Hybrid work culture is the new normal. With the majority of the workforce working remotely, Security Operations Center (SOCs) handling organizational security are under stress. Employees have moved from a secure enterprise network to personal networks or Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). Today, endpoint and identity-based security are crucial to protecting organizational assets and data.
With businesses embracing the hybrid model of work, traditional network security control is falling short. Your SOC needs to adapt to a Work from Home environment. It is advisable to use advanced security tools along with a set of best practices.
In this blog, we are going to look at five best practices for your SOC. Learn how you can protect your hybrid workforce at all times without impacting organizational productivity.
Threat Detection
To get complete visibility into the network, your SOC needs to have threat-detection capabilities. This increased visibility will make you more responsive in handling network events while resolving issues quickly. In addition, extending the Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM) and integrated Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) capabilities simplify your hybrid workforce security. It prevents cybersecurity gaps that make remote workers vulnerable to cyberattacks. It is imperative to stay vigilant by implementing a remote workforce threat detection platform. This helps prevent, detect and respond to threats targeting your cloud-based SaaS assets, authentication infrastructure and VPNs.
The objective is to keep your workforce productive by providing a secure network everywhere your people go. This helps with:
- Reduced risk associated with remote work
- Enhanced connectivity
- Increased visibility
- Rapid detection of attacks
- Maintain compliances
- Protect your cloud and on-premise data
- Scale your security infrastructure
Network Monitoring
VPN usage has surged in recent years with approximately 1.5 billion users worldwide. Your SOC needs to monitor, detect and remediate security and scalability issues round the clock. The continuous diagnosis of the network can help your organization to:
- Audit failed VPN logins
- Recognize anonymous logins
- Detect password spraying attacks
- Identifying logins from blacklisted locations
Authentication Security
The extensive transition to scattered remote offices has changed both the setting and the nature of work. Cybercriminals can take advantage of your staff or supply chain partner, thanks to all the distractions of the modern world. By safeguarding authorization and authentication to sensitive data and important assets, your SOC can assure cyber resilience and unauthorized access. Bear the following things in mind:
- Find authorization gaps that limit access to tools and data
- Recognize successful logins from unauthorized locations
- Identify Account Takeover (ATO) threats including brute force attacks
- Examine administrative actions like new users and privilege escalation
Secure Cloud Access
SaaS-based Cloud applications are essential for productivity when working remotely. In order to protect your Cloud infrastructure and SaaS applications. You will need to use Remote Workforce Threat Detection to block sophisticated threats. Such a platform can warn you about Cloud-based security risks while giving proactive suggestions to mitigate them. This way, no matter where your data is located, it will stay protected by the SOC. Here are a few things you can do to ensure Secure Cloud Access:
- Track geographically impossible access
- Examine admin activities
- Recognize permission from new admin accounts
- Provide actionable dashboards
Zero Trust
Adopt zero trust as a comprehensive security strategy. By using this approach to access resources, you can safeguard enterprise infrastructure end to end.
Initially, the legacy perimeter-based cybersecurity model divided users and devices into two categories: outside the perimeter and inside the perimeter. Under this model, all users and devices inside the organization have access to all the resources.
However, under zero trust users and devices have limited access to resources. Only when the cybersecurity policy gives them permission, users are able to utilize the resources.
In recent years, adopting zero trust has become much simpler. Organizations such as NIST, have standardized zero trust architecture. It was initially intended as a concept than a specific design for all those who work in enterprise cybersecurity. Zero-trust was a guide for building security infrastructure.
However, zero trust doesn't end with NIST SP 800-207. Software-defined perimeter (SDP), commonly referred to as zero trust network access, is one of the essential elements of the zero trust architecture (ZTNA). SDP technologies provide user devices at home or on-site with permission-based access to Cloud-based and/or on-premise resources.
SDP avoids complex VPNs and offers a standardized method for users to access resources, regardless of their location. It reduces the requirement for network-based security. Organizations need to adopt SDP/ZTNA as a next step towards embracing zero trust architecture.
Proliferating devices in a digital-first world
With the explosion of Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Industrial Control Systems (ICS), and mobile devices, the traditional network security perimeter has lost its relevance. You need a holistic view of your risk profile and security so you can correlate threats. In all likelihood, your organization doesn’t use just a single cloud. That is why it’s important to assess how one threat may impact the entire app and infra ecosystem.
Advanced security for a hybrid workforce
Modern SOC uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to help people with legitimate threats. It also provides visibility into all connected devices and responds to complex security issues. Through sophisticated pattern analysis and data driven methods, your SOC can predict the likelihood of attacks. Such as preventing posture helps protect your assets even before an attack is initiated.
Choose all round security with eProtect360
Prevent, detect, investigate, and respond to threats across all your endpoints with eProtect360. Our security solutions give you visibility across devices, cloud apps, and infrastructure. Don’t wait for a data breach or a cyberattack to happen. The results can be devastating. Prepare before it’s too late. Talk to our experts, today!