Continuous monitoring cyber security is not hard to understand. Continuous security monitoring is a type of security. Specifically, it is automated monitoring of information. It monitors information security controls and vulnerabilities. Besides, it also monitors other cyber threats. Why is it so? To support organizational risk management decisions.
Why Is It Important?
Many organizations today depend on technology. For instance, they use technology to complete important transactions and businesses. There are also many remote employees. Therefore, it increases the chances of being cyber-attacked. Then, it increases the channels for data loss.
Companies may try their best to protect their data. However, employees continue to use apps and devices that are not approved. As a result, it also puts the data at risk. Organizations must have the ability to manage this technology. Moreover, they must always uphold the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data.
A Real Experience On Why Continuous Cyber Security Is Important
Even more, cybercriminals never stop. A company’s cybersecurity might be strong today. But not might be the case tomorrow. Cybercriminals continue to evolve existing viruses. For example, a new ransomware called Ryuk infected several businesses. This happened in August 2018. As a result, affected businesses paid the attackers nearly $640,000 in ransom. However, Ryuk is not an entirely new virus. It shares its code with another ransomware called Hermes.
As we can see from the example, traditional security is not enough. Some examples are firewalls and antivirus software. These are now not enough against sophisticated cyber attackers.
How Does Continuous Information Security Monitoring Work?
It is automated. It works by providing real-time information. About what? About the organization’s security posture. This Is like the eye of the organization. It identifies cyber weaknesses and attacks. As a result, it helps IT professionals. Provided that, it helps them respond quickly to cyber threats and compromises.
According to NIST, it works by:
- Maintaining situational awareness across the organization. Also, in its vendor ecosystem.
- Continuously understand threats and its activities
- Assessing all security controls
- Collecting, corresponding, and analyzing security-related information
- Giving actionable communication of security status
- Active risk management by organizational officials
To do these, a business must:
1. Define Strategy
2. Establish architecture
3. Implement and collect data
4. Analyze and report the findings
5. Respond to findings
6. Review and update
Benefits Of Continuous Security Monitoring
The law mandates general data protection. Most countries implement this law. Continuous monitoring helps an organization comply with this law. In addition, compliance is backed up with analytics and reports.
Since security monitoring is real-time, organizations detect devices as soon as they connect to the network. As a result, it helps IT professionals prevent attacks early. It also reduces the impact of successful cyberattacks. Moreover, it reduces the cost of data breaches.
It’s clear that the organization must take steps for security. It doesn’t matter how big or small a business is. The landscape of threat is growing every single day. It is more dangerous than ever. Continuous monitoring cyber security enables organizations to prevent that.
Here is a short video of the process:
