Cyber analytics is not just about measuring risk and creating a protected IT environment. Many enterprises ignore cyber security functionality till they become victims of a security breach. Since by that time it is too late, understanding if your organization is doing cyber analytics the wrong way is paramount. Here are six definite giveaways revealing if your cyber analytic has a definite room for improvement.
1: Not attracting the right talent
Cyber security is paramount but not all businesses give it the same level of importance. If your enterprise is not attracting the right kind of talent for security analysts and specialized cyber security experts, there is a definite possibility that your team may not use the cyber analytics on offer to their maximum advantage. Having cyber analytics software is just a small fraction of the solution/answer. Having a specialized team of cyber experts is just as essential.
2: Having silo’d security teams
Have one centralized/unified security team with advanced analytics covering all aspects of cyber security. Get more insight.
Traditional businesses that have been managing cyber security from its nascent stage have understood the need of evolving protection. Many others still continue to have dedicated security teams managing multiple aspects. For example e-commerce enterprises quite commonly have one team that traces malware and phishing attempts and small-scale attacks while another team works on financial attacks and payment gateways, etc. Having two or more security channels increases chances of lack of coordination and analytical sharing becomes irrelevant. Instead, there is a need to have one common security team, bringing all security tools and controls together and using advanced analytics covering all aspects of cyber protection.
3: Relying heavily on signature tracking
Cyber attacks are changing in nature with each passing day. It is only natural that cyber analytics and cyber security analysts follow the latest trends. If your team is still relying on traditional methods of signature or heuristics based search then may be your cyber security team requires a reality check. Signature-based solutions are a prevalent form of protection but their impact is limited to zero-day attacks, data breaches, or phishing campaigns. Traditional signature based controls many not be effective in detecting advance persistent threats such as ransomware.
4: Not using predictive analytics
Predictive analytics allows cyber security analysts to adopt much-advanced techniques such as artificial intelligence (AI) & machine learning (ML) to detect cyber threats. Find out more.
Managing and handling a cyber-attack has been traditionally addressed by SIEM tools, but predicting a likely attack and nipping it in the bud by blocking access or taking preventive measure is the need of the hour now. The use of predictive analytics is now allowing cyber security analysts to adopt AI & ML to understand possible system behavioral trends and predict the likelihood of any cyber attack.
Predictive analytics may appear to be common knowledge but it is like finding a needle in a haystack with huge amounts of data to be processed by cyber analytics software. The best way is to offer collaboration between cyber security and data analytical technologies allowing for a quick access to all the available data. This way teams can trace any hidden trends in various analytics.
Meanwhile, for all its advantages, predictive analytics comes at a cost to the enterprise. Comparing the proactive nature of such solution in identifying possible attacks, predictive analytics with its high costs not withstanding can be a difference between a cyber attack, data breach, and a safe system that prevents any such attack.
5: Not gathering threat intelligence and user behavior data
The majority of organizations do not follow the basics when it comes to cyber security. As a basic aspect gathering user, device and data center specific logs & possible threat intelligence is essential irrespective of the threat perception.
Unfortunately, many enterprises adopt such a scenario only after they have witnessed a security threat. Unless you understand the previous trends as security analysts and the regular and expected behavior of the enterprise users and end points, predicting future threat perceptions may not be easy. Checking out behavior analytics from logs and dividing user base into defining user bases should be propagated. If your organization’s security team is not tracking data from the past, the future security is likely to remain uncertain.
6: Publicize risk mitigation’s within the organization
Many security analysts consider it demeaning to share any risk mitigation or possible threats to the top management of the enterprise. Security analysts working on the cyber security front need to ensure productivity at all counts but sharing the risks with the management can pave way for a stronger long-term resolution.
Unless risk mitigation is shared, top management may never be aware that a possible threat exists both for employees in-house and the user base as a whole. The solutions may vary from increasing preventive controls by adopting new tools or improving the efficiency of security operations.
The bottom line is if your security analysts are not proactive in sharing the bad news, there is a likelihood of sudden increase in security threat in the future.
Conclusion: Enterprises irrespective of their size are always prone to Cyber Attacks. Proactive – futuristic – predictive cyber analytics can help reduce the risks of cyber-attacks and help enterprises to be better prepared
is the Senior Vice President & CTO, IMSS, at Happiest Minds Technologies. With over 20 years of experience in the IT Security domain, Priya’s expertise spreads across Cyber Risk, Cloud Security, Data Privacy and Protection, Access Governance, Risk, and Compliance. She has carved her way up to become one of the women leaders representing the management council of the organization. Priya was also recognized as the “Visionary Women Leaders 2019” by the Business APAC magazine and received the “Women in Tech” award at the 19th Edition of the Asia Pacific HRM Congress for 2021.
Priya’s current work involves planning and developing Next-Gen Managed Security Platforms offering Proactive Threat Detection, Security Automation, Data-Centric Security, and Governance for the new age of digital customers. Her sensibility and compassionate nature have made her one of the organization’s most respected and followed leaders.
