Cybersecurity Strategy: Continuous Security Monitoring

 

Chris Swagler | January 12th, 2024The average cost of a data breach worldwide in 2023 was $4.45 million. In addition to the short-term financial loss, there are long-term repercussions, including eroded brand value, damaged customer trust, and disrupted business operations. Organizations are confronted with a hard truth in a world where data breaches are occurring more frequently and costing more money than ever before: standard cybersecurity solutions may not be sufficient. Considering this, companies need to figure out how to make their security protocols stronger to protect valuable information and important assets. A crucial tactic that is at the core of this change is continuous security monitoring. Having Continuous Security Monitoring in Cybersecurity Continuous security monitoring is a flexible strategy that combines numerous tactics to implement a multi-layered defense. These methods may consist of:

• Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (RBVM) – Continuously monitoring networks for vulnerabilities and prioritize remediation tasks according to the highest risks,
• External Attack Surface Management (EASM) – Ongoing identification, monitoring, and evaluation of external exposure, including domains, websites, and hosts.
• Cyber Threat Intelligence – Consolidated and actionable threat data to help companies manage digital risk and stay ahead of threat operators.

Continuous security monitoring is like a live stream that’s available 24/7, in contract to point-in-time assessments, which are like capturing a picture of companies’ security posture. It ensures quick detection and response by actively searching for vulnerabilities, anomalies, misconfigurations, and potential threats. Using Continuous Security Monitoring for Web Applications Any effective cybersecurity plan should have business application protection as its main focus. They’re becoming harder to protect in addition to being a desirable target for cybercriminals. A recent survey that examined 3.5 million business assets found that most online-exposed web apps that contain personal identifiable information (PII) are susceptible to cyberattacks, with 74% of them being at risk. Organizations frequently face a difficult decision when it comes to securing their web application: using a pen testing as a service (PTaaS) solution or doing regular (periodic or ad hoc) pen tests. It all comes down to companies’ specific requirements. Both tools offer advantages, the key is to match the right tool to the right task to stay one step ahead in the cybersecurity race. The Benefits of PTaaS

• Apps handling sensitive data or being critical to the environment make a PTaaS solution and continuous monitoring necessary. It provides continuous defense against evolving vulnerabilities.
• Regarding finances, PTaaS has a fixed pricing structure, which makes it an affordable path to advance security proficiency.
• PTaaS bridges the gap for companies with a shortage of security personnel by offering strong assistance and easy access to security professionals.

The Benefits of the Standard Pen Testing

• Occasional checks may be sufficient for smaller or newer web apps, in which case a standard pen test is useful.
• Do you require a one-time need, like a certain security verification? Your best option is standard pen testing. Additionally, it works better for jobs involving assets that aren’t online, like network infrastructure.
• Standard pen testing provides a targeted, economical option if all companies are wanting to do is validate known vulnerabilities.

SpearTip identifies security gaps across companies’ entire attack surface and assist companies in prioritizing vulnerabilities to optimize their cybersecurity posture and reduce exposure with these advisory services.

• Pre-breach Assessment – Preparation is the largest factor within your control before a cyber incident happens. SpearTip aims to provide a higher level of security through our in-depth evaluation of your cybersecurity processes and policies.
• Cyber Threat Hunting – Stop potential cyberattacks before they disrupt business operations. A professional cyber threat hunting team uses stealthy techniques to outmaneuver polymorphic malware and decrease dwell time.
• Red Team Exercise – There are many misconceptions about what effective red team exercises entail. Overall, a Red Team Exercise should involve live testing of an environment to identify potential gaps in security controls.
• Penetration Testing – The only real way to test your readiness for a cyberattack is to let our cyber warriors wage war on your networks during a Penetration Test. We’ll compromise your defenses quickly and quietly—just like the threats you want to stop.
• Network Vulnerability Assessment – These network vulnerability assessments are an important part of the risk management process and should be conducted regularly to assure devices on your network are not open to known vulnerabilities.
• Tabletop Exercises – SpearTip’s tabletop exercises provide your organization with a mechanism to obtain sensitive “lessons learned” from SpearTip’s previous casework in a scenario-driven environment. Our real-world cyber investigations address the most advanced threats organizations face daily.
• Ransomware Threat Assessment – We can stop them. Our first step is to complete a full ransomware threat assessment, so we can discover what problems exist and fix them for you. Without knowing all the possible risks, we won’t be able to properly protect your organization from dangerous threats.

Companies need to reconsider their cybersecurity assumptions considering the digital era. It’s evident from the growing expenses and risks related to data breaches that continuous security monitoring isn’t merely a choice, but a necessity. SpearTip provides comprehensive solutions to handle the new cybersecurity landscape with the solutions mentioned above. Our pre-breach advisory services allow our engineers to examine companies’ security posture to improve the weak points in their networks. Our team engages with companies’ people, processes, and technologies to measure the maturity of the technical environments. For all vulnerabilities uncovered, we provide technical roadmaps ensuring companies’ have the awareness and support to optimize their overall cybersecurity posture. Each client risk assessment is designed to uncover gaps in security and is accompanied by a technical summary complete with individualized risk reports detailing necessary steps to remediation the gaps. If your company is experiencing a breach, call our Security Operations Center at 833.997.7327 to speak directly with an engineer.