“Processes needs to be upgraded with time for a successful business”
Our dependence on technology is at its peak today. Everyone and everything have seen and accepted the digital wave because it is the new way of living. There is nothing wrong with it. As humans, we will always have the tendency to evolve and keep that scope of improvement alive. However, as technology is moving forward, so are the threats related to cyber security.
Breaches, data leaks, data theft, etcetera are just some examples of major threats we have to deal with today. Because everyone has access to the internet, we cannot determine the purpose they are going to use the internet for. Hackers are always looking for vulnerabilities, especially in big organizations. That is why Cyber Security Monitoring is getting more and more important for organizations.
What is Cyber Security Monitoring
Cyber Security Monitoring refers to the automated process of continuous observation of an organization’s network behavior. It can be concluded that keeping an eye on the outgoing and incoming traffic of an organization to determine the threat probability and blocking them is the role of Cyber Security Monitoring.
In the present tech-savvy world cybersecurity tools are not that effective. Now you will have to put in extra efforts and use advanced tactics to keep the organization safe from attacks and data breaches.
Previously, companies had to face a loss when they encountered a data breach. But today, even if the website or application of any organization stops working, they have to bear huge losses, at least in terms of reputation.
The main importance of Cyber Security Monitoring is to preserve
- Reputation
- Privacy of User Data
- Availability
- Misuse of Organization Services
How does Cyber Security Monitoring Work?
Cyber Security Monitoring gives you the ability to identify threats in real-time. It could be anything from malicious behavior to a full-fledged attack. This will give the IT team a lead and they can prevent the attack before its occurrence.
The malicious packet that entered the organization’s network will be stored in company’s database so that the IT professionals can analyze the packet for any harmful content and act accordingly.
To understand Cyber Security Monitoring better, let’s consider two main types of monitoring
Endpoint Monitoring
Endpoints are devices connected to the organization’s network such as laptops, desktops, smartphones, cellphones, and IOT devices. The behavior patterns of these devices are monitored, and the data is provided to the IT team.
This data will help the organization to take preventive measures when there is a cyber-attack.
Network Monitoring
A network connection is defined as the connection between two devices that aids them in sharing data and information. If the network components are not working properly, it is a sign of vulnerability. If the network gets overloaded, keeps crashing, etcetera, it symbolizes weakness.
There are various diagnostic tools that keep running the diagnoses and prepare a log of the results. If there is any sort of disturbance or threat during the diagnosis, it will automatically notify the IT team.
From here the IT professionals can take over.
Importance of Cyber Security Monitoring
Organizations need to take some actions to prevent any sort of cyber-attack on their crucial data. For that, they need to monitor the network and packets that are being thrown towards their network. There are many benefits of using Cyber Security Monitoring which includes;
Minimize Data Breach
If you monitor your organizational network continuously, it will help you detect any threat before its occurrence. Companies can prevent their crucial information from getting into the wrong hands. That is why continuous monitoring is a very important factor for any organizational network.
Improving Response Time
Most of the organizations focus on taking preventive measures against cyber-attacks. But what if somehow the hackers manage to get into the system? That is why organizations should always be ready to respond and fix these attacks as soon as possible.
Address Security Vulnerability
No system is a hundred percent secure. There are various loopholes that we are not even aware of. Addressing these security vulnerabilities means that organizations should keep testing their networks and systems for loopholes and fix them immediately.
This pointer also includes all the protocols and firewalls up to date.
Compliance with Standards and Regulations
Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA Triad) are the most basic and fundamental terms of Cyber Security. If any organization wants to store any data, it needs to follow this set of rules. Even if one of these requirements is not met, the chances of vulnerability will increase drastically.
It will hamper the overall reputation of the organization. Continuous cyber security monitoring can help organizations fix these problems.
Reduce Downtime
Reducing downtime means ensuring that the organization’s network is working properly and handling all the operations. Network downtime harms the organization financially as well as reputation-wise.
If the organization faces any threats, it should be able to fix them as soon as possible. Continuous cyber security monitoring will decrease the chances of getting the server or network down.
New Threats have Evolved
With advancing technology, malpractitioners now have access to industry-grade equipment. The hackers have also advanced their skills with time. They are always looking for loopholes in an organization’s secure network.
Every day, hackers come up with new kinds of tricks and tactics to carry out their malicious activities.
Rise in Remote work
After the pandemic, most organizations started using a remote working culture. Though it might sound attractive for companies as they do not have to worry about the physical infrastructure costs, it is not a safe practice in terms of cyber safety.
Managing access control gets tough when employees are connected through an external network. It creates multiple sweet loopholes for hackers that can be extorted for monetary or other personal gains.
Increasing Productivity of Employees
Employees are the actual workforce for any organization. Making the employees productive is a major concern for every organization. Improving the IT infrastructure boosts employee productivity as all the functions are streamlined and structured properly.
A secured network helps employees focus on their core skills and increases the speed of employees. This can be done by hiring a security expert who will take care of all the technical responsibilities. Overall, it boosts the output of the workforce.
These are some of the reasons to do continuous cyber security monitoring. The list is never-ending as cyber security monitoring has not been unlocked to its full potential now. As time and technology move ahead there will be more ways to implement cybersecurity monitoring.
Challenges with Cyber Security Monitoring
Till now, we have learned all the good things about cyber security monitoring. However, as easy as it may sound, implementing a proper Cyber Security Monitoring process could be a complicated task.
So, let’s learn about the challenges you might face when establishing a proper process for cybersecurity monitoring in your organization.
Vast Volumes of Data
Organization’s IT networks generate huge volumes of logging data in real-time. It means you will need an efficient and robust mechanism to capture all the log data. To use this log data for monitoring purposes you need to be sure that it is quality data.
Log analysis requires an efficient and scalable data platform that can ingest multi-modal and multi-structured data from multiple sources. The data should be ready to process on demand of a third-party analytics tooling specification.
Cost
Security monitoring can get expensive very fast. One could argue that you can use a cloud-based storage service. Although it is inexpensive, the huge volumes of data storage and analytics requests mean that the cloud storage and analytics solution can scale up to whatever size is needed. This will automatically result in high costs of ownership.
Triage and Control
Triaging the security risks by monitoring and analytics with appropriate control actions is a challenging task. It is often a tradeoff between risk management and flexibility.
A user might act in a legitimate way to gain access to computing resources and data assets to handle new and unexpected job requirements. Your network might experience spikes of data traffic in response to any external geopolitical event.
This type of network access request is not common. It exceeds the margins of risk threshold. It will result in triggering an immediate isolation of the affected network resource. The SIEM will cut off legitimate users from the network.
How can We help?
Maintaining the security of any organization is a very hectic task and we totally understand it. Keeping track of all the security guidelines and the latest threats is time-consuming and requires proper resources. That is why we have tried our best to explain the concept of Cyber Security Monitoring to you. However, if you feel that this is a big hassle for you, we are always ready to help.
Cyber Cops is a well-established name in the world of Digital Security. We have trained experts who can comprehend the best security protocols suitable for your organization. We believe that every organization is different and there should be tailored security solutions for each organization.
We will not only help you protect your organization from various threats but will also guide you through the complete process. As the name suggests, Cyber Cops is your protector in the digital realm.