| | August 2022ENTERPRISE SECURITY8IN MY OPINIONIN MY OPINIONThe security technology landscape changes often and changes quickly. We all know threats evolve daily and often drive our approach for implementing and using new and existing technologies. These numerous options can quickly become daunting as we try to understand which ones to implement, which technologies work well together, and which ones duplicate functionality. Technology providers, of course, are eager to sell everything. However, it is simply not feasible based on industry, budget, ability to support, and a host of other considerations. SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES AND FRAMEWORKSBy Devin Shirley, Chief Information Security Officer, Arkansas Blue Cross Blue ShieldSo, what can we do to help us sift through and prioritize which technologies work best for our organizations? There are best practice capabilities we all leverage, such as firewalls, endpoint protection, data loss protection, etc. But beyond the standard "best practices" approach, how can you determine which ones to focus on? Just like technologies, there is no shortage of models and frameworks that exist for managing a security program. Some support various regulatory and customer requirements that help guide us in building the elements of a security program, such as NIST, ISO,GDPR, HITRUST, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, to name a few. And, then there are some recommended models, such as Zero Trust, MITRE, etc. These models can be specific to an aspect of security, like threat modeling or access management, or may be broader in scope. Regardless of what framework, model, or approach you use, leveraging these methods can help security leaders sift through the noise of sales calls, white papers, and lure of innovative technologies. Mature and established frameworks may not immediately adapt for the latest and greatest new products. Instead, they will go through a review process to evaluate newer technologies and determine which ones best meet the specific needs of organizations. This results in adherents becoming more risk focused versus becoming distracted by the latest hype regarding security needs and requirements. And, as we consider models that have become highly recommended, though may not be required (i.e.., Zero Trust) there is no one prescribed technology, but a collection of products that work together to achieve a desired level of maturity. The advantage of these models is they are more concept based and can change as the technology changes. This allows the ability to adapt and mature as needed without trying to keep up with the latest and greatest capabilities, especially those that may not stay around for long. A good example in the market today is Extended Detection and Response (XDR). XDR was initially a concept that varied based on which vendor you followed and which research paper you read. It is interesting to watch the evolution of new capabilities such as this as vendors and independent knowledge and research groups interpret them differently. As Devin Shirley
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