A number of specialists have supplied a checklist of issues that IT departments can perform to become particular their corporate network is protected. They understand that numerous safety managers require a method to monitor their efforts to secure the network.
"Good metrics can help define the fight. Although many professionals might argue that it's better to have as much information on the security of their network as possible, too much information can blind practitioners to what is going on", said Mike Lloyd, chief technology officer for network monitoring and discovery firm RedSeal Networks. "You don't have to have, nor want, a dashboard like an airplane," he says. "You want a dashboard that's more like a car."
Verizon and its experts focus on incident metrics. This company tracks what goes wrong within the system. This allows IT to determine how to allocate resources.
"The types of incidents that you have in your organization are kind of indicative of the people, process, and technology that you have in place," said Christopher Porter, a principal of Verizon's Risk team.
Beneath are 4 metrics which are suggested by specialists in these two businesses.
1. Ignorance -- Security professionals should focus on what they don't know rather than on what they do know. Realizing that there are some areas of a network that are not known or monitored can lead to discoveries that in the end help overall security. "You have to be able to survey they terrain," RedSeal's Lloyd says. "If you can't tell, as a CISO, how big the gaps are in your knowledge, then you are in trouble."
2. Determine Paths of Attack - Once the network is mapped and the unknown is known, then the security pros can determine what the paths to attack are and what their overall vulnerability is as well. If the network is a chessboard, then the systems in the network are chess pieces, Lloyd says. If any are left open to attackers, they can be compromised.
3. Incident Histories - When an incident happens, it ought to be tracked to be able to assist managers plot possible problems prior to they turn out to be large-scale issues. "If I begin collecting my incidents and I also can easily see the kinds of incidents which are affecting comparable organizations, I can see my weaknesses," Verizon's Porter says. "I can see if my resources are creating those incidents decrease."
4. Impact of Vulnerability Fixes - Finally, companies should look at solutions to their network problems that will help multiple servers and workstations. A good metric to track that positive benefit is to focus on the impact of fixing a particular vulnerability, Lloyd says. "The highest impact I might have is not just by patching the most critical servers over and over again," he says. "I want to find a way to maximize the downstream impact of fixing some assets."
Look for usb flash drive reviews in publications on data security.
"Good metrics can help define the fight. Although many professionals might argue that it's better to have as much information on the security of their network as possible, too much information can blind practitioners to what is going on", said Mike Lloyd, chief technology officer for network monitoring and discovery firm RedSeal Networks. "You don't have to have, nor want, a dashboard like an airplane," he says. "You want a dashboard that's more like a car."
Verizon and its experts focus on incident metrics. This company tracks what goes wrong within the system. This allows IT to determine how to allocate resources.
"The types of incidents that you have in your organization are kind of indicative of the people, process, and technology that you have in place," said Christopher Porter, a principal of Verizon's Risk team.
Beneath are 4 metrics which are suggested by specialists in these two businesses.
1. Ignorance -- Security professionals should focus on what they don't know rather than on what they do know. Realizing that there are some areas of a network that are not known or monitored can lead to discoveries that in the end help overall security. "You have to be able to survey they terrain," RedSeal's Lloyd says. "If you can't tell, as a CISO, how big the gaps are in your knowledge, then you are in trouble."
2. Determine Paths of Attack - Once the network is mapped and the unknown is known, then the security pros can determine what the paths to attack are and what their overall vulnerability is as well. If the network is a chessboard, then the systems in the network are chess pieces, Lloyd says. If any are left open to attackers, they can be compromised.
3. Incident Histories - When an incident happens, it ought to be tracked to be able to assist managers plot possible problems prior to they turn out to be large-scale issues. "If I begin collecting my incidents and I also can easily see the kinds of incidents which are affecting comparable organizations, I can see my weaknesses," Verizon's Porter says. "I can see if my resources are creating those incidents decrease."
4. Impact of Vulnerability Fixes - Finally, companies should look at solutions to their network problems that will help multiple servers and workstations. A good metric to track that positive benefit is to focus on the impact of fixing a particular vulnerability, Lloyd says. "The highest impact I might have is not just by patching the most critical servers over and over again," he says. "I want to find a way to maximize the downstream impact of fixing some assets."
Look for usb flash drive reviews in publications on data security.
About the Author:
Oliver David writes and contributes articles for blogs on issues like usb encryption and secure flash drive.
