Identity and Access Management (IAM) security is an essential part of overall IT security that manages digital identities and user access to data, systems, and resources within an organization. IAM security includes the policies, programs, and technologies that reduce identity-related access risks within a business. IAM programs enable organizations to mitigate risks, improve compliance, and increase efficiencies across the enterprise.

With cyber attacks continuing to increase, it seems like most security teams are having to learn how to do more, and do it faster. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions help to efficiently identify and escalate critical security events, enabling a swift and effective response. SIEM use remained a popular security tool in 2019, and shows every sign of remaining prevalent for years to come.

What’s the best way to get a leg up on cybersecurity in 2020? Learning from the biggest problems of the past year can show emerging patterns and trends that can help shape your security strategy, ensuring that you know what to watch for and prioritize. Read on to learn how to deal with four major cyber threats of the past year that will continue to evolve and plague organizations into 2020 and beyond.

Over just a few decades, science fiction has become reality with the advent of cyberspace.  Organizations can instantly communicate across the globe, completing work faster than ever thanks to these innovations. And though cybersecurity quickly became one of the most rapidly growing fields, cyber threats continue to improve right alongside these digital advancements.

Healthcare information security is one of the leading priorities in the healthcare sector today—and for good reason. Healthcare organizations are primary targets for attacks with the amount of sensitive data they protect. A recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that 70 percent of breaches targeted demographic or financial information rather than medical information only.

Healthcare organizations today face extraordinary challenges in a dynamic, complex landscape. During the last two decades, the healthcare industry has seen increasing regulations, an acceleration of technology and workforce growth, acquisitions and consolidation, and the pressure to increase operational efficiencies and decrease overall costs, while meeting growing patient demands. The pressures to comply with regulations, coupled with pressures to compete with other healthcare organizations, also make for a challenging environment.

Free Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions have significant benefits, providing visibility into security environments and enabling proactive vulnerability management for many small and mid-sized organizations. However, these tools often come with limitations that will lead security teams to consider commercial options. How do you know when it’s time to upgrade?

Access certification is one of the most important types of reviews within organizations today. An access certification, also called an attestation, occurs when a manager reviews a user’s access and validates that the user still requires—or no longer requires—access to an application, system, or platform. If access is considered unnecessary, then it should be removed.

In order to complete a successful penetration test, a great deal of time is often spent in the planning stage. Time should also be invested into the post-test process.

Penetration testing is an undeniably effective way to improve an organization’s security, allowing cybersecurity professionals to safely validate the exploitability of security weaknesses, before a malicious attacker does. Though threat actors are more persistent than ever, the good news is that more and more organizations have recognized this and want to begin their own penetration testing program in-house. With the advent of increasingly more sophisticated penetration tools, organizations can build and grow their own successful penetration testing program.

There are daily reminders seen in the news, or heard second hand, of hackers stealing or exposing data. Having just one pen test often exposes security weaknesses that are not adequately protected with compensating controls,  Which will help with  setting priorities and mitigating the associated risk. This begs the question, how could you improve your cyber security posture if you had a pen testing capabilities in-house?

When a data breach hits the headlines, questions often arise for those not familiar with cybersecurity. How did the organization not realize what was going on? Why did they ignore all the warning signs? Those more familiar with just how massive IT infrastructures can be understand that the issue is not a matter of ignoring warning signs, it’s an inability to see them at all. Security monitoring solutions like a SIEM can provide valuable insights and prioritize alerts, distinguishing between those that could lead to thwarting a devastating breach, and those that are harmless incidents.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a type of automation technology currently transforming the way businesses operate. RPA software robots manipulate and communicate with business systems and applications to streamline processes and reduce the burden on employees. RPA can automate tasks, including claims processing and call center support to data management, IT services, and invoice processing, and everything in between. Opportunities for automation exist virtually everywhere throughout the business, enabling greater organizational performance and efficiency.

Part 2 of the Improving Your Security-Efficiency Balance Series:   One of the primary challenges organizations wrestle with in identity governance is how to achieve the right balance in their company between security and efficiency.

Part 1 of the Improving Your Security-Efficiency Balance Series:   Organizations of all sizes today face a unique balancing act when it comes to user access. Employees require access to multiple organizational systems, applications, and data to successfully do their jobs—from human resource information systems (HRIS) and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms to accounting software, patient care systems, or collaboration tools. Yet granting user privileges to these systems inherently creates risk to the organization.

With data breaches causing seemingly endless damage, from record breaking numbers of exposed records to millions spent on remediation, it’s clear that organizations must build stronger security portfolios than ever before.

Privileged accounts exist nearly everywhere within the organizational environment. Managing and protecting these privileged accounts has led to the rise of Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions. These tools enable companies to centralize user administration, improve controls for granting user access, and more effectively manage and monitor privileged access to critical assets.

Insider threats are on the rise. Whether they come from accidental insiders who are prone to phishing attempts or malicious insiders who are seeking to expose sensitive data, insider attacks have significantly increased in recent years. According to the 2019 Insider Threat Report from Cybersecurity Insiders, sponsored by Fortra, 70 percent of cybersecurity professionals surveyed believe that the frequency of insider attacks has increased in the last year alone.

Science fiction novels, TV shows, and movies often demonstrate the possibility of, and perhaps the danger of, computers and machines taking over the day to day jobs that humans once completed. While this has come to fruition in some instances, like with many factory jobs now being completed by highly specialized robots, more often than not, these inventions and innovations serve as tools to enhance human skills, not replace them. This is the case in the cybersecurity world, especially when it comes to penetration tests.

In the complicated, tangled web of managing user rights, permissions and accounts, keeping track of who has access to different resources can seem nearly impossible. Organizations today are facing increasing demands, mandates, and compliance regulations as they manage access and support countless devices and systems that contain data critical to the organization. Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) solutions have provided the capability to create and manage user accounts, roles, and access rights for individual users in an organization.

Security teams are perpetually busy protecting their organization’s data, so with the incessant pings of relentless security notifications, it’s no wonder that they feel as though their ears are ringing. As organizations grow and add more and more tools, the danger of alert fatigue grows. With hundreds of alerts pouring in, it’s difficult to discern which ones truly need attention. Worrisome vulnerabilities and dangerous malware can easily slip through the cracks, even though a security team was technically warned of the threat.

It was once hard to believe, but Linux users are now starting to understand that the malware-free experience they once had is quickly disappearing. And it’s a big wake-up call.

As long as you have an email address, you will forever be sent phishing emails attempting to lure you into some malicious activity. While we’re all familiar with the concept of these emails, it’s another thing entirely when it comes to designing one. Pen testers are given just such a task when they are charged with simulating a phishing campaign for an organization.

For years, organizations have recognized the need to pay close attention to and manage the access that their employees have with the help of identity governance and administration solutions.  More recently, organizations are also being faced with the reality that they need to apply the same level of governance to non-employees as well. According to a 2018 Opus-sponsored Ponemon study, 59 percent of companies said they have experienced a data breach caused by one of their vendors or third parties. Many of these breaches go undetected.

 With the advent of the Internet in the late 1990s, credit card fraud surged. Though credit card companies came out with their own individual security programs, merchants accepting multiple types of credit cards had difficulty meeting multiple standards.  Eventually, credit card companies banded together to create the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which was introduced by card service operators worldwide in 2004.