Every organizational leader knows the value of teamwork. When the various parts of your team work together, they can get more done with less, meet seemingly impossible goals, and stand up to enormous obstacles. What you might not realize as an IT leader is that your security solutions can deliver the same results if they also work as a team. While you don’t have to coach programs and hardware as you would a human team, you do have to choose solutions wisely and integrate them in a way that maximizes efficiency and effectiveness.
Intel Technology Security Solutions
As an IT solutions provider, Intel offers a variety of hardware and software products designed to protect your network and infrastructure. Hardware-based solutions create easy-to-use security measures that protect devices and access points wherever employees take them. But Intel understands the complex nature of technical infrastructure, which means those hardware-based components are only the foundation for a comprehensive security solution.
The security solutions are designed to work with a variety of software layers to create additional protection. For example, organizations can choose to add a number of McAfee programs that are designed to integrate with Intel’s hardware. McAfee Network Security Platform, for example, enhances a network’s ability to identify and block malware. The Web Gateway provides added security for web-based apps by analyzing code and content entering networks from any web source; the goal is to find threats such as malware that might be launched at an enterprise through web-based windows. Intel’s hardware-based security solutions also work with McAfee Advanced Threat Defense, ePO Deep Command, and ePolicy Orchestrator.
Creating a Wall of Security
Think back to the childhood game Red Rover. Children stood, hand-in-hand, and called someone to “come over.” That child ran as fast as he or she could, attempting to break through the weakest-linked hands. The line of children worked together, holding hands tightly, to keep the person from breaking through.
Cyber attacks are just like that running child. They seek the weakest link in an organization and they attempt to break through via force, via deception, and via programming that outsmarts your security. Your security elements have to be like the kids holding hands in a line. First, they have to be connected. Security elements that each protect a single point or asset without regard for other security solutions leave wide gulfs of risk between protection points. Starting with a foundational approach that provides comprehensive protection and building up from the foundation reduces the chance of gaps in security.
Second, security products have to be compatible. Elements that aren’t 100 percent integrated leave small cracks that can be exploited by cyber criminals. Those cracks may even be more dangerous than the wide gulfs, because you sometimes don’t realize they exist until it’s too late. Malicious code or unauthorized access can occur for weeks or months before security alarms are triggered or, worse, a customer reports activity that points to a breach.
Taking New Security Steps Today
Security isn't something organizations can afford to put off until tomorrow. The data breach that could cost an organization millions might be happening right now, which means security is always a critical consideration. Educating leadership across the organization about the need for comprehensive security is a critical first step toward implementing new security solutions. Working with an IT solutions provider can help both technical and nontechnical decision-makers choose cost-effective solutions that work as a team to protect infrastructure.
