Security applications are a major part of any business’ cybersecurity strategy, not least because they automate certain processes, like threat detection and malware scanning, which require constant attention and consistency.
Deciding on the right security applications or the right types of applications can be a challenging process, especially if your company is just starting out or if you don’t have a dedicated security team just yet.
In this post, we take a look at some of the things you need to consider when you’re purchasing and leveraging security applications for your business.
Testing and shielding applications
These types of security applications monitor and analyse how other applications and systems operate and have a level of control over these, especially in the event that suspicious activity is detected.
For example, they can terminate applications from running, issue alerts, and put a stop to certain types of application or system-related processes.
Encryption solutions
Encryption tools are used to protect sensitive data and code and prevent them from being seen or used by malicious entities and applications. These allow users to even conceal certain activity patterns, such as data transfers between users and cloud platforms.
Threat detection tools
These tools monitor your working environments and networks and keep scanning these for threats they’re programmed to detect.
Updating this type of software frequently is one of the most useful things you can do, in this regard, as it ensures that these applications are primed to detect newer and emerging types of threats.
Logging applications
Logging security solutions help you maintain a record of who accesses certain types of data and certain components of your business applications and how this happened, including a time-stamped record. This helps you ensure accountability and that only authorised individuals from your company have access to certain resources.
The process of maintaining and updating your security applications needs to also include adding more solutions to your suite of products, in line with how your business is growing or evolving.
In many cases, companies equip themselves with the most rudimentary security software and fail to update this list as their business grows. This can leave a significant part of your business unprotected and vulnerable to emerging threats that are more complex than we can imagine.
As such, take steps to have frequent reviews of your suite of security applications and your business’ activities and operations to ensure that the most important areas of your company are safeguarded.
Content management systems often contain a bulk of the important work you do at your organisation. In recent time, some of the biggest content management platforms like WordPress and Drupal have reported an increasing number of vulnerabilities, which can be exploited if your security applications are not up to the task.
While leveraging security applications is all well and good, you also need to ensure that your suite of software is managed and coordinated seamlessly. Essentially, leave these solutions under the purview of your security team and entrust them with coordinating their functions - too many cooks will spoil the soup.
By coordinating your efforts successfully, you ensure that you’re not maintaining unnecessary applications or that there are blind spots in your defence.
Security software occupy an important place in your cybersecurity strategy. By coordinating their activity across your organisation, keeping them updated, and adding more applications as your business expands, you can automate some of the more basic elements of cyber defence with significant ease and convenience.