With the advent of technology and the Internet, more and more organizations are going online today. It brings with it convenience and ease of doing business, but it does have its demerits as well. Cyber security becomes a significant concern. As a solution to the severe issue, security automation is one excellent way to get substantial protection from cyber attacks and ensure the information security of the enterprise by leveraging the ‘zero-touch’ security principle.

The advancement in information technology has promoted the adoption of the Internet worldwide. The organizations today are witnessing a great digital transformation at the same time the cyber adversaries are using more and more sophisticated technologies to barge in to your organization’s network periphery. A data breach can cause loss of sensitive and confidential information resulting in loss of finances and reputation. Thus, it becomes imperative for enterprises to implement a holistic cyber security framework and leveraging security automation by adopting the ‘zero-touch’ security principle to keep cyber attacks at bay. Let’s understand it step by step.

What Is Zero Trust Security & How It Relates To ‘Zero-touch’ Security?

Zero Trust Security has become the hallmark of today’s digital world when it comes to enterprise information security. A zero-trust security model works on the principle of maintaining strict access controls and not trusting anyone, irrespective of their standing or reputation when considering ‘people’ aspects of the organization or when considering ‘technology’ aspect when you talk about networks, systems and applications. Zero-touch security in the digital world refers to a process in which enterprise devices can be automatically set up, configured, provisioned by an authorized user (generally an administrator), which eliminates or minimizes the need for further human or end-users manual interaction.

What Is Security Automation?

Security automation is the automated handling of security-oriented tasks. Therefore, no human intervention is there while carrying out security tasks like scanning for vulnerabilities and threats to prevent a cyberattack from taking place. Security automation also helps in avoiding the possibility of future attacks.

 

Security Automation And Its Importance

Security Automation is essential in organizations today because the Security Operations teams already come equipped with basics like Security Information and Event Management (SIEM), security logs, and endpoint security systems. Therefore, security automation helps in resolving issues like,

  • Shortage of qualified security talent
  • Alert fatigue
  • Delays in the resolution of issues
  • Inefficiencies in the operational fields

All the problems listed above can culminate in a data breach that could go unnoticed until it’s too late. Having security automation systems in place can reduce the response time to a security alert. It also enables the security operations team to determine the severity of the threats without the employees having to check multiple systems. It also helps the team to focus on the far more severe risks to ensure complete protection for the organization. Security automation becomes essential because of the myriad security challenges that confront organizations in this online age.

 The Security Challenges That Organisations Face Today

Organizations face various security-related challenges. Let’s discuss some of them:

  • Insider data breaches– Enterprises can install the highest quality of security features for their network to protect from external cyber attacks. However, an insider data breach by an unfaithful employee is enough to cause severe harm to the organization.
  • Supply chain weaknesses–In this era of automation, there exists a supply chain for almost every product or service in the industry. The supply chains bring in an external element and therefore introduce a security risk that hackers can exploit to gain access.
  • External breaches – Such breaches occur because of the inherent weakness in the network. Security operations teams can handle these vulnerabilities. External breaches will always remain one of the most current challenges for organizations.
  • Crime as a Service – Cyber criminals offer their services on the darknet to steal data or hold organizations to ransom. Cyber crime syndicates resort to the use of such CaaS packages to commit cyber crime.

Thus, enterprises need to adopt robust measures to tackle such challenges. Having a well-documented security system in place is one way of dealing with it. Another significant action is to choose zero-trust security.

Why Is Zero-Touch Security The Need Of The Hour Today?

We have seen how insider threats are as potent as external threats. Similarly, a vulnerable supply chain network can invite a lot of trouble. Security automation, with its zero-touch security features (no human intervention), ensures protection from cyber attacks that could lead to considerable losses. When you deal with automation, it entails that you do not bypass any security procedures at any stage. Organizations cannot afford to trust anyone when it comes to ensuring the security of the network. 

When you adopt a zero-trust security approach, you should have a trusted security partner handling these aspects.

The Role Of A Trusted Security Partner In Securing Your Organization’s Information Assets

Organizations should look for a whole range of services that use in-house tools and solutions, such as SIEM (Security Information and Event Management)and SOAR (Security Orchestration Automation and Response) solutions to ensure total security automation of the entire enterprise security operations.

Such service providers leverage market-leading SIEM and SOAR solutions, both on-premise and cloud-based, to deliver the most advanced features of market-leading tools. These companies leverage their tools, thereby providing security automation services based on specific customer requirements.

Zero-Touch Security Solutions And Automated Incident Response

One of the crucial aspects of zero-touch security is the excellent incident response facilities it offers. Managing a cyberattack is one aspect, whereas recovering from such an attack poses more significant challenges. An incident response mechanism in place should help limit the damage, thereby reducing the recovery time and the costs associated with it.

Any right zero-touch security solution should ensure to have a well-defined incident response mechanism to supplement the efforts of the security team. An automated incident response solution should be robust, as recovering from a cyber attack is of far greater importance than tackling it, especially in the case of ransomware attacks.

Future Trends In Advanced Security Solutions

Ransomware is going to be the modus operandi of the next generation of cyber criminals. It provides an easy way of acquiring the necessary information without risks. The security solutions of the future should be well equipped to handle cyber crimes like phishing, ransomware, etc. 

Security automation is the perfect riposte to such situations, as it does not provide any room for laxity because of its zero-trust approach. Such zero-touch security solutions are ideal for handling insider and external threats with equal felicity. The incidence response approach of these solutions is also of the top-drawer stuff.   

Final Words

We have seen the importance of security automation in today’s digital age. Online business and commerce are convenient, but they expose the network systems and make them vulnerable to cyber attacks. A robust security system should take care of these threats and ensure to protect the network from cyber attacks.