Web Security – Build a Unified Defense in 4 Easy Steps

Protecting your network, data and workforce from web-based threats has never been more difficult for enterprises. Those tasked with managing web security face a constantly evolving threat and network landscape in tandem with complex environments.

Just a few of the trends dissolving the traditional network security perimeter include:

• Uncontrolled use of web-based and social networking applications by staff opening the door to malware, compliance and data security risk,
• Expansion of unsecure public Wi-Fi,
• A growing population of smaller branch office,
• A highly mobile workforce, and
• “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) policies

Other factors also make it difficult for enterprises to identify and defend against web-based threats. These include the rapidly ballooning volume of web traffic that must be inspected and the increasing number of virtualized business applications.

Many organizations are challenged further by the need to develop more robust security policies within rigid business constraints. For example, they must use the existing architecture and often limited resources to scale web security to remote and branch offices. And these remote locations typically have little or no IT support on site. Accordingly, a unified defense strategy may seem near impossible to implement, yet the framework can be achieved through four simple steps.

Web Security: Building a Unified Defense

While the web will continue to be the entry point of most attacks, the following measures can provide your organization with a more unified defense strategy:

1. Gap Analysis: Thoroughly analyze your existing security investments and consider ways to gain more value from them. Identify and evaluate technologies designed to bridge communication gaps in existing security solutions.
2. Increase Visibility: Real-time content and security scanning is an essential part of web security protection. Be more proactive about generating reports to gain visibility into which users and groups consistently generate the most risk. Additionally, assess the security infrastructure protecting the organization’s key assets and identify whether there the at-risk employees with privileges to those key assets. Address the security policies and enforcement mechanisms that mitigate the increased risk posed by such employees.
3. Monitor Proactively: Move from highly fragmented and poorly implemented defenses to predictive protection. This includes evaluating the usefulness of threat intelligence and contextual awareness gleaned from existing monitoring solutions deployed on the network.
4. Examine Response: Identify processes and technologies that hinder incident response and remediation and ensure that incident responders have the right tools to efficiently carry out remediation activities. Review recent incidents and address process breakdowns. Consider improvements that extend existing policies and automate response as much as possible to give IT security time to address the most critical issues.

Next Steps

Schedule a call with a technology advisor or visit our Resource Library for additional information.

About Erika von Hoyer, MBA

Marketing Director, Cloud Compute. Infragard member and past Governor of the Board of Directors.