Cyber security experts say built-in intelligence and visibility are the hallmarks of the next generation cyber security technology.

At the ITWeb Security Summit 2019 being hosted this week in Sandton, Johannesburg, a panel of experts led by Stefan van de Giessen, GM of cyber security, Networks Unlimited, said an effective IT security ecosystem involves the consolidation of tools, with intelligence and analytics that feature strongly in technology deployed to protect the network.

Sam Linford, regional director, Carbon Black, said it is important to reflect on the evolution of endpoint security over a forty year timespan.

Linford said when businesses request this service, they have in mind both visibility at the endpoint and automated threat prevention. But today it is about the use of cloud-based big data analytics functionality to analyse, understand and predict threats.

“The big threat we face today is the unknown, not the known… so next generation endpoint security is really the ability to use something more, something intelligent on the endpoint,” he said.

Ray Kafity, VP at Attivo Networks META region, said it is generally understood that prevention alone is not enough, and attackers now have the ability to ‘roam’ or sit inside a network for extended periods of time before proceeding with an attack/data breach. There is a need to have a tool to control the network once it is compromised.

Businesses are now looking to deploy so-called ‘honey pots’ inside the network to trap the attacker by creating a fake environment based on a deception solution. However, this solution must be based on authentic operating systems and must reflect a similar DNA to the true network.

“Otherwise it will not work,” said Kafity.