You’ve been working hard and you’re almost there.
You’ve learned how to build a solid cybersecurity foundation, increase awareness of threats and mature your program wisely.
Now it’s time for actualization. This means taking your program to the next level by using these three tools:
- Zero Trust Networking
- Next-Gen / Cloud Firewall
- Threat Intelligence
Zero trust networking means that you no longer automatically trust just anything inside or outside your network. In other words, its’ guilty until proven innocent. Now, devices and networks must be vetted and verified before gaining entry to your IT systems and data.
It’s also time to address the limited capabilities of a basic router, since it’s putting you at risk. These routers lack effective security capacities. So, in order to protect yourself, you’ll need a next-generation firewall or a unified threat management system, which provides advanced filtering and network segmentation options. Network segmentation prevents certain devices, like phones, cameras and servers, from communicating with other devices giving you more control over who has access and how.
Also, since more and more workers are operating remotely, it’s vital to centrally host your firewall activities across a cloud infrastructure to offer secure access to both cloud and private networks and applications.
The last tactic is threat intelligence, which focuses on identifying who, how and why a bad actor is trying to gain access to your IT systems. It’s important that you stay current on all threats targeting your industry, so look for both public and paid resources and get on their intelligence feeds. Better yet, consult your IT Services partner to find out what threat intelligence sources they use.
If you’d like to learn more about each of these security actualization tools, please click here.
Or if you’d like more in-depth information on where to invest your cybersecurity dollars, please fill out the form on this page. You’ll receive a free copy of my chapter, What is a Security Framework?, from the book On Thin Ice to help guide you.
Lastly, if you have any questions or comments, please know that I’m only one click away.
