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Explore Algosec's customer success stories to see how organizations worldwide improve security, compliance, and efficiency with our solutions. Discovery Streamlines Firewall Audits And Simplifies The Change Workflow Organization Discovery Industry Financial Services Headquarters Johannesberg, South Africa Download case study Share Customer
success stories "With AlgoSec we can now get, in a click of a button, what took two to three weeks per firewall to produce manually" Background Discovery Limited is a South African-founded financial services organization that operates in the healthcare, life assurance, short-term insurance, savings and investment products and wellness markets. Founded in 1992, Discovery was guided by a clear core purpose — to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. Underpinning this core purpose is the belief that through innovation, Discovery can be a powerful market disruptor. The company, with headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, has expanded its operations globally and currently serves over 4.4 million clients across South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Singapore and Australia.Operating in the highly regulated insurance and health sectors, Discovery monitors its compliance with international privacy laws and security criteria, includingPCI-DSS globally, Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA in the US, the Data Protection Act in the UK, and South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act. Challenge During its early years, the company managed its firewalls through an internally developed, legacy system which offered very limited visibility into the change request process.“We grew faster than anyone expected,” says Marc Silver, Security Manager at Discovery. “We needed better visibility into what changes were requested to which firewall, for what business need and also to ensure proper risk analysis.”Discovery’s growth necessitated a rapid increase in the number of firewalls deployed, and the corresponding ruleset sizes. The time required to audit them grew by orders of magnitude, ultimately taking up to three weeks per firewall. The IT Security team of four engineers recognized that it needed a fresh approach to manage risk and ensure compliance. Solution Discovery chose the AlgoSec Security Management Solution to deliver automated, comprehensive firewall operations, risk analysis and change management. Silver states that compared to AlgoSec’s competitors, “AlgoSec has a more tightly integrated change control, and is easier to manage. Another big advantage is how it finds unused rules and recommends rule consolidations,” says Silver.AlgoSec’s integration with Request Tracker (RT) change management system was also important in Discovery’s selection of a security management solution. “We use RT for our internal ticketing system, and the stability of AlgoSec’s integration with RT met our requirements. AlgoSec’s visual workflow is clear, easy to understand and more mature than the others we evaluated,” adds Silver. Results Since implementing AlgoSec, Discovery has found its security audits running more effectively. Discovery relies on AlgoSec’s built-in compliance reports to address Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and other national and international regulatory requirements. “Every year internal auditors would take our entire rulesets for each firewall pair and tell us where we needed to make improvements. AlgoSec now allows us to submit an automated report to our auditing team. It tells them what our security state is, and what needs to be remediated. The total process used to take three months. Now, in a click of a button, we can get what took two to three weeks per firewall to produce manually,” says Silver.Discovery has also found an unexpected advantage: “AlgoSec tells us what rules are in use and what rules are not. For one firewall, we were able to remove 30,000 rules. A firewall with 500,000 rules isn’t going to cope as well as one with 100,000 rules. By optimizing our devices, AlgoSec saves us money in the long term by enabling us to delay upgrading to a larger firewall,” adds Silver.In conclusion, Silver states that “Now we can see what is and isn’t happening in our security system. It has made a much bigger impact than we thought it would. With AlgoSec’s policy optimization, and the time we save on compliance, AlgoSec has given us a much stronger competitive edge than we had six months ago.” Schedule time with one of our experts

Cloud management enhances visibility across a hybrid network, processes network security policy changes in minutes, and reduces configuration risks But what does effective cloud management look like Webinars How to Manage Your Cloud Journey Episode 1 of Keeping Up-to-Date with Your Network Security Securing your data was once much simpler, and has grown more complex in recent years. As the workforce becomes more distributed, so does your data. Spreading your data across multiple public and private clouds complicates your network. While data used to sit behind lock and key in guarded locations, today’s data sits in multiple locations and geographies, and is made up of multiple public clouds, private clouds and other on-premises network devices. This is why managing your cloud journey can be tiresome and complicated. Enter cloud management. Cloud management enhances visibility across a hybrid network, processes network security policy changes in minutes, and reduces configuration risks. But how can you leverage your cloud management to reap these benefits? What does effective cloud management look like, and how can you achieve it when workloads, sensitive data, and information are so widely dispersed? In this episode we’ll discuss: How to manage multiple workloads on the cloud What successful security management looks like for today’s enterprises How to achieve simple, effective security management for your hybrid network May 4, 2021 Alex Hilton Chief Executive at Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) Stephen Owen Esure Group Oren Amiram Director Product Management, Algosec Relevant resources A Pragmatic Approach to Network Security Across Your Hybrid Cloud Environment Keep Reading State of cloud security: Concerns, challenges, and incidents Read Document Choose a better way to manage your network Choose a better way to manage your network Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

Building an effective cloud security strategy Download PDF Schedule time with one of our experts Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue

AlgoSec’s latest product release provides organizations with enhanced application connectivity visibility, effective security, and continuous compliance with the most recent regulations across their multi-cloud environments. Ensure up to date compliance and tighten your hybrid network security posture with AlgoSec A32.60 AlgoSec’s latest product release provides organizations with enhanced application connectivity visibility, effective security, and continuous compliance with the most recent regulations across their multi-cloud environments. September 13, 2023 Speak to one of our experts RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J., September 13, 2023 – AlgoSec, a global cybersecurity leader, introduces AlgoSec A32.60, the latest in application connectivity security and compliance. AlgoSec A32.60 provides an effective solution for organizations to secure application connectivity in their hybrid and multi-cloud estate. A32.60 integrates cloud security visibility into AlgoSec’s security management platform and enables organizations to ensure ongoing compliance with industry regulatory standards. The key benefits that AlgoSec A32.60 delivers to network and security experts include: Enhanced visibility and security of north-south network traffic: New integration with Palo Alto Prisma Access, now encompassing mobile user policies within the Prisma access fabric. New integration and support for SD-WAN Versa Networks, offering extended visibility into network connectivity and an intuitive topology map. Ensuring ongoing regulatory compliance: Enhanced ISO 27001 report with the latest 2022 standards, allowing organizations to ensure alignment with the most current regulations. Integration of a new ECB (European Central Bank) regulations report, allowing companies to confidently navigate evolving compliance requirements. Integrating cloud security visibility into network security policy management: Expanded integration with Microsoft Azure firewall enables centralized visibility across both cloud and traditional firewalls, all within a single, unified management solution. New automation support for Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) objects in Palo Alto Panorama, Fortinet FortiManager, and Check Point. This allows users to efficiently manage and secure their network resources while embracing the flexibility of cloud environments. About AlgoSec AlgoSec, a global cybersecurity leader, empowers organizations to secure application connectivity by automating connectivity flows and security policy, anywhere. The AlgoSec platform enables the world’s most complex organizations to gain visibility, reduce risk, achieve compliance at the application-level and process changes at zero-touch across the hybrid network. AlgoSec’s patented application-centric view of the hybrid network enables business owners, application owners, and information security professionals to talk the same language, so organizations can deliver business applications faster while achieving a heightened security posture. Over 1,800 of the world’s leading organizations trust AlgoSec to help secure their most critical workloads across public cloud, private cloud, containers, and on-premises networks. See what securely accelerating your digital transformation, move-to-cloud, infrastructure modernization, or micro-segmentation initiatives looks like at www.algosec.com

Protecting an organization against every conceivable threat is rarely possible. There is a practically unlimited number of potential... Uncategorized Risk Management in Network Security: 7 Best Practices for 2024 Tsippi Dach 2 min read Tsippi Dach Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 1/26/24 Published Protecting an organization against every conceivable threat is rarely possible. There is a practically unlimited number of potential threats in the world, and security leaders don’t have unlimited resources available to address them. Prioritizing risks associated with more severe potential impact allows leaders to optimize cybersecurity decision-making and improve the organization’s security posture. Cybersecurity risk management is important because many security measures come with large costs. Before you can implement security controls designed to protect against cyberattacks and other potential risks, you must convince key stakeholders to support the project. Having a structured approach to cyber risk management lets you demonstrate exactly how your proposed changes impact the organization’s security risk profile. This makes it much easier to calculate the return on cybersecurity investment – making it a valuable tool when communicating with board members and executives. Here are seven tips every security leader should keep in mind when creating a risk management strategy: Cultivate a security-conscious risk management culture Use risk registers to describe potential risks in detail Prioritize proactive, low-cost risk remediation when possible Treat risk management as an ongoing process Invest in penetration testing to discover new vulnerabilities Demonstrate risk tolerance by implementing the NIST Cybersecurity Framework Don’t forget to consider false positives in your risk assessment What is a Risk Management Strategy? The first step to creating a comprehensive risk management plan is defining risk. According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) risk is “the effect of uncertainty on objectives”. This definition is accurate, but its scope is too wide. Uncertainty is everywhere, including things like market conditions, natural disasters, or even traffic jams. As a cybersecurity leader, your risk management process is more narrowly focused on managing risks to information systems, protecting sensitive data, and preventing unauthorized access. Your risk management program should focus on identifying these risks, assessing their potential impact, and creating detailed plans for addressing them. This might include deploying tools for detecting cyberattacks, implementing policies to prevent them, or investing in incident response and remediation tools to help you recover from them after they occur. In many cases, you’ll be doing all of these things at once. Crucially, the information you uncover in your cybersecurity risk assessment will help you prioritize these initiatives and decide how much to spend on them. Your risk management framework will provide you with the insight you need to address high-risk, high-impact cybersecurity threats first and manage low-risk, low-impact threats later on. 7 Tips for Creating a Comprehensive Risk Management Strategy 1. Cultivate a security-conscious risk management culture No CISO can mitigate security risks on their own. Every employee counts on their colleagues, partners, and supervisors to keep sensitive data secure and prevent data breaches. Creating a risk management strategy is just one part of the process of developing a security-conscious culture that informs risk-based decision-making. This is important because many employees have to make decisions that impact security on a daily basis. Not all of these decisions are critical-severity security scenarios, but even small choices can influence the way the entire organization handles risk. For example, most organizations list their employees on LinkedIn. This is not a security threat on its own, but it can contribute to security risks associated with phishing attacks and social engineering . Cybercriminals may create spoof emails inviting employees to fake webinars hosted by well-known employees, and use the malicious link to infect employee devices with malware. Cultivating a risk management culture won’t stop these threats from happening, but it might motivate employees to reach out when they suspect something is wrong. This gives security teams much greater visibility into potential risks as they occur, and increases the chance you’ll detect and mitigate threats before they launch active cyberattacks. 2. Use risk registers to describe potential risks in detail A risk register is a project management tool that describes risks that could disrupt a project during execution. Project managers typically create the register during the project planning phase and then refer to it throughout execution. A risk register typically uses the following characteristics to describe individual risks: Description : A brief overview of the risk itself. Category: The formal classification of the risk and what it affects. Likelihood: How likely this risk is to take place. Analysis: What would happen if this risk occurred. Mitigation: What would the team need to do to respond in this scenario. Priority: How critical is this risk compared to others. The same logic applies to business initiatives both large and small. Using a risk register can help you identify and control unexpected occurrences that may derail the organization’s ongoing projects. If these projects are actively supervised by a project manager, risk registers should already exist for them. However, there may be many initiatives, tasks, and projects that do not have risk registers. In these cases, you may need to create them yourself. Part of the overall risk assessment process should include finding and consolidating these risk registers to get an idea of the kinds of disruptions that can take place at every level of the organization. You may find patterns in the types of security risks that you find described in multiple risk registers. This information should help you evaluate the business impact of common risks and find ways to mitigate those risks effectively. 3. Prioritize proactive, low-cost risk remediation when possible Your organization can’t afford to prevent every single risk there is. That would require an unlimited budget and on-demand access to technical specialist expertise. However, you can prevent certain high-impact risks using proactive, low-cost policies that can make a significant difference in your overall security posture. You should take these opportunities when they present themselves. Password policies are a common example. Many organizations do not have sufficiently robust password policies in place. Cybercriminals know this –that’s why dictionary-based credential attacks still occur. If employees are reusing passwords across accounts or saving them onto their devices in plaintext, it’s only a matter of time before hackers notice. At the same time, upgrading a password policy is not an especially expensive task. Even deploying an enterprise-wide password manager and investing in additional training may be several orders of magnitude cheaper than implementing a new SIEM or similarly complex security platform. Your cybersecurity risk assessment will likely uncover many opportunities like this one. Take a close look at things like password policies, change management , and security patch update procedures and look for easy, low-cost projects that can provide immediate security benefits without breaking your budget. Once you address these issues, you will be in a much better position to pursue larger, more elaborate security implementations. 4. Treat risk management as an ongoing process Every year, cybercriminals leverage new tactics and techniques against their victims. Your organization’s security team must be ready to address the risks of emerging malware, AI-enhanced phishing messages, elaborate supply chain attacks, and more. As hackers improve their attack methodologies, your organization’s risk profile shifts. As the level of risk changes, your approach to information security must change as well. This means developing standards and controls that adjust according to your organization’s actual information security risk environment. Risk analysis should not be a one-time event, but a continuous one that delivers timely results about where your organization is today – and where it may be in the future. For example, many security teams treat firewall configuration and management as a one-time process. This leaves them vulnerable to emerging threats that they may not have known about during the initial deployment. Part of your risk management strategy should include verifying existing security solutions and protecting them from new and emerging risks. 5. Invest in penetration testing to discover new vulnerabilities There is more to discovering new risks than mapping your organization’s assets to known vulnerabilities and historical data breaches. You may be vulnerable to zero-day exploits and other weaknesses that won’t be immediately apparent. Penetration testing will help you discover and assess risks that you can’t find out about otherwise. Penetration testing mitigates risk by pinpointing vulnerabilities in your environment and showing how hackers could exploit them. Your penetration testing team will provide a comprehensive report showing you what assets were compromised and how. You can then use this information to close those security gaps and build a stronger security posture as a result. There are multiple kinds of penetration testing. Depending on your specific scenario and environment, you may invest in: External network penetration testing focuses on the defenses your organization deploys on internet-facing assets and equipment. The security of any business application exposed to the public may be assessed through this kind of test. Internal network penetration testing determines how cybercriminals may impact the organization after they gain access to your system and begin moving laterally through it. This also applies to malicious insiders and compromised credential attacks. Social engineering testing looks specifically at how employees respond to attackers impersonating customers, third-party vendors, and internal authority figures. This will help you identify risks associated with employee security training . Web application testing focuses on your organization’s web-hosted applications. This can provide deep insight into how secure your web applications are, and whether they can be leveraged to leak sensitive information. 6. Demonstrate risk tolerance by implementing the NIST Cybersecurity Framework The National Institute of Standards and Technology publishes one of the industry’s most important compliance frameworks for cybersecurity risk mitigation. Unlike similar frameworks like PCI DSS and GDPR, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework is voluntary – you are free to choose when and how you implement its controls in your organization. This set of security controls includes a comprehensive, flexible approach to risk management. It integrates risk management techniques across multiple disciplines and combines them into an effective set of standards any organization can follow. As of 2023, the NIST Risk Management Framework focuses on seven steps: Prepare the organization to change the way it secures its information technology solutions. Categorize each system and the type of information it processes according to a risk and impact analysis/ Select which NIST SP 800-53 controls offer the best data protection for the environment. Implement controls and document their deployment. Assess whether the correct controls are in place and operating as intended. Authorize the implementation in partnership with executives, stakeholders, and IT decision-makers. Monitor control implementations and IT systems to assess their effectiveness and discover emerging risks. 7. Don’t forget to consider false positives in your risk assessment False positives refer to vulnerabilities and activity alerts that have been incorrectly flagged. They can take many forms during the cybersecurity risk assessment process – from vulnerabilities that don’t apply to your organization’s actual tech stack to legitimate traffic getting blocked by firewalls. False positives can impact risk assessments in many ways. The most obvious problem they present is skewing your assessment results. This may lead to you prioritizing security controls against threats that aren’t there. If these controls are expensive or time-consuming to deploy, you may end up having an uncomfortable conversation with key stakeholders and decision-makers later on. However, false positives are also a source of security risks. This is especially true with automated systems like next-generation firewalls , extended detection and response (XDR) solutions, and Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platforms. Imagine one of these systems detects an outgoing video call from your organization. It flags the connection as suspicious and begins investigating it. It discovers the call is being made from an unusual location and contains confidential data, so it blocks the call and terminates the connection. This could be a case of data exfiltration, or it could be the company CEO presenting a report to stockholders while traveling. Most risk assessments don’t explore the potential risk of blocking high-level executive communications or other legitimate communications due to false positives. Use AlgoSec to Identify and Assess Network Security Risks More Accurately Building a comprehensive risk management strategy is not an easy task. It involves carefully observing the way your organization does business and predicting how cybercriminals may exploit those processes. It demands familiarity with almost every task, process, and technology the organization uses, and the ability to simulate attack scenarios from multiple different angles. There is no need to accomplish these steps manually. Risk management platforms like AlgoSec’s Firewall Analyzer can help you map business applications throughout your network and explore attack simulations with detailed “what-if” scenarios. Use Firewall Analyzer to gain deep insight into how your organization would actually respond to security incidents and unpredictable events, then use those insights to generate a more complete risk management approach. Schedule a demo Related Articles Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Convergence didn’t fail, compliance did. Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

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14 Step Checklist for a Flawless Network Security Audit If security policies aren’t periodically updated to meet modern threat demands,... Cyber Attacks & Incident Response 14 Step Checklist for a Flawless Network Security Audit Tsippi Dach 2 min read Tsippi Dach Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 12/20/23 Published 14 Step Checklist for a Flawless Network Security Audit If security policies aren’t periodically updated to meet modern threat demands, organizations risk introducing vulnerabilities into their IT security posture. Comprehensive audit reports help security leaders gain in-depth visibility into their organization’s cybersecurity strategy and assess the resilience of its network infrastructure . Network Security Audit Checklist: What Does Your IT Security Audit Need to Cover? Cybersecurity audits demand an extensive overview of the organization’s security posture and risk profile. It requires gathering and analyzing network data to identify security vulnerabilities, monitor access controls, and assess potential threats. It also includes an overview of operational security practices, penetration testing results, and incident response playbooks . Ultimately, comprehensive risk assessment data should guide the organization towards improving its security measures and preventing hackers from breaching critical data and assets. A complete network security audit should include provide in-depth visibility into the following: Security controls and their implementation. The availability of network devices and access points. High-impact security risks and their potential consequences. The effectiveness of information security management processes. Performance data on security systems and network assets like firewalls. What Do Network Security Audits Help You Achieve? Conducting in-depth security audits helps security leaders identify data breach risks and develop plans for managing those risks. Audit results play an incredibly important role in preventative risk management and in the remediation of cyberattacks. Organizations that regularly conduct these kinds of assessments are better equipped to address the security weaknesses that might arise when onboarding new users, adding new endpoints to the network, or installing new apps. Network audits and security assessments can also help you achieve other important goals as well, such as: Identifying network performance issues and addressing them to improve overall performance. Unlocking opportunities to leverage network assets and mobile devices more efficiently. Demonstrating compliance with regulatory frameworks like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 1.1 , ISO 27001 and 27002 , and SOC 2 Type 2 . Present security performance information to core stakeholders to demonstrate the value of security policies and controls. Update system security processes to address new vulnerabilities and potential threats. Recommended Read: 20 Best Network Security Solutions + FAQs How to Perform a Network Security Audit The network audit process involves collecting data, analyzing it to identify potential threats, and using it to compile a formal audit report. Depending on the size and complexity of the organization, this audit may be performed by an individual network analyst, a third-party IT security audit specialist, or an entire team of internal security professionals. These are the steps that make up a typical network audit: 1. Plan for the audit and inform everyone involved The audit process will involve many different types of technical tasks. The specific steps you take will change depending on the complexity of your network and the specialist talent required to assess data security in different IT contexts. You will need to verify authentication protocols, operating system security, password policies, and more. It’s rare for an individual security auditor to have all the technical skills necessary to do this on every app, device, and platform an organization uses. In most cases, you’ll need to work with other employees, third-party service providers, and other stakeholders to obtain the data you need. 2. Document all procedures and processes associated with the audit Recording every process that takes place during the audit is crucial. When preparing your final report, you may want to go back and verify some of the processes that took place to ensure the fidelity and accuracy of your data. If methodological errors creep into your data, they can skew your final report’s findings and end up damaging your ability to secure sensitive data correctly. Documentation is especially important in network security audits because you are looking for systematic flaws in the way user accounts, network assets, and security systems interact with one another. These flaws may not reveal themselves without clear documentation. 3. Review standard operating procedures and how they are managed Protecting sensitive information and critical network assets from security threats takes more than sophisticated technology. It also requires strict adherence to security policies and best practices from human users. Security audits should verify that employees and third-party providers are observing security policies in their operating procedures, and provide evidence attesting to that fact. Reviewing the organization’s procedure management system should provide key insight into whether users are following procedures or not. If they are not, there is a high risk of shadow IT processes leading to phishing attacks and security breaches. This should be reported so that the security team can find ways to remediate these threats. 4. Assess the training logs and operations Human error is behind eight out of ten cyberattacks . All customer-facing employees should be trained to detect phishing and social engineering attacks, and internal staff should know how to prevent malware from infecting the network. Every employee should understand how their role contributes to the security profile of the organization as a whole. Verifying authentication processes, permissions, and password policy is also part of employee training. Every user account should be protected by a consistent policy that follows the latest guidelines for beating brute force and dictionary-based credential attacks. Data encryption policies should keep sensitive login credentials secure even if hackers successfully compromise network assets. 5. Confirm the security patches for network software are up-to-date Start by creating a list of every software application used on the network. This can be a long, time-consuming manual process, but there are automated vulnerability scanning solutions that can help you automate this step. You will have to investigate each item on the list and determine whether new security patches are installed in a reasonably tight time frame. Keep in mind that cybercriminals often exploit security patch releases by scanning for organizations that delay installing new patches. Patch release changelogs essentially broadcast known vulnerabilities directly to hackers, so exploiting late patch installations is a trivial task. 6. Confirm the penetration testing policy and process is sufficient Penetration testing is one of the best ways to identify vulnerabilities on a network. If your organization has invested in pentesting initiatives, you will need to review and confirm its policies as part of the network security audit process. If you haven’t yet invested in pentesting, you may wish to outline a potential path for incorporating it into your security processes here. You may wish to verify the size and scope of your pentesting processes at this point. Assess some of the vulnerabilities you have uncovered and determine whether the organization is investing the appropriate resources into pentesting, or whether other security initiatives should take precedence. 7. Identify gaps and misconfigurations in your firewall policies Your organization’s firewalls play an important role managing traffic between network assets. Firewall rules should not be static. They must be continuously updated to meet the needs of the organization as it changes and grows. These devices can enforce bring your own device (BYOD) mobile policies, prevent distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and contribute to proper network segmentation. Manually configuring firewall policies can be costly and time-consuming. Consider using an automated change management platform like AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer to rapidly identify potential vulnerabilities in your firewall rules. Document any changes you make and include those updates in your report. 8. Ensure all sensitive and confidential data is stored securely Every organization has to store some form of sensitive or confidential data. A major goal of network security audits is making sure this data is kept separate from non-sensitive data and protected by a higher standard of security. This data includes individuals’ names, addresses, phone numbers, financial information, and government ID data. Access to sensitive data should be only allowed when critical for business purposes, and every action involving sensitive data should generate comprehensive logs. The data itself should be encrypted so that even if attackers successfully breach the database, they won’t be able to use the data itself. It may also be worth considering an enterprise data backup solution to provide a failsafe in the event of a disaster. 9. Encrypt the hard disks on any company laptops Portable devices like laptops should not generally hold sensitive data. However, many employees can’t work without processing some amount of sensitive data and storing it on the local hard drive. This is usually less than critical data, but it can still contribute to a cyberattack if it falls into the wrong hands. Encrypting laptop hard disks can help prevent that from happening. If all the data on the device is encrypted, then the organization can avoid triggering a crisis-level security incident every time an employee misplaces or loses a company device. 10. Check the security of your wireless networks Wireless network security is vital for preventing hackers from conducting phishing attacks against employees and on-premises customers. If your organization’s Wi-Fi network is not secured, hackers can spoof the network and trick users into giving up vital information without their knowledge. All modern Wi-Fi equipment supports multiple security protocols. Avoid WEP and WPA – these are old protocols with well-known security vulnerabilities – and make sure your networks are using WPA2. If the organization has equipment that does not support WPA2, you must upgrade the equipment. 11. Scan for and identify any unauthorized access points Your network may have access points that were never set up or approved by the organization. Cybercriminals can use these unauthorized access points to steal data without triggering exfiltration alerts. Additional Wi-Fi frequencies are a common culprit here – your private Wi-Fi network may be configured to use the 2.4 GHz band even though you have equipment that supports 5 GHz frequencies. If someone sets up an access point on the 5 GHz frequency, you can easily overlook it. Data breaches can occur over a wide variety of similar media. USB and Bluetooth-enabled devices have introduced malware into corporate networks in the past. Your security audit should cover as many of these communication channels as possible. 12. Review the event log monitoring process The best way to verify security events is by analyzing the logs generated by network assets as they respond to user interactions. These logs can tell you who accessed sensitive data and report where and when that access took place. Security analysts can connect log data across applications to contextualize security incidents and understand how they took place. The problem is that even a small organization with a simple network can generate an enormous volume of log data every day. Your security audit should investigate the event log monitoring process and look for opportunities to streamline it. You may consider implementing a security information and event management (SIEM) platform or improving your existing one. 13. Compile a comprehensive report Once you’ve gathered all the relevant data and included your insight into the organization’s security posture, you are ready to create your audit report. This report should compile all of your findings into a single well-organized document, with evidence supporting the claims you make and clear recommendations for improving operational security moving forward. Consider creating customized data visualizations to showcase how key performance metrics change over time. The way you choose to communicate data can have a major impact on the way it is received, potentially convincing key stakeholders to implement the changes you suggest. 14. Send the final report to appropriate stakeholders and other key parties. Once you’ve finished your network security audit, you are ready to send it to your organization’s leaders and any other stakeholders who have an interest in your findings. Be prepared to explain your recommendations and justify the methods you used to collect and analyze the organization’s security data. The more confident you are in the accuracy of your findings, the better-equipped you’ll be to present them if called upon. Schedule a demo Related Articles Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Convergence didn’t fail, compliance did. Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Explore Algosec's customer success stories to see how organizations worldwide improve security, compliance, and efficiency with our solutions. Leading payment solutions company credits AlgoSec for increasing security and compliance Organization Payment Solutions Industry Financial Services Headquarters Download case study Share Customer
success stories "Leading fintech company rapidly improves security and compliance with AlgoSec jumpstart program" Background The company is one of the largest payment solutions providers, with offices processing more than 28 billion transactions worldwide. The company services 800,000 merchant outlets that generate $120 billion in processing volume. Its businesses include credit card processing, merchant acquisition and issuance of bank credit cards. The company grew to its enormous size through innovation and acquisition. It has introduced modern technology into the payments industry and has acquired many innovative companies over the last three decades. Challenges Today, the company operates 10 data centers with varying security architectures and firewall equipment from different vendors. The security staff is currently in the process of a cross-company firewall consolidation that will take several years to complete. The company is automating its change management of firewall rules to cut down on the time and effort spent on researching and implementing rules to keep up with its fast growth. It deploys rule changes during tight, scheduled “push windows” and conducts compliance reviews twice per year. The firewall change process is highly complex with many steps: Request Design Peer Review Management Approval Implementation Validation Success for the security team is all about time. They seek to automate the process by reducing time spent on: Research and writing rules Peer reviews Staging Security peering after staging Firewall push window requirements Quarterly firewall ruleset reviews as part of compliance objectives Solution The security team acquired AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer (AFA) and deployed it at two of its data centers in Arizona and Colorado. In both locations, the company is in the process of firewall migration to consolidate on one vendor. However, they need to add firewall clusters one at a time after each migration instead of all at once. The company took advantage of AlgoSec’s Jumpstart Program that delivers the benefits of AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer in conjunction with other AlgoSec solutions quickly. With Jumpstart, the company is quickly able to: Automate the discovery and mapping of enterprise applications Automate the change management processes Adopt the new processes across the company Realize rapid ROI The company’s lead security infrastructure consultant proclaimed, “AlgoSec customized their Jumpstart Program just for us. Their people are engaged, personable, skilled and highly efficient. They became part of our team dedicated to our success.” In addition to getting Firewall Analyzer up and running quickly and delivering its benefits, the Jumpstart team’s AFA deployment immediately identified network security gaps and helped the company close them, making them more secure and compliant. Results AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer is achieving all the goals of the security team. Time for policy writing reduced from 90 hours to 15 hours – 83% less Cut the total process time by half, enabling the security team to keep up with the barrage of change requests. Reduced the admin overhead from 30 to 4 – 87% less “Automation is definitely the way to go,” declared their security consultant. “We can now stay on top of the process even while we migrate our firewalls. We are looking for more from AlgoSec.” The company is now in the process of implementing AlgoSec FireFlow (AFF) to enhance the existing change management system with intelligent network and security automation. AlgoSec FireFlow enforces compliance and automatically documents the entire change-management lifecycle. Some of the features include: Processing of firewall changes with zero-touch automation Elimination of mistakes and rework, and improvement of accountability for change requests Proactive assessment of the impact of network changes to ensure security and continuous compliance Automation of the rule–recertification processes Schedule time with one of our experts

Organizations no longer keep their data in one centralized location. Users and assets responsible for processing data may be located... Zero Trust How to Create a Zero Trust Network Tsippi Dach 2 min read Tsippi Dach Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 2/12/24 Published Organizations no longer keep their data in one centralized location. Users and assets responsible for processing data may be located outside the network, and may share information with third-party vendors who are themselves removed from those external networks. The Zero Trust approach addresses this situation by treating every user, asset, and application as a potential attack vector whether it is authenticated or not. This means that everyone trying to access network resources will have to verify their identity, whether they are coming from inside the network or outside. What are the Zero Trust Principles and Concepts? The Zero Trust approach is made up of six core concepts that work together to mitigate network security risks and reduce the organization’s attack surface. 1. The principle of least privilege Under the Zero Trust model, network administrators do not provide users and assets with more network access than strictly necessary. Access to data is also revoked when it is no longer needed. This requires security teams to carefully manage user permissions , and to be able to manage permissions based on users’ identities or roles. The principle of least privilege secures the enterprise network ecosystem by limiting the amount of damage that can result from a single security failure. If an attacker compromises a user’s account, it won’t automatically gain access to a wide range of systems, tools, and workloads beyond what that account is provisioned for. This can also dramatically simplify the process of responding to security events, because no user or asset has access to assets beyond the scope of their work. 2. Continuous data monitoring and validation Zero trust policy assumes that there are attackers both inside and outside the network. To guarantee the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of network assets, it must continuously evaluate users and assets on the network. User identity and privileges must be checked periodically along with device identity and security. Organizations accomplish this in a variety of ways. Connection and login time-outs are one way to ensure periodic monitoring and validation since it requires users to re-authenticate even if they haven’t done anything suspicious. This helps protect against the risk of threat actors using credential-based attacks to impersonate authenticated users, as well as a variety of other attacks. 3. Device access control Organizations undergoing the Zero Trust journey must carefully manage and control the way users interact with endpoint devices. Zero Trust relies on verifying and authenticating user identities separately from the devices they use. For example, Zero Trust security tools must be able to distinguish between two different individuals using the same endpoint device. This approach requires fundamental changes to the way certain security tools work. For example, firewalls that allow or deny access to network assets based purely on IP address and port information aren’t sufficient. Most end users have more than one device at their disposal, and it’s common for mobile devices to change IP addresses. As a result, the cybersecurity tech stack needs to be able to grant and revoke permissions based on the user’s actual identity or role. 4. Network micro segmentation Network segmentation is a good security practice even outside the Zero Trust framework, but it takes on special significance when threats can come from inside and outside the network. Microsegmentation takes this one step further by breaking regular network segments down into small zones with their own sets of permissions and authorizations. These microsegments can be as small as a single asset, and an enterprise data center may have dozens of separately secured zones like these. Any user or asset with permission to access one zone will not necessarily have access to any of the others. Microsegmentation improves security resilience by making it harder for attackers to move between zones. 5. Detecting lateral movement Lateral movement is when threat actors move from one zone to another in the network. One of the benefits of micro segmentation is that threat actors must interact with security tools in order to move between different zones on the network. Even if the attackers are successful, their activities generate logs and audit trails that analysts can follow when investigating security incidents. Zero Trust architecture is designed to contain attackers and make it harder for them to move laterally through networks. When an attack is detected, the compromised asset can be quarantined from the rest of the network. Assets can be as small as individual devices or user accounts, or as large as entire network segments. The more granular your security architecture is, the more choices you have for detecting and preventing lateral movement on the network. 6. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) Passwords are a major problem for traditional security models, because most security tools automatically extend trust to anyone who knows the password. Once a malicious actor learns a privileged user’s login credentials, they can bypass most security checks by impersonating that user. Multi-factor authentication solves that problem by requiring users to provide more information. Knowing a password isn’t enough – users must authenticate by proving their identity in another way. These additional authentication factors can come in the form of biometrics, challenge/response protocols, or hardware-based verifications. How To Implement a Zero Trust Network 1. Map Out Your Attack Surface There is no one-size-fits-all solution for designing and implementing Zero Trust architecture. You must carefully define your organization’s attack surface and implement solutions that protect your most valuable assets. This will require a variety of tools, including firewalls, user access controls, permissions, and encryption. You will need to segment your network into individual zones and use microsegmentation to secure high-value and high-volume zones separately. Pay close attention to how your organization secures its most important assets and connections: Sensitive data . This might include customer and employee data, proprietary information, and intellectual property that you can’t allow threat actors to gain access to. It should benefit from the highest degree of security. Critical applications. These applications play a central role in your organization’s business processes, and must be protected against the risk of disruption. Many of them process sensitive data and must benefit from the same degree of security. Physical assets. This includes everything from customer-facing kiosks to hardware servers located in a data center. Access control is vital for preventing malicious actors from interacting with physical assets. Third-party services. Your organization relies on a network of partners and service providers, many of whom need privileged access to your data. Your Zero Trust policy must include safeguards against attacks that compromise third-party partners in your supply chain. 2. Implement Zero Trust Controls using Network Security Tools The next step in your Zero Trust journey is the implementation of security tools that allow you collect, analyze, and respond to user behaviors on your network. This may require the adjustment of your existing security tech stack, and the addition of new tools designed for Zero Trust use cases. Firewalls must be able to capture connection data beyond the traditional IP, port, and protocol data that most simple solutions rely on. The Zero Trust approach requires inspecting the identities of users and assets that connect with network assets, which requires more advanced firewall technology. This is possible with next generation firewall (NGFW) technology. VPNs may need to be reconfigured or replaced because they do not typically enforce the principle of least privilege. Usually, VPNs grant users access to the entire connected network – not just one small portion of it. In most cases, organizations pursuing Zero Trust stop using VPNs altogether because they no longer provide meaningful security benefits. Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) provides secure access to network resources while concealing network infrastructure and services. It is similar to a software-defined perimeter that dynamically responds to network changes and grants flexibility to security policies. ZTNA works by establishing one-to-one encrypted connections between network assets, making imprecise VPNs largely redundant. 3. Configure for Identity and Access Management Identity-based monitoring is one of the cornerstones of the Zero Trust approach. In order to accurately grant and revoke permissions to users and assets on the network, you must have some visibility into the identities behind the devices being used. Zero Trust networks verify user identities in a variety of ways. Some next-generation firewalls can distinguish between user traffic, device traffic, application traffic, and content. This allows the firewall to assign application sessions to individual users and devices, and inspect the data being transmitted between individuals on networks. In practice, this might mean configuring a firewall to compare outgoing content traffic with an encrypted list of login credentials. If a user accidentally logs onto a spoofed phishing website and enters their login credentials, the firewall can catch the data before it is transferred off the network. This would not be possible without the ability to distinguish between different types of traffic using next-generation firewall technology. Multi-factor authentication is also vital to identity and access management. A Zero Trust network should not automatically authenticate a user who presents the correct username and password combination to access a secure account. This does not prove the identity of the individual who owns the account – it only proves that the individual knows the username and password. Additional verification factors make it more likely that this person is, in fact, the owner of the account. 4. Create a Zero Trust Policy for Your IT Environment The process of implementing Zero Trust policies in cloud-native environments can be complex. Every third-party vendor and service provider has a role to play in establishing and maintaining Zero Trust. This often puts significant technical demands on third-party partners, which may require organizations to change their existing agreements. If a third-party partner cannot support Zero Trust, they can’t be allowed onto the network. The same is true for on-premises and data center environments, but with added emphasis on physical security and access control. Security leaders need to know who has physical access to servers and similar assets so they can conduct investigations into security incidents properly. Data centers need to implement strict controls on who interacts with protected equipment and how their access is supervised. How to Operationalize Zero Trust Your Zero Trust implementation will not automatically translate to an operational security context that you can immediately use. You will need to adopt security operations that reflect the Zero Trust strategy and launch adaptive security measures that address vulnerabilities in real-time. Gain visibility into your network. Your network perimeter is no longer strictly defined by its hardware. It consists of cloud resources, automated workflows, operating systems, and more. You won’t be able to enforce Zero Trust without gaining visibility into every aspect of your network environment. Monitor network infrastructure and traffic. Your security team will need to monitor and respond to access requests coming from inside and outside your network. This can lead to significant bottlenecks if your team is not equipped with solutions for automatically managing network traffic and access. Streamline detection and response. Zero Trust networks mitigate the risks of cyberattacks, malware, ransomware, and other potential threats, but it’s still up to individual security analysts to detect and investigate security incidents. The volume of data analysts must inspect may increase significantly, so you should be prepared to mitigate the issue of alert fatigue. Automate Endpoint Security. Consider implementing an automated Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solution that can identify malicious behaviors on network devices and address them in real-time. Implement Zero Trust With AlgoSec AlgoSec is a global cybersecurity leader that provides secure application connectivity and policy management through a unified platform. It aligns with Zero Trust principles to provide comprehensive traffic flow analysis and optimization while automated policy changes and eliminating the risk of compliance violations. Security leaders rely on AlgoSec to implement and operationalize Zero Trust deployments while proactively managing complex security policies . AlgoSec can help you establish a Zero Trust network quickly and efficiently, providing visibility and change management capabilities to your entire security tech stack and enabling security personnel to address misconfiguration risks in real-time. Book a demo now to find out how AlgoSec can help you adopt Zero Trust security and prevent attackers from infiltrating your organization. Schedule a demo Related Articles Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Convergence didn’t fail, compliance did. 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Application outages caused by human error can be a nightmare for businesses, leading to financial losses, customer dissatisfaction, and... Cyber Attacks & Incident Response Resolving human error in application outages: strategies for success Malynnda Littky-Porath 2 min read Malynnda Littky-Porath Short bio about author here Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Vitae donec tincidunt elementum quam laoreet duis sit enim. Duis mattis velit sit leo diam. Tags Share this article 3/18/24 Published Application outages caused by human error can be a nightmare for businesses, leading to financial losses, customer dissatisfaction, and reputational damage. While human error is inevitable, organizations can implement effective strategies to minimize its impact and resolve outages promptly. In this blog post, we will explore proven solutions for addressing human error in application outages, empowering businesses to enhance their operational resilience and deliver uninterrupted services to their customers. Organizations must emphasize training and education One of the most crucial steps in resolving human error in application outages is investing in comprehensive training and education for IT staff. By ensuring that employees have the necessary skills, knowledge, and understanding of the application environment, organizations can reduce the likelihood of errors occurring. Training should cover proper configuration management, system monitoring, troubleshooting techniques, and incident response protocols. Additionally, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement is essential. Encourage employees to stay up to date with the latest technologies, best practices, and industry trends through workshops, conferences, and online courses. Regular knowledge sharing sessions and cross-team collaborations can also help mitigate human errors by fostering a culture of accountability and knowledge transfer. It’s time to implement robust change management processes Implementing rigorous change management processes is vital for preventing human errors that lead to application outages. Establishing a standardized change management framework ensures that all modifications to the application environment go through a well-defined process, reducing the risk of inadvertent errors. The change management process should include proper documentation of proposed changes, a thorough impact analysis, and rigorous testing in non-production environments before deploying changes to the production environment. Additionally, maintaining a change log and conducting post-implementation reviews can provide valuable insights for identifying and rectifying any potential errors. Why automate and orchestrate operational tasks Human errors often occur due to repetitive, mundane tasks that are prone to oversight or mistakes. Automating and orchestrating operational tasks can significantly reduce human error in application outages. Organizations should leverage automation tools to streamline routine tasks such as provisioning, configuration management, and deployment processes. By removing the manual element, the risk of human error decreases, and the consistency and accuracy of these tasks improve. Furthermore, implementing orchestration tools allows for the coordination and synchronization of complex workflows involving multiple teams and systems. This reduces the likelihood of miscommunication and enhances collaboration, minimizing errors caused by lack of coordination. Establish effective monitoring and alerting mechanisms Proactive monitoring and timely alerts are crucial for identifying potential issues and resolving them before they escalate into outages. Implementing robust monitoring systems that capture key performance indicators, system metrics, and application logs enables IT teams to quickly identify anomalies and take corrective action. Additionally, setting up alerts and notifications for critical events ensures that the appropriate personnel are notified promptly, allowing for rapid response and resolution. Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities can enhance monitoring by detecting patterns and anomalies that human operators might miss. Human errors will always be a factor in application outages, but by implementing effective strategies, organizations can minimize their impact and resolve incidents promptly. Investing in comprehensive training, robust change management processes, automation and orchestration, and proactive monitoring can significantly reduce the likelihood of human error-related outages. By prioritizing these solutions and fostering a culture of continuous improvement, businesses can enhance their operational resilience, protect their reputation, and deliver uninterrupted services to their customers. Schedule a demo Related Articles Navigating Compliance in the Cloud AlgoSec Cloud Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read 5 Multi-Cloud Environments Cloud Security Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Convergence didn’t fail, compliance did. Mar 19, 2023 · 2 min read Speak to one of our experts Speak to one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Schedule a call

Partner solution brief Enforcing micro-segmentation with Akamai and AlgoSec Download PDF Schedule time with one of our experts Schedule time with one of our experts Work email* First name* Last name* Company* country* Select country... Short answer* By submitting this form, I accept AlgoSec's privacy policy Continue