Security needs monitoring to function

IT trends often come and go, some dominating the hype cycle for years, others exiting the mainstream with more of a whimper. Security is having a moment right now in which it is dominating the market in terms of press, thought leadership and excitement. But, in this case, it’s no trend, it’s reality.

As long as there have been networks, there have been concerns over security. That is true now more than ever, as networks have grown larger, more complex, and crucially, more critical to business function.

In 2015, Paessler AG conducted a survey that found 58 percent of IT administrators identified security as one of their most important jobs and consistent challenges. As new trends in networking, cloud and mobility have expanded the threat vector, IT can no longer simply rely on perimeter-focused firewall and antivirus models. Security systems have become as large and interconnected as the networks they are protecting, which is why it has become paramount that security infrastructure is monitored for health, availability and performance in much the same way that networking or virtualized infrastructure is. A comprehensive strategy with one centralized view is necessary to ensure that security tools are functioning properly.

Understanding the challenges facing IT in their quest for security requires an understanding of how office networks have been transformed. The concept of the perimeter is long dead, killed by cloud, mobility and the Bring Your Own Device revolution. Additionally, companies work with more third-party vendors than in the past, many of which have access to internal systems. And, in some industries, the Internet of Things is creating an additional threat vector that can be incredibly difficult to secure. All of these combine to create a situation that is increasingly difficult for IT and vendors alike to navigate, and demands new thinking about security best practices and initiatives.

IT’s biggest challenge is not simply increasing complexity, it’s the impossibility of saying "no" to it. If security policy in today’s world was as simple as saying no to progress, building an expansive firewall and hiding everything behind it, than that’s what everyone would be doing. But, we know that simply does not work in the age of Shadow IT. General bans are neither practical nor logical at this point. IT has to meet modern security risks head on and strike the right balance between what the business needs and best security practices.

The most important first step in this process is to understand how your security tools are behaving. Are virus definitions up to date? Are all of my SSL certificates updated? Are all backups valid? Is the firewall online? Can my intrusion prevention and malware analysis tools access network traffic? Cybersecurity strategies only work when security tools are functional.  It is here where comprehensive monitoring is critical to maintaining the health and performance of security tools, ensuring that they stay online. Modern security infrastructures involve a greater variety of interconnected tools, each dedicated to a broader security strategy. Like any other infrastructure, security systems require clarity. Security strategies are only sound if IT can quickly and easily view all the tools at its disposal in real-time, without performance issues or other failures.

There are no silver bullets in cybersecurity (despite what many are saying). New tools and strategies are being developed to combat an avalanche of threats and attacks, and the industry is beginning to catch up to the threat caused by hackers and cybercriminals. But, a good cybersecurity policy is a vigilant policy, and part of vigilance is ensuring the performance, functionality and health of security infrastructure. It is simple to overlook, but costly if IT does.

Photo Credit: Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock

Dirk Paessler, CEO of Paessler AG, is an engineer, entrepreneur, computer networking professional and software guru. In addition to founding Paessler AG, provider of the award winning PRTG network monitoring solution, Dirk has a long track record of co-founding successful internet platforms such as hotel.de.