Latest news with #StateofCybersecurity
TECHx
31-07-2025
- Business
- TECHx
Why Your Business Needs To Level Up Its Defense Life Cycle
Home » Expert opinion » Why Your Business Needs To Level Up Its Defense Life Cycle Defense Life Cycle management is critical for cyber resilience. Raja Patel of Sophos shares four ways to modernize your approach and strengthen your security posture. New cyber threats emerge every day as malicious actors refine and escalate their attacks. Although it's impossible to predict exactly how the threat landscape will evolve, we can count on the fact that it won't remain static. Consequently, IT and security leaders need to rethink how they manage the entire defense life cycle and evolve their approach to planning, implementing and maintaining cyber defenses. While siloed, stand-alone point solutions once offered effective protection, sophisticated threats require security solutions that can work together and proactively exchange data. By striking a balance between proactive and reactive defenses, organizations can maintain a robust security posture in a constantly changing threat landscape. The Cybersecurity Cat-And-Mouse Game: How To Stay Ahead Security professionals and bad actors continue to play a game of cat-and-mouse as adversaries adapt their strategies in response to evolving defenses. That's nothing new. What's changing is the ingenuity and velocity of attacks. The current ransomware landscape illustrates this trend. In a typical ransomware event, adversaries release malicious software directly to the machine they encrypt—an attack that most endpoint security tools can detect and block. However, as defenses grow more sophisticated, adversaries are turning to malicious remote encryption. This technique (now used in roughly 60% of human-led attacks) enables attackers to deliver malicious software to an unmanaged or under protected device, bypassing traditional anti-ransomware solutions to encrypt data on other devices in the network. Cyberattacks are inevitable. The appropriate response from defenders is to maintain a healthy balance between proactive and reactive defenses. Strong always-on foundational defenses are a must—together with the ability to quickly identify and respond when you need to dial up your protection. Proactive measures like training employees in security best practices, risk-based vulnerability management and the use of multifactor authentication (MFA) are low-hanging fruit that can make a significant difference in your security posture. IT and cybersecurity leaders cited security tool misconfiguration as the top perceived security risk in our 2023 'State of Cybersecurity' survey, so it's also important to regularly check that your investments are properly deployed and delivering optimal protection. Prioritizing these measures establishes a first line of defense that stops the vast majority of attacks. However, no matter how robust your protection is, sophisticated, persistent and well-funded adversaries will find a way to circumvent it—and you need the ability to dial up your protections to stop them from achieving their end goals. Four Ways To Optimize Your Defense Life Cycle Management Maintaining robust defenses in today's threat landscape is challenging enough. When you add the shortage of qualified security professionals to the equation, it becomes much more daunting. Effective defense life cycle management helps streamline your security efforts and ensure comprehensive protection without overburdening your team. By investing in security tools that work together and prioritizing collaboration, you can optimize your defenses independent of resource availability. 1. Consolidation It's crucial to have a diverse portfolio of security tools that can thwart threats at multiple points in the attack chain. However, the effort required to manage disparate tools and vendor relationships takes time and can hinder your ability to identify and respond to attacks. Consolidating on fewer management platforms and vendors centralizes your security controls, reducing management overhead costs and enabling you to respond more effectively to active threats. Evaluate your current landscape and vendors to identify opportunities to focus on a tighter range of providers without compromising your defenses. 2. Open Ecosystems An open security architecture uses application programming interfaces (APIs) to connect and enhance interoperability among disparate solutions. This setup facilitates seamless data sharing among your security tools, helping enforce policies and protocols in a consistent and cohesive manner. The more you see, the faster you can respond. Bringing together vendor-agnostic telemetry from across your environment in an open, connected ecosystem enables you to accelerate threat detection, investigation and response while also increasing return on your security investments. 3. Adaptive Protections It's unsustainable to constantly remain on high alert. Fortunately, you don't have to. Instead, you can take advantage of adaptive protections that automatically deploy a heightened level of security when an attack is detected. For instance, endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools continuously monitor your environment for suspicious activity. If the tool detects an anomaly that indicates a potential cyberattack, it can automatically isolate the affected endpoint and trigger an alert for a team of experts to investigate the incident. 4. Collaboration Effective communication and collaboration among IT and security teams are essential for maintaining a strong security posture and avoiding redundant efforts. Whether your teams are internal, outsourced or a combination of the two, optimizing their ability to work together and streamline engagements helps achieve superior outcomes. Consider the structure of your current organization to determine areas for improvement when it comes to cross-team collaboration. When selecting third-party specialists to elevate and extend your cyber defenses, ensure that they will complement and collaborate with your existing team. Cyber Resilience: The Key To Future-Proofing Your Business Stand-alone point solutions are no longer enough to protect against evolving security threats. As attackers develop increasingly sophisticated techniques and tactics, you need tools that can work together and proactively share threat intelligence. By optimizing your defense life cycle management through collaboration and informed investments, you can unlock real-time visibility across your entire digital environment and achieve a more comprehensive and cohesive security posture. As a result, you'll be prepared no matter what new threats are on the horizon. By Raja Patel, Chief Product Officer, Sophos
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ISACA Introduces Certified Cybersecurity Operations Analyst (CCOA) Credential
From the creator of CISA and CISM comes a new certification providing cybersecurity analysts with experience-based learning to validate skills in responding to evolving cyber threats SCHAUMBURG, Ill., January 29, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ISACA's State of Cybersecurity survey report found that the two top factors for determining qualified candidates for jobs are prior hands-on experience (73 percent) and credentials held (38 percent). To help employers find qualified candidates and help cybersecurity professionals demonstrate their hands-on cybersecurity skills, ISACA has launched its Certified Cybersecurity Operations Analyst (CCOA) credential, which provides hands-on, performance-based labs that simulate real-world scenarios and leverage today's technologies. Advancing cybersecurity skills Cybersecurity professionals face a complex and challenging threat landscape, with 38 percent of organizations experiencing increased cybersecurity attacks compared to a year ago, according to the State of Cybersecurity report. And as emerging technologies like AI evolve, the role of the cyber analyst will only become more critical in protecting digital ecosystems. ISACA's CCOA focuses on the technical skills analysts need to advance their careers to the next level. Designed for cybersecurity professionals with a few years of experience, CCOA enables cyber analysts to gain a deeper understanding of how to identify and respond to cyber threats, perform vulnerability assessments, and provide guidance on industry best practices for securing assets—enhancing and validating their skills and knowledge to set them apart to future employers. Focused on both technical and regulatory readiness and addressing the latest cybersecurity challenges, from AI-driven attacks to regulatory compliance, CCOA covers these globally validated key domains: cybersecurity principles and risks; adversarial tactics, techniques, and procedures; incident detection and response; and securing assets. Valuable hands-on experience This experience-based component equips cybersecurity analysts with skills that can be used on the job, preparing them to tackle evolving cyber challenges and demonstrate their technical abilities effectively. "Cybersecurity professionals are often expected to have years of hands-on experience, even when they are early in their careers," says Shannon Donahue, ISACA chief content and publishing officer. "Being able to demonstrate to peers and prospective employers a mastery of on-the-job tasks, as well as a wide breadth of knowledge and experience in both business and technical skills, can give candidates a competitive advantage in a tighter job market and a boost in getting to that next step in their profession." Along with the CCOA online review course—which includes one year of exam prep access to allow for time to master skills—the related materials accompanying the new credential also include a Questions, Answers, and Explanations Database (QAE) and CCOA Review Manual (available both in print and digital formats). With a long history offering credentialing and training offerings, including Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), ISACA is committed to serving IT and IS professionals wherever they are in their career journeys. CCOA offers a step toward advancing in a cybersecurity career path, including pursuing CISM in the future. If choosing that route, CCOA exam passers earn a one-year educational waiver toward the CISM exam. Learn more about CCOA at and about the benefits and key domains of the credential at this infographic here. More information about ISACA's other credentials can be found at About ISACA ISACA® ( is a global community advancing individuals and organizations in their pursuit of digital trust. For more than 50 years, ISACA has equipped individuals and enterprises with the knowledge, credentials, education, training and community to progress their careers, transform their organizations, and build a more trusted and ethical digital world. ISACA is a global professional association and learning organization that leverages the expertise of its 180,000+ members who work in digital trust fields such as information security, governance, assurance, risk, privacy and quality. It has a presence in 188 countries, including 228 chapters worldwide. Through the ISACA Foundation, ISACA supports IT education and career pathways for underresourced and underrepresented populations. X: LinkedIn: Facebook: Instagram: View source version on Contacts communications@ Emily Ayala, +1.847.385.7223Bridget Drufke, +1.847.660.5554 Sign in to access your portfolio
