Today's attack surface is expanding at a rapid rate and shows no signs of slowing down.
Art Coviello, executive chairman of RSA, the security division of EMC, predicts that the attack surface will continue to expand exponentially for the rest of this decade.
"How we access information and data will also expand the attack surface," said Coviello. "The result of all this is that our traditional methods of defence are increasingly ineffective. The perimeter has all but disappeared."
During his keynote address at RSA Europe in Amsterdam yesterday, Coviello noted that, as we continue to produce data at an alarming rate - which offers unparalleled value for us - we are also offering new opportunities to our adversaries. And we are in danger of being overwhelmed by all the changes to the threat environment, he stressed.
Intelligence-driven security is increasingly being implemented by the industry and promises a radically different and more effective model of security by using big data thinking and technologies.
This starts with a better understanding of risk and vulnerabilities, with more agile and dynamic controls that can react to facts and circumstances, ultimately replacing outdated approaches.
According to Coviello, a key way to revolutionise security is to add context to the equation. By leveraging intelligence-driven security, security professionals can derive the necessary context to better defend enterprise networks and data from attacks.
Without context, security controls fail to provide a comprehensive picture of the attacker. "When we understand the context, we are able to transcend the reactive measures of the past," he said. "To gain this context, we need our security systems to behave less like a police headquarters, which responds to an incident only after it has been reported, and more like a neighbourhood watch that is familiar with the environment and, instead of reacting to crimes, is in a position to prevent them."
Combining intelligence about potential threats, network traffic and user behaviour, we are providing the context we need to better tackle threats, said Coviello. This data can help us to transcend the reactive methods of the past. "This is what intelligence-driven security is all about."
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