In 2024, the cyber threat landscape is rapidly changing. Organizations are currently facing an unprecedented challenge to move faster.
Many companies deploy multi-factor authentication (MFA) and governance measures to combat threats, but most rely on outdated security systems, lack IT funding, and lack comprehensive identity strategies. They fall into common pitfalls, such as prioritizing trending solutions over new ones. Without a robust identity strategy, organizations remain vulnerable to attacks.
The critical role of identity in cybersecurity
In the field of cybersecurity, they say, “identity is everything.” As long as operational identity security remains a blind spot, what every hacker needs to penetrate an organization’s defenses is identity and the means to compromise it. “Identity is everything” speaks of identity as the foundation of zero trust, the very nature of which impacts a system’s ability to quickly identify and eliminate bad actors within the digital environment. In a dual sense, the weakest link in an organization’s security perimeter is identity, or people. Therefore, for organizations and those seeking to compromise them, identity is everything.
Identity threat detection and response (ITDR) is an operational identity security discipline that leverages behavioral analytics to rapidly detect and respond to suspicious activity within an organization’s digital environment. ITDR acts as a cybersecurity fire alarm and sprinkler system, identifying and stopping threats before they can cause significant harm. Without ITDR, businesses may (and probably won’t) realize they’ve been compromised until it’s too late.
Please enter your ITDR
ITDR arrived in 2020 to the cybersecurity industry, which is struggling to use existing identity and access management (IAM) solutions to protect employees who suddenly became remote during the coronavirus era. This was the response. Four years later, ITDR has become the gold standard for detection and response, and as the field of IAM continues to evolve, innovators are leveraging AI and ML to improve response times and accuracy as threats continue to grow.
Google’s 2023 Threat Horizons report found that 86% of security breaches involved the use of stolen credentials. This makes it clear that continuous identity-based monitoring will be key to protecting yourself from hackers in 2024.
When a hack occurs, it takes a minute to detect it, 10 minutes to understand it, and 60 minutes to stop the hacker before it begins to move laterally through your network. The consequences of missing these marks are significant – think financial loss, reputational damage, and long-term business interruption. Achieving these marks is nearly impossible without an ITDR in place. Currently, the average time to detect and contain a security breach is 272 days.
Following the release of MITER’s 2023 ATT&CK Assessment Report, ITDR has become a top priority in the cybersecurity field. The highly publicized report revealed that two-thirds of attacks can be traced back to account takeovers, highlighting the need for ITDR as a specialized IAM technology. Despite the positive buzz surrounding ITDR, the technology is commonly mislabeled as a luxury at the executive level. In a culture of cost-cutting and a “it won’t happen to us” mentality, IT teams are looking to extend the capabilities of Extended Detection and Response (XDR) and Security Operations Centers (SOCs) to protect against identity. There are too many things to do. Blackmail. Many reactive investments in ITDR stem from this defensive strategy.
real world failure
In the first nine months of 2021, a 2020 identity-based attack against SolarWinds cost the company $40 million. A Russian hacker group called Nobelium used phishing techniques to obtain credentials before infiltrating the SolarWinds software development environment and injecting malicious code into one of the platform’s upcoming updates. When SolarWinds customers (including the U.S. Department of Defense and Microsoft) downloaded the update, their networks were compromised.
Why are we discussing this? The hacker penetrated SolarWinds’ security perimeter and moved through the organization’s environment undetected for six months prior to the attack (14 months total). So ITDR could have stopped it. With proper access controls in place, it would be much less likely that Nobelium would be able to infiltrate SolarWinds’ network. The ITDR postponement cost SolarWinds at least $40 million, caused weeks of service interruptions, and dealt a major blow to its reputation.
SolarWinds isn’t the first high-profile company to suffer a preventable breach, and it won’t be the last. Twitter, Microsoft, and Capital One have all made headlines over the past five years for failing to notice and prevent data breaches that have affected thousands, even millions, of their customers. In each of these cases, ITDR could have significantly reduced the impact of the breach or prevented it entirely.
strategic sabotage
Could you be sabotaging your own cybersecurity success? Here are three common ways organizations sabotage their cybersecurity posture.
Be overconfident in one solution. It would be a big mistake to believe that the steps currently in place are sufficient. Unfortunately, it’s also easy to make. Hackers are constantly evolving, and so are cybersecurity defenses, so individual investments no longer work. To maintain a strong cybersecurity posture and protect your enterprise from headlines of breach, organizations must develop a holistic view of their strategy, understand that the environment is constantly changing, and develop strategies to evolve with the threat landscape. We need to make a sustained and strong effort. Lack of funding for IT and cybersecurity. From technology resources to qualified staff, IT security teams are underfunded in every aspect. Many malicious activities and threats are highly sophisticated, requiring professionals trained in effective methods and access to cutting-edge technology available in a modern 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC). Home needs attention.
Organizations should never attempt to solve a cybersecurity problem that they are not prepared to address. Investing in and continuously training the right experts, whether internal or external, is essential to maintaining a strong defense. If your team isn’t continually evolving, your organization will quickly fall behind. For business leaders, cybersecurity is often an attractive place to save money. But businesses can’t afford to cut their cybersecurity budgets and want to avoid being breached. Hackers don’t stop, so neither can you.
Let trends control your strategy. While ITDR is a popular topic right now, AI is far more relevant in today’s conversational culture, or “hype cycle.” A year from now, this cycle may no longer be about ITDR, but ITDR will still be just as important to your identity strategy. This is why trends are the enemy of a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. A comprehensive and intentional approach to security, investing in a secure total experience, always yields better results than a one-time implementation of a great new technology.
The optimal attack strategy for your organization
Organizations will always have problems if they act on the idea that “it won’t happen to us.” When strengthening an organization’s cybersecurity posture, a shift from a reactive to a proactive mindset is essential to stay ahead of evolving threats and prevent costly and damaging breaches. Comprehensive, identity-focused cybersecurity is the best way to proactively defend against threats. This is also the best way to improve user experience results.
In 2024, complacency is one of the biggest threats to our ability to protect ourselves from threats. That’s why taking an aggressive approach to identity management isn’t just a defensive measure. It’s a strategic imperative. By investing in a robust ITDR solution and avoiding common pitfalls such as lack of funding, over-reliance on a single solution, and chasing trends, organizations can stop potentially catastrophic data breaches in their tracks. You can gain strength. Don’t let your organization make headlines in 2024. Bring identity and ITDR to the forefront of security conversations. Remember, identity is everything.
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