Technological advancements have contributed to the growth of businesses. However, this has also put security professionals in an unenviable position. Some of the main contributing factors to the current security threat environment are:
Internet-based business world: Across industries, organizations depend on the Internet to run their business. Their network is open to their vendors, partners, customers, and even the public.
Mobile computing devices and BYOD: Handheld devices are now available with a very high computing power and storage capacity. More and more organizations are encouraging the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) concept, wherein the employees bring their personal mobile devices to their offices and use them for official purposes as well. While it is true that BYOD can save money and space for the organization, the flipside is that it is a huge security threat. To mitigate this threat, your security system must be able to:
Detect the device and its type as soon as it comes on to your network.
Quickly assess the device's posture, detect the user logged on, and the Wireless Access Point to which it is connected and grant the appropriate access.
Detect and report any undesired activity involving the device.
Internet applications and their usage: Internet-based applications such as social networking sites and multimedia-based applications come with their own set of vulnerabilities. More the features, more are the chances for vulnerabilities. It is not just the recreational applications, but business and productivity applications that users find to be more powerful and capable compared to the equivalents approved by your organization. In some cases, organizations do allow some of the open Internet applications to be used for business purposes. This means that your security system must be capable of identifying each and every application on your network for you to control the undesired ones.
In addition to the vulnerabilities of the applications, the network bandwidth consumed by these applications is also a concern. For example, you cannot allow a video-based recreational application to cause network bandwidth deficiency during business hours.
Storage devices: Over the years, storage devices have been increasing in capacity but decreasing in size and cost. Your security system must be capable of validating the data coming from and going to such devices.
Easy availability of hacking tools: You do not need to be technical savvy to be a hacker. One can buy the required hacking tools over the Internet.