The Cybersecurity Concerns and Safeguarding Your Company

At a high level, we have observed the prevalence of three to four types of malwares, including the rise of ransomware, and the persistence of phishing attacks. Additionally, we have noticed a significant increase in attacks on mobile and cloud vectors. Across the region, similar to the global trend, enterprises and government organizations are being attacked on multiple vectors, such as networking infrastructure, data center, cloud, mobile, and even IoT devices.

A comprehensive approach is necessary to address these attacks, which includes centralized management that covers all vectors of an enterprise agreement.

CIO World Asia spoke with Sharat Sinha, President, APAC, at Check Point Software Technologies. about the concerns of cybersecurity and safeguarding our companies.

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Technology Trends of 2023 ( Three C’s)

The threat landscape is closely tied to technology trends, and companies should be aware of this relationship. There are three main considerations, known as the three Cs, which are crucial for companies to keep in mind.

The first C stands for comprehensive coverage. This means that security measures should apply to all types of assets within the company, such as network, data center, cloud, endpoint, mobile, and IoT, as well as all possible vectors of attack, including email security and access security.

The second C is consolidation, which has become an important trend due to the increasing number of cybersecurity technologies available. Instead of buying individual point products, it is more efficient and effective to have a centralized way of managing security measures that can work together seamlessly. Consolidation makes it easier to see what threats are present and also helps with cost savings, as maintaining multiple products can be more expensive.

The third C is collaboration, which involves intelligence cloud that captures threat details and protects the entire infrastructure. It is important for security measures to be coordinated and for different components to talk to each other, so that a complete and global view of cyber threats can be obtained.

Overall, the three Cs of cybersecurity (comprehensive coverage, consolidation, and collaboration) are important trends that companies should consider when developing their security strategies.

Why are Companies Still Face the Risk of Breach

To enhance a company’s cybersecurity, there are three steps to take. First, conduct an assessment of all assets in the enterprise, including network resources, data centers, cloud providers, employee mobile devices, applications, endpoints, and IoT devices. Second, decide who should have access to what, based on their job profile, and then categorize the assets according to their level of importance, before creating a security policy. Lastly, adopt a comprehensive cybersecurity approach with a centralized management system and a commercial contract, such as Checkpoint’s Infinity, which provides a predictable, optimized total cost of ownership and incorporates new technologies into the same contract.

As cybersecurity is an evolving field, it is crucial to have a consolidated approach that takes care of future problems. This is like an insurance policy that protects a company from getting hit, similar to a seatbelt in a car. It is mandatory to have a centralized management system that takes care of all cybersecurity-related issues.

An analogy Mr Sharat gave was during Covid a person would get themselves protected from the virus by getting vaccine which prevents a person from catching the virus. Thus, it is similar with cybersecurity as the vaccine being the investment in cybersecurity which will prevent or deter cybercriminals from attacking companies.

Another analogy that Mr Sharat gave for consolidated approaches is that, a phone has everything. A phone can send emails, make calls, take pictures etc. Thus, that can be known as a consolidated approach as you do not need to buy separate devices to have different functions. Therefore, ensure to have consolidated approach that should cover all aspect of cybersecurity.

Top 5 Pitfalls Companies Should be Aware of

There are several pitfalls to avoid in cybersecurity.

The first is not having visibility of all assets within the company.

Secondly, not having proper security policies for accessing and moving data can also be problematic.

Thirdly, taking a point product approach rather than a consolidated approach can be risky.

Fourthly, constantly updating the infrastructure is essential, as the threat landscape is continually evolving.

Lastly, it is important to consider long-term solutions that are credible and will survive in the cybersecurity space.

Investing in security is important as it has a financial and reputational value. Security is the return on investment, and the consequences of a breach can be severe. Checkpoint is an example of a company that has been in the cybersecurity industry for 30 years and has survived due to its credibility and long-term approach.

Advice to CIOs

To simplify, it is recommended for the three C approach to cybersecurity. The first C stands for a comprehensive review of the IT infrastructure, covering all vectors of cyber. The second C emphasizes a consolidated approach that covers all assets and has centralized management. The third C is to create a collaborative architecture where different cybersecurity elements communicate with each other and with an intelligence system that continuously receives updates, particularly for zero-day attacks.

When it comes to cybersecurity investments, the best security is the only return on investment. Prevention is the only way to secure your infrastructure, and settling for the second-best will only lead to breaches. Checkpoint takes a prevention-first approach to provide the best security, including the three Cs.

The Threat Map, which is part of Checkpoint’s AI engine, displays a live global map of cyberattacks and provides real-time data on which countries and industries are being targeted. Checkpoint protects its customers from these attacks, leveraging its access to 2 billion indicators of compromise every day.

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