professionals to practice their ethical hacking knowledge and sharpen their skills through digital lectures and interactive guides.

Below, we list the best ethical hacking courses available across multiple professional education sites. These courses provide unique insights into cybersecurity and into the active protection of key devices. 

The Best Ethical Hacking Courses Available Now

Course Title: Ethical Hacker

Our Take: Through hands-on projects and experienced professional instructors, this course can show you the ins and outs of ethical hacking.  

Description: You’ll master the skills necessary to become a successful Ethical Hacker. Learn how to find and exploit vulnerabilities and weaknesses in various systems, design and execute a penetration testing plan, and report on test findings using valid evidence. Lessons include Penetration Testing & Red Teaming Operations. 

Course Title: Ethical Hacking: Penetration Testing

Our Take: Lisa Bock is a Security Ambassador and an expert in Ethical Hacking. Her numerous courses on LinkedIn Learning indicate deep expertise. 

Description: You’ve done everything you can to logically secure your systems, along with layering in user education and providing physical security. However, the only way to know if your defenses will hold is to test them. This course looks at one of the most important skills of any IT security professional: penetration testing. Penetration testing is the process to check if a computer, system, network, or web application has any vulnerabilities. Cybersecurity expert Lisa Bock reviews the steps involved in performing a worthwhile penetration test, including auditing systems, listing and prioritizing vulnerabilities, and mapping out attack points a hacker might target. She also defines the various types of “pen” tests—such as black, grey, and white box, announced vs. unannounced, and automated vs. manual testing—and the techniques and blueprints a pen tester should use to test everything from Wi-Fi to VoIP. Finally, she discusses how to choose and work with an outsourced pen-testing organization, which can bring a valuable outsider’s perspective to your IT security efforts.

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Course Title: Ethical Hacking: Social Engineering

Our Take: Lisa Bock is a Security Ambassador and an expert in Ethical Hacking. She can and does cover multiple aspects of ethical hacking for beginners and experts. 

Description: Social engineering is a technique hackers use to manipulate end-users and obtain information about an organization or computer systems. In order to protect their networks, IT security professionals need to understand social engineering, who is targeted, and how social engineering attacks are orchestrated.

In this course, cybersecurity expert Lisa Bock discusses the methods a hacker might use, including embedding malicious links and attachments in emails and using mobile devices and social media to deploy an attack. She discusses the concept of “misuse of trust”—how hackers use charm, power, and influence to penetrate an organization—and why you need to be extra cautious with the disgruntled employee. Finally, Lisa discusses countermeasures security professionals can take to address these attacks.

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Course Title: Ethical Hacking: Wireless Networks

Our Take: Malcolm Shore’s knowledge also extends to ethical hacking practices and practices. 

Description: Wireless networks are convenient and popular, but poor configuration and encryption leave them open to attack. Hackers can use Wi-Fi vulnerabilities to infiltrate your entire network. Security professionals need to know how to detect, prevent, and counter these kinds of attacks using the latest tools and techniques—the subject of this course with cybersecurity expert Malcolm Shore. Malcolm covers everything from configuring basic security to understanding how hackers extract passwords, harvest connections at rogue access point, and attack networks via Bluetooth. He also explains how to select the right antennae for testing and introduces some sophisticated Windows and Linux tools to scan for vulnerabilities, including Acrylic, Ekahau, and Wireshark. By the end of the course, you should be able to shore up your wireless connections and gain confidence that your local network is safe to use.

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Course Title: The Complete Ethical Hacking Course: Beginner to Advanced!

Our Take: Ermin Kreponic is an IT expert and Linux enthusiast with a focus on troubleshooting network-related problems. 

Description: Gain the ability to do ethical hacking and penetration testing by taking this course! Get answers from an experienced IT expert to every single question you have related to the learning you do in this course including installing Kali Linux, using VirtualBox, basics of Linux, Tor, Proxychains, VPN, Macchanger, Nmap, cracking wifi, aircrack, DoS attacks, SLL strip, known vulnerabilities, SQL injections, cracking Linux passwords, and more topics that are added every month!

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Course Title: Hands-on: Complete Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking

Our Take: Muharrem Aydin has 20+ years of software engineering experience with titles of software developer, product manager, and integration architect. 

Description: My course, just as my other courses on Udemy, is focused on the practical side of penetration testing and ethical hacking but I also will share with you the theory side of each attack. Before jumping into Penetration Testing or other practices with Ethical Hacking tools you will first learn how to set up a lab and install needed software on your machine.   In this course, you will have a chance to keep yourself up-to-date and equip yourself with a range of Ethical Hacking skills.

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Course Title: Applied Ethical Hacking and Rules of Engagement

Our Take: Seyed Farshid Miri is an experienced IT, Networking, and security specialist with a demonstrated history of +15 years of work. 

Description: Learn how to hack easy to hard real-world simulated virtual machines on HackTheBox Live Hacking! using unique exploits, tactics, and techniques. Learn the art of intrusion with these CTFs (Capture the Flags) which will help you in the future on every real work project. Also work on pentest methods in web, network, vulnerability assessment workflows, and “Defense in Depth” best practices which will help you hack like black-hat hackers, defend or secure them like security experts and harden your corporate environment against malicious actors.

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Course Title: Certified Ethical Hacking Training & Certification

Our Take: Sometimes, to defeat your enemies, you must learn to think like your enemy. Hence the emphasis in modern cybersecurity on ethical hacking, the practice of learning hacking techniques and codes to better protect your organization from them. This course provides an insightful and in-depth approach to the topic. 

Description: The Certified Ethical Hacking Training & Certification course at JanBask Training provides lessons on advanced network packet analysis, making web servers more secure, dealing with malware threats, or learning advanced system penetration techniques for building a highly secure network within industries. The course subjects begin at the basics of ethical hacking and then transitions to SQL Injections, Firewalls, Honeypots, and more. \

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The editors at Solutions Review look over email security best practices every enterprise should consider incorporating into their own everyday routine.

Email security is of paramount importance to enterprises for several reasons. One of the main reasons is they serve as a primary means of communication within and outside the organization, making them a prime target for cyber-criminals. Unauthorized access to corporate emails can lead to data breaches, exposing sensitive information like financial data, customer details, and intellectual property. Such breaches can result in severe financial losses, reputational damage, and legal liabilities, eroding customer trust and stakeholder confidence. Ensuring email security also safeguards against potential insider threats, where disgruntled or careless employees might intentionally or inadvertently leak confidential information. Implementing encryption and access controls can mitigate such risks.

Every enterprise has its own endpoint security strategy. This strategy should include email security as a focal point. The editors at Solutions Review look at some email security best practices worth considering in your enterprise’s current strategy.

15 Email Security Best Practices to Consider

Here are some email security best practices that enterprises should follow:

1. Strong Password Policies: Implement a strong password policy for all email accounts. Encourage employees to use unique, complex passwords that combine uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Enforce regular password updates.
2. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Require MFA for all email accounts. This adds an extra layer of security, requiring users to provide additional verification (such as a one-time code sent to their mobile device) along with their password to access their email accounts.
3. Encryption: Use end-to-end encryption for email communication. Encryption ensures that the content remains unreadable to unauthorized parties even if the email is intercepted. Consider encrypting emails using tools like Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) or Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME).
4. Secure Email Gateways (SEG): Deploy a secure email gateway to filter and scan inbound and outbound emails for malware, spam, and phishing threats. A SEG helps block suspicious emails and attachments before they reach users’ inboxes.
5. Employee Training and Awareness: Conduct regular training sessions to educate employees about email security risks and best practices. Teach them to identify phishing attempts, suspicious links, and potentially harmful attachments.
6. Email Authentication Protocols: Implement email authentication protocols like Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) to prevent email spoofing and phishing attacks.
7. Email Archiving: Set up email archiving to retain copies of all emails for compliance purposes and to aid in investigations if security incidents occur.
8. Secure Email Communication Policies: Establish policies and procedures for sharing sensitive information via email. Encourage the use of secure file transfer methods for transmitting confidential data.
9. Monitoring and Incident Response: Implement email monitoring systems to promptly detect and respond to suspicious activities. Have an incident response plan in place to handle email security breaches effectively.
10. Regular Software Updates: Keep email servers, clients, and security software updated with the latest patches and security updates. Regularly update and maintain the email infrastructure to protect against known vulnerabilities.
11. Restrict Attachments: Limit the types of attachments sent or received through emails. Block potentially dangerous file extensions, such as .exe or .zip, from entering the network.
12. Phishing Simulation Exercises: Conduct simulated phishing exercises to assess employees’ susceptibility to phishing attacks and provide additional training to those who need it.
13. Mobile Device Management (MDM): If employees access email on mobile devices, implement MDM solutions to enforce security policies, such as requiring device encryption and enabling remote wiping capabilities in case of device loss or theft.
14. Email Account Management: Regularly review and audit email accounts to ensure that only active and authorized users have access. Remove access for employees who no longer require it.
15. Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Implement DLP solutions to prevent sensitive data from being leaked or shared accidentally via email.

Ultimately, email security is vital for preserving an enterprise’s overall reputation and competitiveness. By safeguarding communications and sensitive information, businesses can build and maintain trust with customers, partners, and investors. Moreover, robust email security practices enhance the organization’s resilience against cyber threats, making it more capable of withstanding sophisticated attacks and minimizing the impact of any successful breach. In today’s digital landscape, where cyber threats continue to evolve, email security remains a fundamental pillar of an enterprise’s cybersecurity strategy.

This article on Email Security Best Practices to Consider was AI-generated by ChatGPT and edited by Solutions Review editors.

The post 15 Email Security Best Practices to Consider in 2023 appeared first on Best Endpoint Protection Security (EPP) Tools, Software, Solutions & Vendors.

Solutions Review’s Contributed Content Series is a collection of contributed articles written by thought leaders in enterprise software categories.  Julian Martin of Mimecast takes the helm and helps navigate through the waves of cyber complexity by applying an integration mindset.

The complexity afflicting cybersecurity teams far and wide is well-documented. From widespread staffing shortages to bloated tool sprawl, cloud-based hybrid enterprises are navigating a sea of complications when defending against highly sophisticated threats. In response, the concept of tool consolidation has emerged as a hot-button buzzword– the silver bullet for finding a simplified solution to the complexity problem. But beneath the surface and beyond the untrained eye, the situation isn’t really that simple.

Sure, it may make sense in theory. By reducing the amount of spawl in their stack, organizations can enhance the efficiency of strained security teams AND cut spending simultaneously. With fewer tools to manage, IT analysts capitalize on the power of additional bandwidth to strengthen their security posture. A lower cyber spending rate helps weather the headwinds of our current macroeconomic climate. The CISO and CFO both ride off into the sunset happily ever after. Everybody wins. End scene.

However, in reality, we’re not exactly talking about a movie script here– and finding real solutions to cyber complexity will require more than short-sighted consolidation. Merely eliminating business-critical tools in the spirit of addition by subtraction isn’t the remedy that some within the cybersecurity community have made it out to be.

Navigating Cyber Complexity

The Optimization Approach

Getting rid of a few redundant tools here and there is one thing, especially when they are outdated or underutilized. But it’s important to remember that the myriad best-in-class products within an overarching architecture were designed, selected, and purchased for a reason: to protect critical business functions or processes susceptible to attacks. Those functions and processes stay in the crosshairs of cyber threats even after the “non-essential” tools protecting them have been consolidated.

In most cases, the missing link is rooted in disparate systems lacking integration and interoperability. If an organization trims its security arsenal from 30 tools to 20, but the 20 remaining products are all siloed and unable to seamlessly integrate, consolidating is hurting their cause more than helping it. Maybe the reduction delivered value from a resource allocation or monetary standpoint, but if analysts are still juggling 20 different admin consoles and platforms simultaneously, the organization is no less susceptible to a major breach than it was before.

Optimization, not consolidation, is the most effective approach to navigating the complexity of the cyber threat landscape. Rather than placing all your eggs in one basket via consolidated single-platform solutions that are more laborious and time-intensive than they seem, optimizing the existing tech stack with an integration-first mindset offers a clear roadmap for maximizing efficiency and ROI. By ensuring all tools within the stack are fully configured, integrated, and interoperable, organizations can make impactful progress toward simplification that doesn’t sacrifice security.

Cultivating an Optimized Framework

Optimized security architectures start with investing in best-of-breed vendors offering interoperable solutions that align the security stack with an organization’s unique risk profile. It also generates a holistic lens of the entire attack surface viewable through a single pane of glass, empowering analysts to centralize defenses through cross-functional threat intelligence sharing, AI-enabled automation, and continuous data connectivity that safeguards high-priority attack vectors.

• Threat intelligence sharing: Enables quick recognition of threats through machine learning analytics tools, allowing analysts to respond with immediate defense measures.
• AI-enabled automated workflows: Eliminates tedious manual tasks to streamline human workflows by accelerating and improving fundamental facets of network detection and response.
• Shared/integrated tool data: Generates real-time visibility into an organization’s entire security environment to promote the creation and delivery of targeted alerts.

Let’s use email as an example, a primary attack vector of the modern cloud-based hybrid enterprise. Verizon’s newly released Data Breach Investigations Report found that business email compromise attacks nearly doubled in 2022 with a median average of $50,000 in losses per breach. Considering more than 90 percent of attacks enter the network through email, it’s critical to share that telemetry data across the entire security stack and inform its corresponding XDR, SIEM, SOAR, and SAW products of the incoming threat. Without interoperability, the likelihood of that malicious threat slipping through the cracks is much higher. But when the solutions are all integrated, it creates a digital bridge between the first and last line of defense – automating the protection, detection, and response facets of NIST’s security framework to strengthen defenses where they’re needed most.

It’s a standard operating procedure for organizations to undergo a refresh cycle of their security stack every 3-4 years in alignment with the licensing structures of modern security products. During those transitional periods, it’s important to stray away from a consolidation-first mindset and instead focus on opportunities for optimization. Engage prospective vendors on the breadth of their interoperability, as well as their ability to integrate with both your existing stack and outsourced MDR providers. Performing these types of integration maturity reviews fosters more opportunities for optimization, which is the only real way to cope with the ever-growing cyber threat landscape. When it comes to navigating an evolving era of cyber-attacks, defenders – and tools – can always find strength in numbers.

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