Too often, IT managers think of their job in terms of striking a balance between institutional security and operational efficiency. The truth is, however, that an agile security posture will be easy and cost-effective to maintain while still providing complete protection of your data, applications and other valuable assets. In fact, the key to efficient, effective security is not necessarily to throw money at the problem, but to prioritize how and when resources are deployed. Some areas to focus on include:
- User training: Many IT managers assume that users will know how to securely access sensitive resources. According to research by Symantec and the Ponemon Institute, 64% of security breaches are caused by human error. User training is a low-cost, high-reward investment that can immediately strengthen your overall security posture.
- Self-support: Better-trained users, when given the ability to self-service their account, will reduce the strain on your IT department. When users are able to perform basic security tasks (such as password resets) on their own, you’ll save money and be able to better utilize skilled IT staff.
- Hardware auditing: The more hardware and appliances in your network, the more difficult it will be to prevent data loss and security breaches. Unfortunately, many organizations tend to take a rigid approach to managing growth when it comes to IT. Streamlining your network through periodic hardware audits, or switching to scalable cloud-based solutions that grow with your business, can simplify loss prevention while maintaining operational efficiency.
- Access control: Managing and monitoring who is accessing data on your network is another simple way to improve security without a large investment. Controlling access to sensitive data by implementing the principle of least privilege improves the overall stability and security of your systems, while making it easier to safely deploy applications in a large network environment.
- Log centralization: Log data provides an invaluable key to the state of your network security. A small investment in a SIEM appliance lets you monitor log data across a distributed network, simplifies ISO, HIPAA, PCI and other regulatory audits, and provides a workflow for identifying and responding to zero day attacks.
Many IT professionals are finding themselves having to do increasingly more with less. Being smart about how you prioritize security is the key to getting the most out of your budget while maintaining a security posture that is effective and easy-to-use.
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