Five Cybersecurity Resolutions Every CISO Should Have On Their List

• Trend Micro’s Smart Protection Network (SPN) uses a cloud based global sensor network to collect and correlate threat data to feed predictive, actionable intelligence into all Trend Micro product solutions that protect data at the endpoint, on the network, and in the cloud. This threat data is then visualized further for SOC analysts and Threat Responders through Trend Micro’s threat intelligence portal.

2. Educate and protect privileged users (Protect). Human error is the weakest link to any network, but employees can’t be vigilant if they don’t know what to look out for. Whether it’s a ransomware attack, a business email compromise (BEC) scam or a targeted attack, users behind the keyboard are often unknowingly in the crosshairs of cybercriminals. CISOs must develop an executive training program focused on advanced threats. Creating awareness of the latest attack methods and educating executives and privileged users on what types of suspicious activity to be aware of will lessen the chances of a successful attack at the hands of unsuspecting employees.

3. Protect users at the endpoint (Protect). While there is no silver bullet when it comes to cybersecurity, the first step is to protect your users where they live at the endpoint. With the exponential growth of ransomware threats we experienced this year, as well as the advanced threats we predict to see in 2017, a layered connected threat defense is a must. Begin with endpoints to safeguard against many of the vectors cybercriminals use to access an organization, such as spam, phishing attacks and malicious web downloads. 

• Trend Micro’s Smart Protection for Endpoints incorporates multiple layers of protection to ward off ransomware and other advanced attacks using cross-generational defense techniques that incorporate pre-execution and runtime machine learning to provide maximum protection and minimal impact.

4. Improve resiliency by speeding up detection and patching (Detect). Ultimately, only by knowing the threats you face and the vulnerabilities that you have can you be resilient against all attacks. Cybercriminals use exploit kits to take advantage of holes in an organization’s IT environment to deliver malware and other attacks, ultimately compromising business operations, sales and sensitive company data. Vulnerabilities are ever-present throughout enterprise networks, but the faster they are detected, and the more resilient your company becomes, the more likely you are to mitigate further risks.

• Trend Micro’s cloud and network security solutions (Deep Security – Deep Discovery – Tipping Point) quickly detect advanced threats and shield unprotected servers and endpoints from zero-days and other vulnerabilities until critical patches are available.

5. Assume all attacks are not final (Respond/Recover). Companies and organizations often falsely believe that responding to an incident and or patching a vulnerability means they’ve fully eliminated the threat. However, you can never assume your job is complete. Due to the growing number of multi-stage and multi vector attacks, cybercriminals are able to compromise more network infrastructure and dwell longer leading to higher losses. Therefore, constant vigilance is required at the response and recovery phases from both CISOs and their teams.