Cybersecurity is a hot topic. As we’ve written about previously, cyber attacks are on the increase. Cybercrimes will cost businesses more than $2 trillion by 2019. On the bright side, according the CB Insights, funding deals for cybersecurity reached a record high in 2016. They have broken the industry down into ten categories, and point out that the future is not as bleak as the headlines would have you believe.
Maintaining a viable security defense is a never ending battle as the threat perimeter continues to broaden with more and more companies moving their infrastructure to the cloud. In the next three years, 92% of data center traffic will be in the cloud, according to Cisco’s Global Cloud Index. It is estimated that 68% of cloud usage will be in public cloud data centers due to their flexibility to help companies quickly and efficiently scale in order to meet operational needs.
Cisco also notes that hyperscale data centers, like Amazon Web Services, will handle 53% of all data center traffic and include 47% of the world’s servers. Overall, data center storage capacity will grow 5x by 2020 to 1.8 Zettabytes. This is an incredible amount of data, but is still only a third of the 5.3 Zettabytes of data that will be stored on end user devices.
Whether data is stored in the cloud, behind corporate firewalls, or on end user devices, the security protocols to handle new threats and vulnerabilities are remarkably similar. In fact, most security best practice lists fall back on the basics:
- Creating a company wide security policy
- Employee training and education
- Encryption
- Access control
- Keep software up to date
- Back up data
- Password integrity
- Two factor authentication
Too often these basics are forgotten or ignored. Robert Herjavec, CEO and Founder of Herjavec Group and co-host of the popular reality TV show Shark Tank was recently quoted, "Passwords, patching, detection and response time are some of the top areas where companies continue to fail.”
As noted above, there is no one size fits all cybersecurity solution. However, the first step should be focused patching and maintaining endpoints. In 2016, Adobe had more vulnerabilities identified than Microsoft for the first time in history and Apple vulnerabilities were at their highest level ever. Companies don’t have control over the number of vulnerabilities that are discovered, but they do control how quickly they remediate the threats.
Automox’s automated patch remediation solution works with any operating system, (Windows, Mac OS, Linux), any software, (Adobe, Java, Firefox, etc…) anywhere in the world - from public cloud instances to inside your firewall or the coffee shop halfway around the world.
Automox’s automated patch remediation capabilities enable IT security teams to quickly and easily address OS and Software vulnerabilities including even older unsupported, legacy and orphaned software. Through continuous monitoring, Automox’s dynamic policy engine moves patching from a “once in awhile” security task, to a consistent operational activity that is fully automated and working behind the scene at all times. This makes keeping up with your business and regulatory compliance requirements easy and consistent.
Automox also provides you with the ability to group and deploy new applications, and to enforce that specific applications remain on endpoints at all times - effectively eliminating the need to manage and maintain gold images. The platform is also capable of managing configuration settings; from password length and printer drivers to firewall settings and USB access. Instead of remediation efforts taking weeks or months, in just minutes a day, your infrastructure will be more secure than it ever has been. And you’ll be able to keep your focus on the higher level security issues that need your attention.
About Automox
Facing growing threats and a rapidly expanding attack surface, understaffed and alert-fatigued organizations need more efficient ways to eliminate their exposure to vulnerabilities. Automox is a modern cyber hygiene platform that closes the aperture of attack by more than 80% with just half the effort of traditional solutions.
Cloud-native and globally available, Automox enforces OS & third-party patch management, security configurations, and custom scripting across Windows, Mac, and Linux from a single intuitive console. IT and SecOps can quickly gain control and share visibility of on-prem, remote and virtual endpoints without the need to deploy costly infrastructure.
Experience modern, cloud-native patch management today with a 15-day free trial of Automox and start recapturing more than half the time you're currently spending on managing your attack surface. Automox dramatically reduces corporate risk while raising operational efficiency to deliver best-in-class security outcomes, faster and with fewer resources.
