Visibility, analysis and action.
These are the cornerstones of intelligence-driven security, according to Amit Yoran, GM and senior VP of RSA, the security division of EMC.
During his keynote address at the RSA Europe Conference in Amsterdam yesterday, Yoran stressed that preventative security measures are doomed to fail. As the threat landscape evolves, the only path forward is to transform how things are being done, he said.
Yoran echoed his colleague Art Coviello, who noted that intelligence-driven security is a more effective model of security because it harnesses the power of big data thinking and analytics technologies. Today, organisations must have the right degree of visibility into all aspects of the business, said Yoran, adding that this is complicated by the migration to mobile and cloud-based platforms and services.
There must be transparency at levels beyond anything seen in the past, he said. "More complete, forensically sound security is needed. But the level of visibility to identify the kinds of attacks we are seeing today is difficult to achieve."
This level of visibility involves big data, Yoran said. Intelligence-driven security is enabled by visibility and analysis, which drives agility and speed. We need to be able to adjust basic security controls on a much broader scale and at a much quicker pace, he said. The identification of a threat should flow easily into a response. "This means that insight must seamlessly transform into action."
For organisations, protecting their networks and data is aligned with protecting their privacy, he said. "We must create a trusted digital world in which security and privacy co-exist and reinforce each other."
By capturing visibility, analysis and action in a technology platform, a business can achieve operational intelligence and unleash the power of an intelligence-driven security approach, he said.
"Security and privacy can be successfully aligned within a framework of transparency and good governance," Yoran said. "An intelligence-driven security model, built on tools and capabilities that provide context through analytics, can help organisations protect individual privacy, customer data and intellectual property."
Organisations don't just have the authority to protect their networks and data; they also have the responsibility to do so, he concluded, stressing that the modern era of security is here. "Security must transform into a more intelligent and agile profession."
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