Video: Managing the Risks of the Internet of Things

“Being able to rapidly detect and evict threats is necessary in the modern enterprise to avoid regulatory and legal penalties while protecting confidential data or trade secrets,” says Kayne McGladrey, CISSP (@kaynemcgladrey), cybersecurity strategist at Ascent Solutions.

Identity management of users and devices is key for CISOs to manage the risks associated with unauthorized access to sensitive data and systems, according to Kayne McGladrey, Field CISO at Hyperproof and IEEE senior member. “From a control operations standpoint, the two most important capabilities are the ability to validate a user’s behavior when it deviates from the norm, and the ability to quickly de-provision access when it is no longer needed,’’ McGladrey told VentureBeat.

For example, if a user regularly logs in from Washington State using their Windows-powered computer to access a single program, there’s little reason to prompt them for a second authentication factor, he said. “But when the device changes, perhaps a new Mac computer that’s not configured correctly, or their location suddenly changes to Australia, they should be prompted for multifactor authentication as part of identity validation before being allowed to access those data,” McGladrey said. When a user leaves an organization, their identity access should be rapidly revoked across all platforms and devices. Otherwise, organizations run the risk of a threat actor using the older access and credentials, McGladrey added.

“The only meaningful consideration of zero trust adoption is when the board and CEO are willing to trust and partner with the CISO to effectively mitigate business risks. A recent Gartner study found that a CISO who can effectively tie business outcomes to a material reduction in business risk through practical implementation of zero trust controls will make security an asset for their organization that enables them to compete more effectively.” — Kayne McGladrey, field CISO, Hyperproof

Kayne McGladrey (@kaynemcgladrey), security architect at Ascent Solutions LLC, said that providing secure access to corporate data for employees regardless of the location of either the employees or the data is still the biggest concern for companies with a hybrid workforce. “Solving this is the core of a Zero Trust strategy, he added. “Zero Trust is now the foundation of modern defensive architectures that companies should use to reduce the material risks associated with legitimate threats.”

Schools also contend with risk born of constant user shifts in the student population. This puts schools in an unusual and unenviable position, Kayne McGladrey, field CISO at Hyperproof, said via email. “Being able to apply real-time policies based on user and device behavior via zero-trust networking becomes critical in this environment,” McGladrey said. Absent these tools, strategies and adequate staff, schools will remain a frequent target for cybercriminals. They could also, at the very least, give schools the confidence needed to refuse ransom demands.

There’s a communications breakdown between those working in cyber security and those who are not. This failure to communicate is leading to the greatest transfer of wealth in history. People aren’t seeking actionable advice during “October is National Cyber Security Month”, and they’re tuning out of their mandatory corporate drop-ceiling one-hour cyber security training in the breakroom. Even though individuals are harmed, there’s the persistent belief that this must be someone else’s problem.