How a change in perspective can alter the success of your network security investments
Author: Bree-Anna Mustad | 4 minute read
Cyber security, especially in times of global conflict, has become a topic that is bombarding readers and businesses with fear tactics creating a sense of urgency to act fast by investing in new security solutions. As fear and uncertainty amplify, the purchasing of cyber security products increases as well.
“Investors rush to buy security stocks as U.S. targeted Russian cyber-attacks escalate.” Yahoo News, March 2022.
However, one of the greatest fallacies in costly cyber security solutions is the idea that a product comes “out of the box” ready to launch and protect your business. Companies struggle with an impulse to follow the latest trends which dictate what successful initiatives look like. Rather than understanding that an initiative – just like a product – is only as successful as the information available from your network.
Budget and Spending
When it comes to investing in new security solutions, nearly 80% of a business’s time can be impacted by the following challenges without proper preparations during the implementation stage:
- How to identify the entire interdependent network landscape from affiliated locations down to individually installed applications and segments.
- How to successfully apply or reevaluate hundreds or thousands of firewall rules when applications advance over time without hiring more employees.
- How to ensure compliant and reliable security is applied cohesively throughout all applications, communications, and segments so the attack surface is minimized.
A problem which is rarely addressed, when it comes to a business’s decision on budget and spending, is that “spending doesn’t equal resolution.” The CTO of a company can easily pat his or herself on the back with a false sense of security, especially after maximizing the annual budget on a new cyber security product. Yet, the security concerns are still very present three levels down with the network administrator’s workload. This is a common misperception in spending when the integrity of daily operations is compromised due to the resources required to successfully implement a new product.
Therefore, there are two very valuable aspects to implementing a solution effectively, accessible data and time reduction. Without accurate and accessible data from your network traffic and communications, any cyber security product will be futile due to a lack of preparation from those adopting it.
A Successful Approach
Regardless of the cyber security investments at hand, the key to adopting a successful mindset is to increase your security posture and eliminate vulnerabilities with awareness. The true investment for a business is Visibility. Complete access to accurate data with full visibility will ensure that all efforts, investments, and initiatives are precise.
The next step in maintaining this mindful approach would be a shift in priority. Rather than looking to immediately reinvest in a popular cyber security product that will require an immense amount of time or resources to implement, some vendors offer short term services, like network traffic assessments, which provide an abundance of data into the interdependent network landscape and communications.
These short-term commitments allow a business to rationalize the data received, thereby comprehending which product or initiatives are required next. The approach is one of humility driven by insight; learning everything about a network before investing in new products.
Our team has worked with a variety of customers who invested in costly solutions that were only partially implemented, or in some cases, never implemented at all. The defining variable being a lack of accurate information to complete the project effectively. We find that these customers, regardless of their recent investments, arrive at the same challenging question:
“How can we access invaluable data in order to ensure that our security solution is applied cohesively throughout the network without compromising existing workloads or hiring new employees?”
Because of this common concern, our engagements with customers deliver valuable insight into their network along with an immediate return on time, that would otherwise be spent on manual data collection or partial product implementation. By removing the pressure of time and cost on resources, the feeling of urgency to reinvest in costly solutions is eliminated, allowing for greater insight to surface. An approach which is paramount to successful security initiatives.
Network Security is a state of mind. If we are at the whim of trends, fear, and a feeling of urgency, our investments will likely suffer significant ambiguities. Allocating budget towards new security solutions without proper visibility and resources can lead to incomplete initiatives and a premature investment. However, if the foundation of our investment is driven by insight and visibility then the quality of our efforts will be maintained.
Contact us for more information on low-commitment, high visibility network traffic assessments before your business invests further into network security solutions.