We need to automate defense against cyber threats

 

By Bruno Zani, Systems Engineering Manager at Intel Security

In a time of increasing IT complexity, companies and government agencies are continually being asked to do more with less, have smaller budgets, reduced time and less available labor. Cybersecurity professionals face the challenging task of increasing protection, increasing capacity and reducing incident response times, while attack vectors and technology multiply exponentially.
 
What can be done to strengthen defenses when resources are running low? It is a good time to reevaluate the current cybersecurity stance and consider what the future might look like with the increased automation and orchestration of a software platform focusing on the endpoint, cloud, hybrid data centers and threat management.
 
If the complexity of the modern cyber threat landscape were not enough to challenge even the most qualified cyber professional, the sheer volume of new threats emerging per minute can overwhelm anyone. Generally speaking, security teams clearly face a disparity between the availability of manpower and the growing number and sophistication of threats. This gap is accentuated by tools that force analysts to connect the dots manually, which takes even more time and effort.
 
Automation can really optimize security features. Automated security systems help eliminate routine tasks, allow rapid integration of new tools and free up professionals to solve more difficult problems. Automation and orchestration can reduce manual effort by up to 70% and the response interval from days to less than 24 hours. Protection, detection and correction are best when planned and operated together.
 
The integrated security threat lifecycle involves better protection technology, locates and prevents advanced threats and corrects them more quickly, while adapting protection technologies to do a better job of blocking the next threats.
 
Gathering the right tools is a powerful strategy. By automating systems, we increase the speed and accuracy of responses, reaching the goal of delivering more with less resources.