3 reasons your security stack isn’t protecting you
Reddit. GoDaddy. Facebook. All victims of hackers.
No one needs to tell you how serious cybersecurity is, which is why you make sure to have all the right tools in your toolbox.
But sometimes it’s not about the tools you have.
You can have all your tools installed in your environment. Your team can be diligent about making sure each security tool is on every device, and you can even have documentation validating everything.
The unsettling truth is that this still might not be enough to prevent a cyberattack.
I recently spoke to an organization that invested in all the right tools and made sure those tools were implemented but they were still hit by a ransomware attack. The ransom note even listed out all the security tools and how the hackers bypassed them.
If you can’t depend on your tools, what do you have?
This didn’t happen because they implemented too many tools; this was about strategy and the right tool selection.
This story could happen to anyone. Here are three big reasons why:
Reason #1: You buy tools because they’re new
There’s nothing wrong with new tools. But just because it’s new doesn’t make it better, right? New isn’t always going to solve your problem. It might help, but usually, problems in your environments are too complex to just rely on a new tool to fix them.
Reason #2: Your security tools aren’t doing what you expect
Security companies are notorious for shiny marketing. The companies boil their solution down to a few irresistible sentences, making it seem like their tool will completely solve your trickiest problem.
The reality is that most tools can only do so much to help. Without your team investing time in understanding how tools address issues and how the tools fit into a bigger strategy, you risk having overinvestments and false senses of security.
Reason #3: You don’t have a cyber strategy
As you stack tool after tool, are you reassessing your business’s needs? Do you take the time to consider questions like:
What are the most important parts of your business?
What data is critical and is it the focus of the tools you’ve selected to implement?
Do your core processes work with or against the security program?
If you layer tools within the environment, you may end up assuming everything is okay when, instead, you have gaping holes.
Investing time and creating a strategy will help alleviate a lot of your spending. It also will reduce your security risks. If you don’t do this, your team may potentially be directing time and money to the wrong areas.
Start thinking about risk. Think about the data assets you have. Plan out how each critical asset will be addressed with the security program you implement.
If you need help starting a conversation about risk, consider a cybersecurity analysis. This analysis will go through your network and find your weak spots. The analysis can help identify your risk and help create a base for your security program. To sign up for a cybersecurity analysis go to mark-greene.com/analysis.