Holistic security strategy: how greater integration improves detection and response time

Today’s attackers have moved beyond “smash and grab” tactics to more sophisticated methods intended to maintain a long-term presence. These evolving threats complicate detection efforts as many organizations have variety of point solutions that make it difficult to effectively detect advanced threats and attack campaigns.

Piecemeal approaches create challenges and might hamper security. Each new solution deploys unique vendor-specific dashboards, consoles, and logs that don’t always integrate well. Because of these communication blind spots, industry reports indicate that some threats can go undetected for about 100 days.

Rapid detection and response are critical in modern cloud and hybrid environments. Some organizations use Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions to better correlate the information from a variety of tools. SIEM solutions aren’t without shortcomings—they rely on human analysis which can stretch the capacity of a workforce.

So, what can you do to improve security and more quickly respond to threats? To begin, it’s important to develop a security ecosystem around solutions that integrate and provide a holistic view of your environment – across users, data, apps, devices, and infrastructure. By working with technology vendors who create solutions that you can connect and integrate, you can improve your organization’s response times.

Getting—and staying—in front of today’s evolving threats requires more meaningful, comprehensive visibility, regardless of the products or endpoints or vendor partner. This is the kind of holistic view you need to detect and respond to threats with greater speed and accuracy.

We discuss security integration in greater detail in our latest eBook, 7 steps to a holistic security strategy. Download it today to learn more about security integration and other strategies for holistic security.

To learn more about Microsoft’s holistic approach to security, visit Microsoft Secure.

from Microsoft Secure Blog Staff