Burst Your Bubble: Taking Aim at Cybersecurity Silos
Bridging cybersecurity silos for cohesive defense; orchestrate, collaborate, and break barriers.
Emily L. Phelps, director at Cyware, delves into the imperative of dismantling cybersecurity silos for a united defense. Explore the challenges and solutions to fortify digital environments.
In the sprawling world of digital defense, walls have been unintentionally built. These walls, or cybersecurity silos, have sprouted not just between teams but also amidst the very tools and data we use. With traditional security instruments not hitting the mark on promised collaboration, we’ve seen threat intelligence stranded on its island, unable to achieve the integration needed to extract its undeniable value. The challenge doesn’t end there. Despite efforts to illustrate the contrary, many view cybersecurity professionals as one homogenous borg hivemind, all thinking and acting in unison.
The Necessity of Cybersecurity “Nice-to-Haves”
The reality is cybersecurity is a multifaceted industry with unique domains that require specialized skills. Security pros must navigate these environments not only overcoming silos but also language – or at least taxonomy – barriers. And though cybersecurity roles are diverse, this challenge is pervasive. The question becomes how do we overcome these silos to get the right insights to the right teams in the right way at the right time – without it devolving into a frustrating game of telephone?
It isn’t that organizations are unconcerned with these issues. It’s that addressing these challenges falls behind more time-sensitive tactics. Fire drills dominate resources, and what are seen as “nice-to-haves” are pushed back on the security roadmap indefinitely. We need to rethink this approach. Addressing glaring challenges across security processes can no longer take a backseat to short-term defenses. To adequately arm defenders, we must prioritize effective orchestration beyond incident response, using technology that can translate relevant data into each team’s language, acting as a technological Rosetta stone. Let’s break it down.
1. Cybersecurity Silos Form Between Teams, Tools, and Data
Security professionals have long noted the chasm between different departments within an organization. While IT teams could be heavily fortified with the latest cybersecurity tools, HR might need to catch up. This disparity isn’t just limited to teams. Even within the cybersecurity domain, tools might not communicate efficiently with each other, leading to security gaps, translation barriers, and inefficiencies that delay risk mitigation. Data, arguably the most crucial asset, also gets cloistered, reducing visibility and increasing the chance of blind spots.
Implementing a modernized security orchestration, automation, and response (SOA+R) platform can bridge the gap between different departments. Despite the baggage associated with legacy SOAR platforms, modular security platforms – that include threat intelligence management – can deliver the orchestration and automation teams need to operate cohesively, rapidly identifying and addressing vulnerabilities and threats.
2. Traditional security tools haven’t delivered on the collaborative abilities they’ve claimed
When the latest cybersecurity tool hits the market, it often comes with tall promises of collaboration and integration. However, facts on the ground can paint a different picture. While exceptional in their isolated capacities, these tools often need help to offer true interoperability with other systems. The promise of a seamless, integrated security environment still needs to be fulfilled, adding layers of complexity for IT professionals.
The good news is that innovative approaches enable technology and security teams to achieve legitimate cross-functional integration in some security domains. Cybersecurity teams should look for vendors that build upon collaborative frameworks, promote transparency, and demonstrate these capabilities and inter-tool compatibility.
See More: Unlocking the Power Of Neurodiversity In Cybersecurity
3. Threat intelligence must become closely orchestrated across cybersecurity
Threat intelligence – the domain dedicated to understanding, anticipating, and mitigating threats – has been siloed from other cybersecurity functions. This isolation prevents real-time sharing of threat indicators, hampering the ability of teams to anticipate and respond swiftly to emerging threats. An integrated approach, wherein threat intelligence is closely orchestrated across all functions, can boost our cybersecurity posture’s reaction time, accuracy, and effectiveness.
Valuable threat intelligence platforms (TIPs) should enable threat data sharing and analysis across all cybersecurity functions. Such platforms should automatically disseminate intelligence to relevant stakeholders and systems, allowing for a proactive defense posture. Security teams can further augment this by participating in industry-specific threat intelligence-sharing communities to enrich the quality of operational intelligence.
4. Bridging the linguistic gap the need for a cybersecurity rosetta stone
Security isn’t just about tools and tech; it’s about people. And people communicate. Yet, in the vast domain of cybersecurity, not all teams speak the same language. To assist security professionals – analysts or executives, tactical or strategic, analytical or action-oriented – we need a ‘Cybersecurity Rosetta Stone’ – a unified system that translates data into actionable insights in a language familiar to each team. This would ensure that not only does the right information reach the right people promptly, but it’s also presented in a manner that’s instantly recognizable and actionable.
Security teams benefit from cross-functional training programs that help one another understand their colleagues’ taxonomy. Additionally, leveraging a cybersecurity platform that provides customizable playbooks that can translate technical data and provide contextual enrichment enables each team member to understand and act on the information effectively, regardless of their particular area of focus.
5. Call to collaboration
In an era dominated by interconnectedness, it’s ironic that cybersecurity, the protector of this vast web, operates in silos. The call of the hour is collaboration, integration, and automated translation. As we continue our quest for a safer digital environment, let’s pledge to burst these bubbles and build bridges instead, fostering a cohesive defense against ever-evolving threats.
How can your team break free from cybersecurity silos? Why is collaboration crucial for cybersecurity in your experience? Let us know on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. We’d love to hear from you!
Image Source: Shutterstock
MORE ON CYBERSECURITY
