Unifying Security Endpoints Fuel Business Transformation

 The digital world has become a sprawling metropolis of connected devices, cloud infrastructures, interdependent networks, and an ever-evolving threat landscape. Once confined to neat physical boundaries, businesses now navigate a boundless digital frontier, where every endpoint represents an opening to an even broader and hyperconnected ecosystem and, thereby, is a potential vulnerability. Traditional endpoint security solutions, often a patchwork of disparate tools and vendors, create blind spots, hinder visibility, and introduce operational complexities. Meanwhile, ever-adaptable, and resourceful cybercriminals keep exploiting these vulnerabilities with increasing sophistication. 

To address these concerns and fortify the digital resilience of organisations, Vi Business recently held a Roundtable Conference in Chennai on cybersecurity services with technology veterans and cybersecurity experts across industries. This forum served as a great platform to explore the intricacies of cybersecurity challenges, share insights and observations into cybersecurity, and collectively chart a course towards plausible and practical solutions.

Delayering the Complex Cybersecurity Landscape

1. Cultivating Awareness and Building Accountability

Cybersecurity is not just the IT department's responsibility but a broader organisational challenge. Tools and guided approaches that include simulated phishing exercises, clear communication about the latest trends in cyber threats and channels that encourage employees to identify and report suspicious activities often have a more significant impact in increasing user awareness and developing accountability than blanket approaches and classroom tutoring. One of the industry verticals that has exemplified this mode of awareness successfully is FinTech. The industry has enabled everyone (irrespective of educational background) to perform digital transactions seamlessly. The Finance Minister also hailed FinTech's revolution in digital transactions, where 83% of transactions are now digital.

2. Opportunities and Vulnerabilities in Cloud 

Earlier, the cloud was positioned as a cost-effective alternative to data storage, but with time, the true potential of the cloud has been discovered, enhancing organisational resilience. This data resiliency in cloud computing is built in data centres nationwide and offered to industry giants like Netflix for hosting infrastructure. Leveraging indispensable hardware is another advantage of the cloud, providing smooth horizontal scalability. Because of its potential to transform data storage and IT infrastructure, hosting and maintenance are also a potent target for cyberattacks.

3. Evolution of Operational Technologies

From ATMs being the game-changers in the banking sector to becoming easy prey for cyberhackers, every operational technology has evolved from being extremely elusive to very vulnerable to cyberattacks.

The Telecommunications sector has its own list in the form of Black boxes for network services that were earlier used by players like Nokia and Sony, which are now being replaced with technologies like 4G, 5G and microservices. The roundtable discussions highlighted that businesses and even cyber attackers keep track of emerging technologies that make noise in the market to identify and exploit their hidden loopholes. Hence, organisations must be mindful that their peers also share their excitement for upcoming technologies in the hacking industry.

4. Communication as the Weakest Link

Social platforms and channels like WhatsApp, which are often considered the lifeblood of personal and professional communication today, are equally susceptible to security attacks and data breaches. That's why many organisations have banned WhatsApp for business communication and instead rely on internally provisioned apps. 

5. Leveraging Cyber-Forensics for Data Recovery

No cybersecurity system can completely eliminate the risk of cyberattack. Hence, while it's critical to have proactive measures, having a reliable, robust, and swift recovery system is essential. This includes data backups, disaster recovery protocols and clear communication channels to minimise downtime, mitigate damage and accelerate data and systems recovery. Cyber forensics is a deep-dive area in cybersecurity and is increasingly leveraged by some big firms to recover stolen data. While there are not many players in this field, it is an upcoming domain that will significantly impact cybersecurity in the forthcoming years. 

6. Partnering with the Right Cybersecurity Experts

Only a few companies globally have unleashed technologies that they have acquired beyond 5%. Hence, it is clear that the higher scalability of these technologies will increase the surface area of attacks exponentially. Hence, organisations need to understand the role of the optimal provider to partner with multiple security providers. This way, they can focus on protecting the organisation from data breaches while scaling current technology, and the security partners can concentrate on providing pre-emptive detection capabilities.  

With the cyberattacks continuously evolving and getting more complicated with AI and other emerging technologies, one cybersecurity approach could be building a solid cybersecurity skill pool by involving security service providers in the "manage service model". But more than having a strong security partner is required. Organisations face a diverse set of challenges when implementing security measures like:

●    Risk of data loss and operational disruption due to end-user migration

●    Extension of security perimeter with the ever-expanding technological landscape

●    Challenges in security convergence OT/IT infrastructures due to differing functional priorities and technologies

●    Struggle to secure end-of-life devices that lack vendor support and updates, making them more vulnerable to advanced attacks

●    Lack of security expertise, especially for emerging technologies

●    Difficulty in securing endpoint control with the proliferation of remote work and devices with diverse interoperability and compatibility quotients

●    Difficulty in cyber risk mitigation due to advancements in Smishing/Phishing techniques that make it hard to detect and block

Hence, with so many challenges to navigate, it's critical to seek partners with deep domain knowledge, a thorough understanding of the technology stack and reliable threat intelligence. Experts in the roundtable discussion agreed that considering the new digital landscape that today's businesses operate in, they must have the following expertise: 

●    Capabilities in Exploitability and Vulnerability Assessment

●    Inclusion of VAPT Tools as part of a comprehensive strategy

●    Multi-layered audit capabilities for end-to-end security assessment and control

●    Data orchestration functionalities to connect hardware and software components of different business units

●    Expertise in SOC assessments to help clients monitor, manage, report and mature their security operations

●    Integrated platforms to provide a single window view of the security web of the entire organisation

●    Cost-effective implementation

●    mpactful in building business resilience

Unifying security endpoints is not just a technological endeavour; it's a cultural transformation. It requires a shift in mindset, a commitment to continuous improvement and a strategic partnership with the right security experts. By embracing this approach, you can confidently navigate the digital space, transforming cyber threats from roadblocks into catalysts for innovation and growth.

If you are keen on elevating your security operations to the next level, explore our range of reliablens enterprise security solutions that have been designed keeping your business needs in mind.

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