Exploring the Brave New World of Cybersecurity: Navigating the Digital Frontier in 2023

Identity & Access Navigating the Digital Frontier in Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023

Introduction

October 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a crucial initiative aimed at empowering individuals with knowledge to stay safe and secure online. This year’s campaign theme, “20 Years of Cybersecurity Awareness Month,” reflects on the evolution of security education and looks ahead to securing our interconnected world. While fundamental cybersecurity practices like updating software, recognizing phishing attempts, and enabling multi-factor authentication are important, organizations must go beyond these to enhance their cyber resilience. The prevalence of data breaches resulting from credential harvesting emphasizes the need for organizations to adopt a Zero Trust approach. Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solutions, such as the one proposed by Torsten George, offer a way to minimize attack surfaces while ensuring the productivity and security of remote workforces.

The Weakness in Credential Security

According to IBM Security’s Cost of Data Breach Report for 2023, stolen or compromised credentials remain the most common initial attack vector, accounting for 15% of data breaches. Despite years of advocating for robust password policies and multi-factor authentication, many users still rely on weak passwords or reuse them across multiple accounts. This vulnerability allows attackers to gain access to multiple accounts tied to the same user, demonstrating the urgent need to move beyond traditional security methods.

The Rise of Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) Solutions

In response to the vulnerability of traditional security methods, many organizations are embracing a Zero Trust approach. ZTNA solutions establish identity- and context-based logical access boundaries around applications. Access is granted based on factors such as the device in use, device posture, access request timestamp, and geolocation. These solutions dynamically determine the appropriate access level for each specific request, recognizing that the risk levels of users, devices, and applications are constantly changing.

Mastering Vendor Evaluations

When selecting ZTNA solutions, security practitioners need to carefully evaluate vendors. Here are five essential tips for the vendor evaluation process:

1. Resilient ZTNA

Prioritize ZTNA offerings that exhibit resilience, ensuring they can function seamlessly despite disruptions, unintentional decay, or malicious actions.

2. Visibility Matters

Assess ZTNA solutions for their ability to provide in-depth visibility into all endpoints, data, networks, and applications within your organization. The more granular the insights, the more intelligent your access decisions become.

3. A Future-Proof Platform

Choose ZTNA solutions that align with your organization’s Security Service Edge (SSE) architecture plans. These solutions allow you to transition from a tunnel-based approach to a software-defined perimeter over time, consolidating secure tunnels, ZTNA, and Secure Web Gateway (SWG) capabilities on a single platform.

4. Not Just Security, But Employee Experience

Explore ZTNA solutions equipped with integrated digital experience monitoring (DEM) capabilities. These features capture real-time insights into the experiences of remote and mobile workers, enabling you to continuously fine-tune your application access policies.

5. Embrace Best Practices in Zero Trust

Opt for ZTNA solutions that adhere to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Zero Trust Architecture. This approach emphasizes policy enforcement as close as possible to the user, often enforced directly at the endpoint.

Breaking Free from Password Dependency

To navigate the challenges of the current digital landscape, organizations must break free from the cycle of password dependency. While there are various approaches that can lead to this goal, ZTNA stands out as a solution that enables organizations to minimize their attack surface while ensuring the productivity and security of their remote workforce.

Conclusion

As Cybersecurity Awareness Month approaches its 20th anniversary, it is essential for organizations to reflect on the evolution of security education and embrace new approaches to enhance their cyber resilience. ZTNA solutions offer a way to go beyond traditional security methods by establishing identity- and context-based access boundaries. By carefully evaluating vendors and adopting a Zero Trust approach, organizations can navigate the digital frontier and ensure the security and productivity of their remote workforce.