During the course of the last three years I have been focused editorially on our IT titles: Network Times and eSecure. It has been fascinating to communicate the heightened corporate governance sensitivities and risk management issues to a receptive audience.
Now that I am back as Editor of Hi-Tech Security Solutions, I thought it would be instructive to see what we can learn from the drivers and trends in the business technology arena, if only because security technology is increasingly being influenced by exactly the same drivers.
As you will read in the issue, networking and IP are fundamental to current and future generation security solutions. As security systems (in fact you could argue, any data-based solutions) are only as good as the integrity of the information on which they are based, it seems obvious that successful solutions are all about getting the right information to the right people at the right time in the right format.
Simple, is it not?
What I find fascinating about this embracing of IP and networking generally, is that it is not confined to any one sector. Manufacturing (Technews also publishes SA Instrumentation and Control) is grappling with exactly the same issue, for much the same reasons ... manufacturing, automation and process control solutions have long been based on proprietary networks (Profibus and LonWorks Echeleon-based networks spring to mind), but IP-based (Ethernet) networks are considerably cheaper, more pervasive and offer many of the benefits that proprietary networks have traditionally used to differentiate themselves. The trend towards IP-based solutions is all but unstoppable, in all the sectors in which its driving solutions integration, and wireless connectivity is extending the reach of this ubiquitous networked world.
But now the real problems will only start. This wholesale embracing of IP hauls whole industries kicking and screaming into a legislative landscape that differs materially from that they are used to. There are laws relating to data protection, privacy, risk management, business continuity, access to information and electronic monitoring which now start to, or potentially will, affect these evolving industry sectors. The legal landscape has changed, and most of us do not understand the implications of this.
Another area that is interesting is that of analytics as applied to security. A business intelligence approach to extracting value from information, analytics in intelligent systems in the security world is going to be something of a boon to security managers and risk managers as they seek to apply limited resources to areas where risk is the highest.
Annemarie Cronje, product manager for Operational Intelligence at SAS Institute SA, suggests that with the complexity of IT security systems and soaring incidences of attack, analytic techniques must be introduced to the information security arsenal to equip company executives to effectively mitigate and manage risk. She adds that company directors require systems to allow them to rapidly and effectively assess the security posture of their businesses.
"Emerging laws and reports including the King II Report, the Electronic Communications and Transactions Bill (ECT), the South African Constitution and the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PROATIA) place new responsibilities on the shoulders of directors in terms of company security."
She explains that the introduction of these corporate governance measures makes the CEO and the board of directors directly responsible for the security status of the organisation.
"Without tools that cut through massive volumes of data to give them a simple yet accurate picture of their security status, directors may be exposing themselves to serious liabilities."
The reality is that businesses face an alarming volume of information security threats.
"Viruses, hackers, crackers, worms, Trojans and many other types of malware pervade the corporate network," she says. In an effort to combat the copious threats facing their information infrastructure, businesses have typically implemented many systems. Characteristically, security infrastructure comprises firewalls, antivirus software and intrusion detection systems.
Physical and logical access control
Additionally, she says, access control, both physical and logical, forms an integral component of the security measures, while data from infrastructure management solutions contribute potentially valuable information that can be leveraged to ensure system integrity. The trouble with the myriad of systems deployed to protect corporations from compromise is the sheer volume of data generated by monitoring the complete spectrum of network activity.
"Every system generates its own log file, many of which run into hundreds of pages daily. These log files must be analysed to identify anomalies and changes in network behaviour, which provide an indication of the occurrence of attacks," says Cronje.
"Directors may well find themselves overwhelmed with a mountain of data and no way to sift through the information to identify and act on salient information."
Datawarehousing
By establishing an IT security data warehouse, the full spectrum of information generated throughout the organisation, and even from the extended supply chain, can be collected into a single repository. In this repository, every security-related incident from systems across the organisation is assimilated and can be analysed to provide an instant, accurate picture of security status.
From a security/risk dashboard, line management and executives can instantly and accurately assess their security status for statutory compliance, as well as providing an effective benchmark for data insurance purposes. "Additionally, companies looking to electronically integrate with trading partners are able to rapidly provide a benchmarked security assessment to demonstrate their security posture," she adds. Cronje notes that effective security management has to take into account the full spectrum of the technology environment, within the context of security policy and standards, and taking cognisance of the security architecture and processes. "Analytical techniques enable executives to view the entire security situation at a glance. They can audit, monitor and investigate security across the board, while effectively validating their security posture for regulatory compliance."
Who says IT is not in the driving seat anymore? We have hardly begun the journey.
Till next month,
Darren Smith
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