How Does Cybersecurity Protect Us?

Cybersecurity is the group of best practices that keeps intruders out of business networks, healthcare systems, industrial control networks, critical infrastructure, and other systems. It prevents the exposure of sensitive data to criminals and state actors, stops ransomware attacks that can disrupt an organization’s daily operations, and prevents remote takeovers of computers, equipment, and other assets.

Cybersecurity also ensures that organizations comply with regulations that govern data use and protection in various industries. Cybersecurity helps protect businesses from financial losses, the erosion of trust that can occur after a cyberattack, and the prospect of uninsurability because of poor security practices or successful attacks.

Effective cybersecurity requires that an organization identifies every connected device in an organization, enabling security leaders to know exactly what they need to protect.

Ways to Increase Cybersecurity Protection

Here are the key steps to eliminate gaps in your cybersecurity posture.

Risk assessment

To set cybersecurity priorities, security teams need to know which devices are at risk of attacks, as well as the identity, potential severity, and likelihood of those attacks. Risk assessment is increasingly crucial for operational technology and industrial control system (OT/ICS) devices that used to be protected by air gaps between OT and IT networks. Increasingly, OT and IT environments are converging as many OT and ICS devices are now connected to the internet, resulting in an expanded attack surface.

Compliance

Cybersecurity is a key factor in compliance with data security regulations, including HIPAA in health care, PCI-DSS in payments, and other compliance guidelines such as the NIST Cyber Security Framework and the CIS Critical Security Controls. Compliance requires asset inventories, device security, and encryption of data, all of which a good cybersecurity platform can help provide and enforce.

Network segmentation

Cybersecurity also requires proper segmentation of assets to limit access to sensitive assets, data, and processes. Successful segmentation requires complete visibility of all devices, including those that traditional network scans can miss or interfere with, such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices, OT and ICS devices, and connected medical equipment. In addition to mapping networks and their segments, an effective cybersecurity solution will monitor device activity within and across networks to look for potential threats based on device behavior.

Threat detection and response

Passive monitoring of all the devices in an organization’s environment — on the networks and in the airspace — enables real-time threat detection, which is a critical cybersecurity capability. By comparing real-time device activity and the state of device firmware and software, an effective threat detection system can see anomalous behavior as soon as it happens, alert the security team, and automatically enforce established policies.

Total device visibility and security

Armis Centrix™ makes every asset and connection visible, so organizations have the complete device inventory required for a comprehensive cybersecurity practice. Armis provides robust, scalable cybersecurity support across complex environments with comprehensive device monitoring, vulnerability assessments, and threat detection and response.